Big Ten alters its men’s hockey postseason format – InForum

The Big Ten Hockey Tournament, which determines the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, will shift to a two-week, single-elimination format with all games played on campus starting this season, the league announced Wednesday.

All seven conference teams will qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, with quarterfinals being held on Wednesday, March 11. Teams seeded No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 will be the host schools of the No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, respectively. The No. 1 seed will get a bye into the semifinals.

Semifinals will take place on Saturday, March 14, hosted by the No. 1 seed and the highest advancing seed from the quarterfinals. The championship game will be held the weekend of March 20-21 at the rink of the highest remaining seed.

Previously, the tournament lasted three weeks and started with three-game series.

Michigan State defended its tournament title in 2025, recording a 4-3 double overtime victory over Ohio State in Munn Ice Arena. The Gophers have won six regular-season Big Ten championships and won the conference tournament in 2015 and 2021.