Wisconsin women’s hockey loosens grip on #1 ranking

Shorthanded Wisconsin women's hockey split another series with the No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers. Next, a rematch of the last three national title games.

Wisconsin Badgers right wing Lacey Eden (6) shoots against the Minnesota Gophers in a game Sunday, February 9, 2025, at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wisconsin. | Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With five Olympians out of the lineup, Wisconsin women’s hockey took a rare loss over the weekend. Ahead of its Border Battle series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, UW had lost only one game in over 400 days. That lone loss came at the hands of the Gophers; over the weekend, Minnesota took another game over Wisconsin.

After Minnesota defeated Wisconsin in overtime on Friday, the Badgers responded with a dominating 6-1 victory on Saturday. The result, combined with the two teams splitting a series in Madison back in October, gave UW a majority of WCHA conference points in their season series. In four games, the Badgers took seven points while the Gophers earned five.

Although they met head-to-head in October, the country’s two leading scorers were absent for the late January meeting. Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey, along with four of her teammates, will miss the remainder of the regular season to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy, the only player in the country outscoring Harvey this season, is joining the Badgers’ captain on Team USA.

Despite the absences for Wisconsin, a few voters thought the Badgers did not do enough on the road to remain the country’s unanimously top-ranked team.

No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes women's hockey inches closer to No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers

pic.twitter.com/1ixJLNDS7w

— USCHO.com (@USCHO) February 2, 2026

Between the USCHO and USA Hockey polls, UW lost three votes for the top spot in the rankings to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes. The Badgers had been the unanimous No. 1 team in the country since early December.

Regardless of the poll, the battle for college hockey’s top-ranked team will be held this weekend in Madison. Wisconsin hosts Ohio State for a two-game series beginning on Saturday. Including this weekend's games, Wisconsin and Ohio State have met as the two top-ranked teams in the country in 15 straight games dating back to the 2023-24 season.

There's a tie for 6⃣ between @PWIH and @QU_WIH in this week's USA Hockey Women’s College Hockey Polls!

Polls: https://t.co/yMZDnlzgPf pic.twitter.com/CDy6UbO9RO

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 3, 2026

The Badgers earned a road sweep over the Buckeyes during their previous two-game series in Columbus. UW won a closely contested series-opener 2-1 before taking the series finale 6-1.

Much like Wisconsin’s series against Minnesota, its second go-around with Ohio State will look much different than the first. Five current Buckeyes are away from their team, including leading scorers Joy Dunne and Hilda Svensson, to compete in the Olympics for their respective national teams.

More Wisconsin Badgers News:

• Wisconsin men's hockey free-falling in national rankings

• Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey falls in rankings after sweep at home

• Wisconsin women's hockey sends off Olympians, sweeps Bemidji

• Wisconsin men's hockey suffers scoring slump, loses fourth straight