2025–26 Big Ten Conference ice hockey season

2025–26 Big Ten Conference
ice hockey season
2025–26 Big Ten Conference ; ice hockey season
Season	2025–26
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	Division I
Sport	ice hockey
Duration	October 3, 2025–; March 21, 2026
Number of teams	7
TV partner(s)	Big Ten Network
NHL Entry Draft
Regular Season
Season champions	Michigan State
Top scorer	Gavin McKenna
Big Ten Tournament
Tournament champions	Michigan
Runners-up	Ohio State
Tournament MVP	T. J. Hughes
NCAA Tournament
	Big Ten Conference ice hockey seasons; « 2024–25 2026–27 »

The 2025–26 Big Ten men's ice hockey season will be the 36th season of play for the Big Ten Conference's men's ice hockey division and will take place during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The season will begin on October 3, 2025, and the conference tournament is set to concluded on March 21, 2026.

Head coaches

After Jeff Jackson retired, Notre Dame promoted Brock Sheahan to fill the post.^[1]

Records

Team	Head coach	Season at school	Record at school	Big Ten record
Michigan	Brandon Naurato	4	67–42–9	35–31–6
Michigan State	Adam Nightingale	4	69–35–9	41–23–8
Minnesota	Bob Motzko	8	161–82–21	101–47–18
Notre Dame	Brock Sheahan	1	0–0–0	0–0–0
Ohio State	Steve Rohlik	13	221–177–45	108–114–23
Penn State	Guy Gadowsky	15	231–200–32	104–128–23
Wisconsin	Mike Hastings	3	39–33–5	23–23–2

Preseason

Head coaches were polled prior to the season and asked to both rank member programs as well as vote for all-conference teams.^[2]

Preseason Big Ten poll

Rank	Team
1	Michigan State
2	Penn State
3	Minnesota
4	Michigan
5	Wisconsin
6	Ohio State
7	Notre Dame

Preseason All-Big Ten

First Team	Position	Second Team
Trey Augustine, Michigan State	G	Kristoffer Eberly, Ohio State
Mac Gadowsky, Penn State	D	Paul Fischer, Notre Dame
Matt Basgall, Michigan State	D	Luke Mittelstadt, Minnesota
Cole Knuble, Notre Dame	F	Michael Hage, Michigan
Aiden Fink, Penn State	F	T. J. Hughes, Michigan
Quinn Finley, Wisconsin	F	Gavin McKenna, Penn State

Standings

2025–26 Big Ten ice hockey Standings v t e
	Conference record										Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	3/SW	PTS	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#5 Michigan State †	24	16	6	2	2	2	1	51	88	54	37	26	9	2	136	79
#3 Michigan *	24	17	6	1	4	0	1	49	96	66	40	31	8	1	181	96
#11 Penn State	24	12	10	2	1	3	1	41	86	82	37	21	14	2	136	117
#2 Wisconsin	24	14	10	0	3	0	0	39	95	84	39	24	13	2	142	115
Ohio State	24	8	15	1	1	5	0	29	78	100	37	14	21	2	119	134
Minnesota	24	7	15	2	0	2	2	27	61	79	36	11	22	3	97	125
Notre Dame	24	5	17	2	3	2	0	12	65	104	37	9	23	5	103	151
Championship: March 21, 2026 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated April 15, 2026

Non-Conference record

The Big Ten finished the year with an outstanding non-conference record, with the conference as a whole having winning records against every other conference except the NCHC.

Regular season record

Team	AHA	CCHA	ECAC Hockey	Hockey East	Independent	NCHC	Total
Michigan	4–0–0	0–0–0	2–0–0	2–0–0	0–0–0	1–1–0	9–1–0
Michigan State	0–0–0	4–0–0	2–0–0	3–1–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	9–1–0
Minnesota	0–0–0	1–1–0	0–0–0	0–1–1	1–1–0	2–3–0	4–6–1
Notre Dame	1–0–1	0–0–2	2–1–0	1–1–0	0–0–0	0–3–0	4–5–3
Ohio State	1–1–0	2–1–1	0–0–0	1–1–0	0–0–0	0–2–0	4–5–1
Penn State	1–1–0	0–0–0	1–1–0	0–0–0	4–0–0	2–0–0	8–2–0
Wisconsin	0–0–0	1–0–2	0–0–0	0–0–0	6–0–0	0–1–0	7–1–2
Overall	7–2–1	8–2–5	7–2–0	7–4–1	11–1–0	5–10–0	45–21–7

Conference tournament

Quarterfinals March 11^[3]			Semifinals March 14			Championship March 21

			1	Michigan State	2

			5	Ohio State	3*
2	Michigan	6

7	Notre Dame	1
						5	Ohio State	3
(Teams are reseeded after the Quarterfinal round)
						2	Michigan	7
3	Penn State	6

6	Minnesota	2
			2	Michigan	5

			3	Penn State	2
4	Wisconsin	1

5	Ohio State	7

Note: * denotes overtime periods.

