Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Bracket Announced
Ohio State earns top seed; Minnesota, Notre Dame and Penn State claim home ice in first round
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten announced on Saturday the bracket for the 2019 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, with Big Ten Champion Ohio State collecting the top seed after earning its first Big Ten title. The 2019 Big Ten Tournament will feature a three-weekend format with all games taking place on the campus of the higher-seeded teams.
The tournament will open March 8-10 with three best-of-three quarterfinal series, as No. 2 seed Notre Dame will host No. 7 seed Michigan State, No. 3 seed Minnesota will entertain No. 6 seed Michigan and No. 4 seed Penn State will host No. 5 seed Wisconsin. The Badgers and Wolverines tied for fifth place in the final standings, but Wisconsin claimed the No. 5 seed due to its 2-0-2 record against Michigan.
As the top-seeded team, Ohio State will have a bye to the single-elimination semifinals, which are scheduled for March 16-17. The highest-seeded team advancing from the quarterfinals will host the second-highest advancing seed, while the lowest-seeded advancing team will play at Ohio State.
The highest-seeded team remaining after the semifinals will host a championship game scheduled for the weekend of March 23-24.
Minnesota and Michigan’s quarterfinal matchup will be streamed on BTN2Go and air on both Fox Sports North PLUS and FS Detroit PLUS, while the other quarterfinal matchups will be available on BTN Plus. The semifinal rounds will be televised live on BTN and streamed on the FOX Sports app and BTN2Go, along with the championship game on either March 23 or March 24. BTN’s full coverage details will be announced next week.
The quarterfinal schedule can be found below, while the complete tournament bracket can be found in the attachment.
2019 BIG TEN HOCKEY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
March 8-10 | Best-of-three series
#7 MICHIGAN STATE AT #2 NOTRE DAME
Game 1: Friday, March 8 – 7 p.m. ET
Game 2: Saturday, March 9 – 7 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, March 10 – 7 p.m. ET (if necessary)
#6 MICHIGAN AT #3 MINNESOTA
Game 1: Friday, March 8 – 7 p.m. ET
Game 2: Saturday, March 9 – 5 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, March 10 – 5:30 p.m. ET (if necessary)
#5 WISCONSIN AT #4 PENN STATE
Game 1: Friday, March 8 – 8 p.m. ET
Game 2: Saturday, March 9 – 6 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, March 10 – 6 p.m. ET (if necessary)