Michigan State holds the top spot, but Michigan and potent Penn State challenge their dominance in a fierce, single-elimination tournament.
Who will win the Big Ten Tournament?
The Big Ten tournament is all set with all seven teams participating in the postseason.
Michigan State is the regular-season champion for the third consecutive time, the first time in program history the Spartans have hit a stretch of three straight in a row.
This year, the tournament has been shortened, as all games will be single elimination and stretch from March 11-21. Michigan State gets the lone bye and will play the lowest remaining seed at home on Saturday, March 14th, as reseeding will be dealt.
The Spartans are the one seed, but are they the favorite? It’s tough to tell. The Spartans finished just two points ahead of #2 Michigan and split the season series with them. Michigan State will have to be anchored by Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine, who has the nation’s fourth-best save percentage of 0.930, the best among any Big Ten goaltender for the junior.
But if Michigan can pull through to the final, there is a chance Michigan State can see Jack Ivankovic on the other end, who has been nearly as impressive. In just his freshman year, Ivankovic holds the second-best goals against average in the conference at 2.15, alongside a strong 0.922 save percentage.
The Wolverines are also heavy up top on their top forward line, with T.J Hughes and Michael Hage each fifth and sixth in the nation in points per game. Will Horcoff is above that point-per-game threshold as well, making it scary to match up against their top unit. The Wolverines now hold the NCAA’s best power play unit, at 29.8%. The top spot was previously held by Minnesota Duluth.
Besides the two favorites in Michigan and Michigan State, you can’t look beyond Penn State. A tough stretch of three losses in a row to close their regular season, but still the conference’s most dominant scorer and lottery draft pick in Gavin McKenna.
Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Minnesota have all featured high ceiling stretches of their season as well, leading way to another deep conference in the country.