NCAA tournament

Ranking

USCHO

Team	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	Final
Michigan	12	9	4	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	–
Michigan State	3	2	3	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	–
Minnesota	8	12	13	12	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–
Notre Dame	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–
Ohio State	16	16	16	14	17	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	–
Penn State	5	4	6	5	4	3	5	5	9	9	9	9	8	9	8	8	5	6	6	6	5	6	10	10	10	–
Wisconsin	20	18	17	17	14	10	7	7	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	5	8	13	13	13	12	11	10	12	12	–

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12 or 26.^[4]

USA Hockey

Team	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	Final
Michigan	12	7	3	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	–
Michigan State	3	2	4	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	5	–
Minnesota	7	12	14	12	18	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–
Notre Dame	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–
Ohio State	17	16	15	15	17	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	NR	–
Penn State	5	4	6	5	4	3	5	5	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	5	6	7	6	5	6	10	11	9	11	–
Wisconsin	19	18	17	16	14	9	7	8	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	5	7	11	12	14	13	11	11	12	12	4	–

Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.^[5]

NPI

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Final
Michigan	–	–	5	–	–	6	6	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	–
Michigan State	–	–	10	–	–	11	8	13	10	7	5	5	6	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	–
Minnesota	–	–	31	–	–	40	41	42	36	27	28	32	36	37	41	32	38	41	34	37	38	39	38	–
Notre Dame	–	–	42	–	–	54	55	56	54	52	53	53	52	53	54	52	53	52	53	53	52	51	51	–
Ohio State	–	–	12	–	–	41	14	25	24	30	30	33	31	33	32	34	29	27	29	23	23	19	19	–
Penn State	–	–	13	–	–	8	7	11	9	8	8	8	8	6	4	5	5	5	5	5	11	10	11	–
Wisconsin	–	–	1	–	–	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	7	10	14	15	15	13	12	12	12	7	–

Note: Teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.^[6]

Awards

Big Ten

Award		Recipient ^[7]
Player of the Year		T. J. Hughes, Michigan
Defensive Player of the Year		Matt Basgall, Michigan State
Goaltender of the Year		Trey Augustine, Michigan State
Freshman of the Year		Gavin McKenna, Penn State
Scoring Champion		Gavin McKenna, Penn State
Coach of the Year		Adam Nightingale, Michigan State
Tournament Most Outstanding Player		T. J. Hughes, Michigan
All-Big Ten Teams^[7]
First Team	Position	Second Team
Trey Augustine, Michigan State	G	Jack Ivankovic, Michigan
Matt Basgall, Michigan State	D	Tyler Duke, Michigan
Ben Dexheimer, Wisconsin	D	Jackson Smith, Penn State
T. J. Hughes, Michigan	F	Michael Hage, Michigan
Porter Martone, Michigan State	F	Brodie Ziemer, Minnesota
Charlie Stramel, Michigan State	F	Gavin McKenna, Penn State
Freshman Team	Position
Jack Ivankovic, Michigan	G
Jackson Smith, Penn State	D
Luke Osburn, Wisconsin	D
Porter Martone, Michigan State	F
Jake Karabela, Ohio State	F
Gavin McKenna, Penn State	F

References

↑ "Hockey Welcomes Brock Sheahan As Catalino Family Head Hockey Coach". fightingirish.com. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
↑ "Michigan State chosen top team in 2025 Big Ten preseason coaches poll; preseason all-conference teams also unveiled". USCHO. September 26, 2025. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
↑ "Bracket Announced for 2026 Big Ten Hockey Tournament". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. March 6, 2026. Retrieved March 6, 2026.
↑ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
↑ "USA Hockey Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
↑ "Men's Division I National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index". USCHO.com. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
1 2 "Big Ten Conference Announces Hockey Postseason Awards". Big Ten. March 18, 2026. Retrieved March 20, 2026.

External links

official website

[1] "Hockey Welcomes Brock Sheahan As Catalino Family Head Hockey Coach". fightingirish.com. March 17, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2025.

[2] "Michigan State chosen top team in 2025 Big Ten preseason coaches poll; preseason all-conference teams also unveiled". USCHO. September 26, 2025. Retrieved September 26, 2025.

[3] "Bracket Announced for 2026 Big Ten Hockey Tournament". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. March 6, 2026. Retrieved March 6, 2026.

[4] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved April 3, 2026.

[5] "USA Hockey Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved April 3, 2026.

[6] "Men's Division I National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index". USCHO.com. Retrieved April 3, 2026.

[Big2025-7] 1 2 "Big Ten Conference Announces Hockey Postseason Awards". Big Ten. March 18, 2026. Retrieved March 20, 2026.

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