No. 10 Penn State hockey starts its BIg Ten Tournament journey on Wednesday, March 11. The Nittany Lions face Minnesota in a three-seed versus six-seed battle with puck drop slated for 7 p.m. EDT at Pegula Ice Arena.
Gavin McKenna waives preliminary hearing on the horizon of the Big Ten Tournament
Though the blue and white are the hosts for this matchup, the Golden Gophers cannot be underestimated heading into the game, especially as Penn State took its foot off the gas at the end of the 2025-26 regular season.
Minnesota is currently 7-15-2 in the conference, including three regular season losses to the Nittany Lions and just one win back in Nov. 2025.
The Big Ten, however, is a competitive conference this season with four teams finishing in the USCHO Division I Poll at the end of the regular season: No. 1 Michigan, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 10 Penn State, and No. 10 Wisconsin.
As for NPI rankings, the Wolverines and Spartans are the only teams in the top 10. The Nittany Lions are 11th, and the Badgers are 12th. The only way Wisconsin can secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament is by winning the conference tournament. For Penn State, it might find itself in a similar position depending on how the conference tournaments around the country pan out.
At first glance, Wisconsin's chances of that happening are close to zero. NCAA.com, though, labeled the Badgers as the Big Ten sleeper for the tournament.
"The Gophers are loaded with talent, but they have struggled to put it all together this season. But they have had things click a couple times late in the season, namely a 4-2 road win over No. 2 Michigan Thursday night and a home sweep over No. 8 Wisconsin in late January," Torin Smith wrote.
"The Gophers' 7-14-1 conference record reflects their inconsistency, but their No. 3-ranked powerplay shows their firepower. Minnesota is still a scary No. 5/6 seed in the Big Ten tournament and will be a handful for anyone unfortunate enough to meet them."
The Big Ten Tournament is also single-elimination style, meaning the Nittany Lions have just one chance in each round. Inconsistency and lack of solid regulation wins to end the season might manifest in the tournament. If that happens, they have to bank on a top-ranked team (e.g. Michigan or Michigan State) to win the conference tournament and keep an at-large bid available.