February is right around the corner and that means that conference tournaments are right around the corner. The Big Ten put three teams in the Frozen Four last season(Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame). Three teams from the Big Ten even making the tournament seems like a big reach at this point in the year.
Ohio State @ Penn State
The Buckeyes swept Penn State on the road and moved up to the #4 in the national rankings.
Notre Dame @ Wisconsin
Notre Dame won the Friday matchup 6-4 then claimed a 3-2 victory in OT to sweep the Badgers on Sunday. The Badgers are last place in the Big Ten. Notre Dame is ranked eleventh nationally.
Minnesota @ Michigan State
Michigan State rode two 5-3 victories en route to a sweep of the visiting Gophers. Both teams are unranked. Michigan State moves up to fourth in the conference standings.
Conference Rankings
- Ohio State 29 points (4)
- Minnesota 21
- Notre Dame 20 (11)
- Michigan State 19
- Michigan 18
- Penn State 16 (15)
- Wisconsin 16
Tournament Watch
The winner of the Big Ten gets an auto-bid, nothing new there. Ohio State seems to be the only lock no matter what happens. Notre Dame needs to win consistently and look good doing so to put themselves in a position where they don’t have to win the Big Ten.
Minnesota has had a strong showing in-conference and could make the tournament with a conference tournament win. If Michigan State builds off of its strong weekend against Minnesota, they could be a team that sneaks in with a conference title.
Player of the Year
It’s gotta be Taro Hirose from Michigan State at this point. He tallied five assists this weekend to bring him to an impressive 40 points on his junior campaign. He’ll get signed by somebody next year as an undrafted free agent.
