Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Bracket Announced
Notre Dame earns top seed; Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State claim home ice in first round
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten announced on Saturday the bracket for the 2018 Big Ten Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, with Big Ten Champion Notre Dame collecting the top seed after earning its first Big Ten title. The 2018 Big Ten Tournament will feature a new three-weekend format with all games taking place on the campus of the higher-seeded teams.
The tournament will open March 2-4 with three best-of-three quarterfinal series, as No. 2 seed Ohio State will host No. 7 seed Michigan State, No. 3 seed Michigan will entertain No. 6 seed Wisconsin and No. 4 seed Penn State will host No. 5 seed Minnesota.
As the top-seeded team, Notre Dame will have a bye to the single-elimination semifinals, which are scheduled for Saturday, March 10. The highest-seeded team advancing from the quarterfinals will host the second-highest advancing seed, while the lowest-seeded advancing team will play at Notre Dame.
The highest-seeded team remaining after the semifinals will host a championship game scheduled for Saturday, March 17.
The quarterfinal schedule can be found below, while the complete tournament bracket can be found in the attached PDF.
2018 BIG TEN HOCKEY TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
March 2-4 | Best-of-three series
#7 MICHIGAN STATE AT #2 OHIO STATE
Game 1: Friday, March 2 – 7 p.m. ET
Game 2: Saturday, March 3 – 7 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, March 4 – 7 p.m. (if necessary)
#6 WISCONSIN AT #3 MICHIGAN
Game 1: Friday, March 2 – 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: Saturday, March 3 – 7:30 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, March 4 – 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
#5 MINNESOTA AT #4 PENN STATE
Game 1: Friday, March 2 – 7 p.m. ET
Game 2: Saturday, March 3 – 7 p.m. ET
Game 3: Sunday, March 4 – 7 p.m. (if necessary)
