MADISON, Wis. — The Badgers kick off post-season play this weekend (Mar. 3-5) when they travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a 2023 Big Ten Tournament best-of-three quarterfinal series against No. 4 Michigan.
Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:
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Michigan
1 - TOURNEY TIME: Wisconsin (13-21-0, 6-18-0 0-0-0 Big Ten), the seven seed, begins its postseason with a trip to second-seeded Michigan (20-11-3, 12-10-2 3-3-0 Big Ten) for the quarterfinals of the 2023 Big Ten Tournament. Ranked No. 4 in the nation, the Wolverines play host to the best-of-three series on Friday, Saturday and, if necessary, Sunday. Each game takes place at 6 p.m. CT. Each game will stream on B1G+.
The series winner advances to the semifinals on Saturday, March 11, which if the Badgers win would be at top-seeded Minnesota.
Wisconsin owns 13 conference tournament titles all-time, including most recently in 2014 when UW captured the inaugural Big Ten tournament in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Badgers also reached Big Ten title games in 2017 and 2021.
The winner of the Big Ten tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
2 - McCLELLAN: Junior goaltender Kyle McClellan stopped 47 shots at No. 10 Penn State last Saturday in UW's 2-1 victory to match his collegiate career high save total.
3 - ICE CEUL: Sophomore defenseman Corson Ceulemans has points in three consecutive contests, including goals in two of those. He's posted a career-best eight goals and is one point shy of his freshman-season total of 22 points that shared the team lead. Ceulemans sits two goals shy of becoming the first UW defenseman since Justin Schultz scored 16 in the 2011–12 season to reach double figures.
4 - BROCK STAR: Fifth-year senior Brock Caufield became the 11th Badger in school history to play in at least 170 games. If he plays at least two games this weekend, he will move up to a tie for fifth in games played at UW all-time.
Caufield leads the Badgers with 11 goals. If he finishes the season as UW's goal-scoring leader, paired with his brother, Cole, they would become the second set of brothers to lead the Badgers in goal scoring for a season, joining Mark and Peter Johnson.
5 - SCOUTING MICHIGAN: The Wolverines are coming off a 3-3 tie and 2-1 overtime loss to then-No. 20 Notre Dame last weekend. Michigan is on a four-game winless streak, having tied and lost to Ohio State the weekend prior.
Adam Fantilli leads the roster with 20 goals and 50 points, followed by defenseman Luke Hughes with 36 points. Erik Portillo tops the goaltending duo with a .908 save percentage and 3.01 goals against average.
The Badgers went 1-3-0 against the Wolverines this season, winning 6-3 on Dec. 2 at the Kohl Center during Suter Night.
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop for each game is set for 6 p.m. Stream the games live on B1G+ or listen on the radio on Friday and Saturday at 1310 WIBA. Sunday's game, if necessary, would air on Fox Sports 1070. Follow along on Twitter at @BadgerMHockey
