Quick Six: NCAA men’s hockey regionals start Thursday

WORCESTER, Mass.– The Wisconsin men's hockey team is off to the NCAA Tournament! The Badgers will face Dartmouth in the regional semifinals on Thursday, March 26, at 4 p.m. CT at DCU Center. The game airs on ESPNU.

Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:

Rosters: Badgers || Big Green || Spartans || Huskies

1 - LET'S DANCE: The Badgers earned their second NCAA Tournament bid in three seasons under head coach Mike Hastings and officially their 28th bid all-time. They secured the No. 3 regional seed after racking up a 21-12-2 record.

LET'S DANCE! 🕺 pic.twitter.com/V6u11jJ56T
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 22, 2026

No. 3-seed Wisconsin will face No. 2-seed and ECAC tournament champion Dartmouth in the second of two regional semifinal match-ups in Worcester on Thursday. The first semifinal game will feature regional first-seed and third-overall seed Michigan State taking on No. 4-seed UConn at 12:30 p.m. CT.

The winner of each game will meet in the regional final on Saturday, March 28, at a time to be determined.

Our path starts Thursday pic.twitter.com/fDzihbucyz
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 23, 2026

2 - FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS: Six-time NCAA champion Wisconsin will officially make its 28th NCAA Tournament appearance, the eighth-most in the nation. UW officially boasts a 37-24-2 mark all-time in NCAA tournament action, with its .603 NCAA win percentage ranking sixth all-time. UW's six titles rank fourth all-time.

We've been waiting for this and we're ready to compete pic.twitter.com/xWC6NOH8GS
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 23, 2026

Wisconsin will play Dartmouth for the first time in school history. The Big Green boasts four NCAA Tournament appearances all-time, last making it in 1980. Dartmouth also competed in 1948, 1949 and 1979.

Connections between the programs are minimal. Former Badger assistant coach Grant Standbrook (1976-87) served as an assistant coach at Dartmouth (1966-70) before taking over the program as head coach (1970-75). He then served as the U.S. National Team assistant coach in the lead-up to the 1976 Olympics under head coach Bob Johnson, before joining the Badger coaching staff.

If Wisconsin moves on to the regional finals, it'll potentially face a familiar NCAA tournament opponent.

The regional's top seed and No. 3 overall seed is Big Ten conference rival Michigan State. UW has played MSU twice in the NCAA tournament, posting a 5-3 win in the first round on March 24, 1995, in Madison before losing 5-1 in the second round on March 25, 2001, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Overall, UW has a 67-71-4 record against the Spartans, splitting four times in regular-season play during the 2025-26 season. UW began the season series by sweeping the then-top-ranked Spartans in East Lansing on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21-22, winning game one, 5-4, and game two, 2-1, in overtime.

Also in the regional is the No. 4 seed UConn Huskies, who Wisconsin has never faced in an NCAA tournament game before. The Badgers and Huskies have only played each other twice all time, with UW winning both meetings – an 8-1 victory on Jan. 3, 1967, and a 4-3 win in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off tournament final on Dec. 29, 2024.

3 - WHY WE BELONG: The Badgers earned their at-large bid on the strength of their impressive record against the top teams in the nation. Wisconsin owns four wins over top-2 teams for the first time since the USCHO.com Poll began in 1997.

2 NCAA tournaments in 3 seasons under Mike Hastings - where we belong

🔴 4 wins over top-2 teams
⚪️ 5-1-0 road record versus top-6 teams
🔴 6 wins in last 9 game (3 over top-6 teams) pic.twitter.com/Gx2JaSMYvK
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 22, 2026

That includes a 2-2-0 mark against Worcester Regional No. 1-seeded Michigan State, with both wins coming on the road.

The Badgers reached 20 wins in a season for the 40th time and second time in three seasons during Mike Hastings tenure.

UW also went 5-1-0 on the road against top-6 teams with two wins over then-No. 1 Michigan State, two wins at then-No. 6 Penn State and one win over then-No. 2 Michigan.

4 - DYNAMIC DEFENSEMAN: Two Badgers – Ben Dexheimer and Luke Osburn – earned recognition among the best in the Big Ten from coaches and media as they received All-Big Ten honors.

Dexheimer became the third Badger defenseman to earn All-Big Ten First Team honors, while Osburn became the fourth UW rear guard honored on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. Osburn also earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades, and Dexheimer was UW's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient

Captain Ben Dexheimer voted All-Big Ten First Team defenseman

Tied for Big Ten's scoring lead among defenseman in league play and ranked second in all games pic.twitter.com/725q1AqHlv
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 18, 2026

Read more about the defensemen here.

Defenseman Luke Osburn among the Big Ten's best freshmen.

Second in the league, fourth in the nation among frosh defensemen in scoring. pic.twitter.com/WQ2ta7HFF3
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 18, 2026

5 - SCOUTING THE REGIONAL: Dartmouth heads into the NCAA Tournament with a 23-7-4 record. Most recently, the Big Green won the ECAC tournament title with a 2-1 overtime win against Princeton on Saturday, March 21. Sophomore forward and Hobey Baker top-10 finalist Hayden Stavroff leads the roster in scoring with 48 points and the nation in goals with 29 in 34 games played. Junior goaltender Emmett Croteau has 15 wins in 23 starts, accumulating a .924 save percentage and 1.88 goals-allowed on average.

Big Ten regular-season champion Michigan State enters the NCAA tournament with a 25-8-2 record, most recently losing 3-2 in overtime to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Freshman forward Porter Martone leads the roster with 24 goals and 47 points in 33 games played. Junior goaltender Trey Augustine, a 2026 Mike Richter Award top-3 finalist and a top-10 Hobey Baker finalist, has won 23 of 32 starts this season, accumulating a .929 save percentage and 2.09 goals-allowed on average. Senior Charlie Stramel is also a Hobey Baker top-10 finalist.

Regional fourth-seed UConn boasts a 20-12-5 overall record. The Huskies enter the tournament after losing 2-1 to Merrimack in the Hockey East tournament final on Saturday, March 21. Senior forward Ryan Tattle leads the roster with 32 points (13g, 19a) in 37 games played, while junior forward Joey Muldowney leads with 17 goals in 33 games. Senior goaltender Tyler Muszelik has 19 wins in 34 starts with a .927 save percentage and 2.21 goals-allowed on average.

6 - HOW TO WATCH: The Badgers will play Dartmouth on Thursday, March 26, at 4 p.m. CT. If Wisconsin wins, it will play the winner of UConn vs. Michigan State in the regional final on Saturday, March 28, at a to-be-determined time. UW's regional semifinal airs on ESPNU, while the regional final will air on a channel to be determined.

Audio play-by-play for both games can be found on 1310 WIBA in the Madison area, as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network App. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.