Wisconsin Badgers
Ohio State (Big Ten Quarterfinal)
Quick Six: No. 10/11 Wisconsin welcomes Ohio State for B1G Tournament quarterfinals
March 09, 2026 | Men's Hockey
Badgers prep for single-elimination quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 11
BUY TICKETS
MADISON, Wis. – The No. 10/11 Wisconsin men's hockey team, the fourth-seed for the 2026 Big Ten Tournament, welcomes fifth-seed Ohio State for a single-elimination quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday, March 11, at the Kohl Center.
The contest starts at 7 p.m. CT and streams on B1G+.
Here are six quick things to know before tuning in:
Rosters: Badgers || Buckeyes
1 - HOME ICE ADVANTAGE: Before traveling to Penn State last weekend, Badger fans set a Kohl Center hockey attendance record in UW's most recent home game on Saturday, Feb. 21, when 15,511 showed up for senior night against then-No. 2 Michigan.
The game marked UW's 47th Kohl Center sellout, but its first since the Kohl Center ice was shrunk to NHL size and the capacity increased to 15,511. UW welcomed over 28,000 fans at the Kohl Center during the weekend, and it currently averages 10,136 fans per game to rank second in the nation.
The attendance set the Big Ten hockey record for a home crowd arena crowd.
A record-breaking weekend at the Kohl Center!!!
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 24, 2026
Thanks to those who made it so special 👏 pic.twitter.com/WYR2qLqZ0J
The Badgers also had over 2,300 Crease Creatures in attendance at the game on Saturday, the most dating back to at least 2013-14.
This week, over 3,000 students are expected to attend Wednesday's contest, which would mark the largest student crowd in Kohl Center men's hockey history. To celebrate, Coach Hastings and Wisconsin men's hockey staff members wil be handing out pizza from Papa John's to students waiting in line – come early!
"This building is a pretty special place when it's full," Head Coach Mike Hastings said. "We've got to do our part, but the Crease Creatures, this community and this state, has done an unbelievable job at putting their arms around us over the back half of this season. They've come out and watched us play, and we're going to need that on Wednesday. If you don't have tickets, go get them – we'd love to see you in the building."
2 - DEPTH ON DISPLAY: In last weekend's series at Penn State, nine different Badgers scored, including seven different skaters who found the back of the net in Thursday's 7-3 victory. Quinn Finley, Grady Deering, Vasily Zelenov, Simon Tassy, Adam Pietila, Ryan Botterill and Blake Montgomery all lit the lamp once over the weekend, with Quinn Finley and Gavin Morrissey both netting a goal each night and Oliver Tulk scoring twice in Friday's 5-2 win.
HE GOT DAT DAWG IN HIM 🐶
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 7, 2026
Finley (@quinnfinley2) with his second goal of the series and 15th of the year!
🍎: Christian Fitzgerald & Gavin Morrissey pic.twitter.com/YagiW2pt9S
Eight additional Badgers also got on the scoresheet with assists: Joe Palodichuk, Jack Phelan, Weston Knox, Finn Brink, Ben Dexheimer, Christian Fitzgerald, Jack Horbach and Luke Osburn. Sophomore forward Knox had three assists in Thursday's game, marking his first career three-point game.
Smooth as Botter 🧈😉
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 6, 2026
The sophomore with his ninth!
🍎: Oliver Tulk & Weston Knox pic.twitter.com/Ifm4FXX5lI
Of the 17 Badgers on the scoresheet, seven notched both at least one goal and a assist during the series. Twelve skaters had multi-point series, with six skaters tallying three points each and the other six each tallying two.
Twenty three assists were awarded to Badgers over the series, and of those 23, 10 were earned by UW defensemen. Through 34 games, Wisconsin defensemen boast 21 goals and 94 points, the most for a UW D corps since the 2018-19 team tallied 28 and the most points since the 2011-12 squad posted 98 points from its defensemen.
FIRE US UP, VAS 🔥
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 6, 2026
The freshman nets his fifth of the year!
🍎: Ben Dexheimer & Joe Palodichuk pic.twitter.com/JfrMyAYqjF
Last year, Badger blue liners accounted for nine goals and 64 points.
Depth scoring has helped the Badgers share fifth in the nation with a 3.79 goals-per-game scoring average and 129 overall goals, which are tied for the most since the 2009-10 team had 171.
3 - POSTSEASON PICTURE: The Badgers will open the Big Ten tournament against Ohio State for the third consecutive year. UW dropped best-of-three series to the Buckeyes in the past two seasons, winning Game 1 last year before dropping the next two contests at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. UW lost Game 1, won Game 2, then fell in game three in 2024 at the Kohl Center.
"For us, we've got to go out and be the best version of ourselves," said Hastings about getting ready for the postseason. "At times during the season we have been, and at others, we haven't. We had some guys in and out of the lineup when we went through that six-game stretch, had some guys step in and step up. We went through that six-game losing streak, and that can bruise you up a little bit ego wise. I liked how we've come out of it."
Wisconsin owns 13 postseason conference championships all-time, earning 12 WCHA tournament championships before winning the inaugural Big Ten tournament in 2014 with a title game triumph over Ohio State. UW also reached Big Ten title games in 2021 and 2017.
Home ice SECURED! ✅
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 6, 2026
Catch Big Ten quarterfinal hockey in Madison on Wednesday, March 11!
Season Ticket Holder presale Friday at 9 a.m. - General Public tickets on sale Friday at Noon pic.twitter.com/FIAHiUAROq
Looking at the tournament field, Michigan State won its third consecutive Big Ten regular-season title with 51 points, earning the No. 1 seed in the tournament and the bye into Saturday's semifinals. Second-seeded Michigan plays host to seventh-seeded Notre Dame, and fourth-seed Penn State welcomes fifth-seed Minnesota in the third and final quarterfinal.
Winners of each quarterfinal advance to Saturday's semifinal games at Michigan State and the highest other remaining seed. The semifinal is a one-game round with the winners advancing to the Big Ten championship game at the highest remaining seed.
Postseason starts Wednesday at the Kohl Center.
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 7, 2026
Badgers and Buckeyes at 7 p.m. CT (Times are ET on the graphic)
Tourney reseeds after quarterfinals with top two seeds left hosting semis next Saturday
Join us on Wednesday!!!
🎟️ https://t.co/dxUDGir5K2 https://t.co/ids7A0kkTu
UW also currently sits in 12th in the NCAA Percentage Index, or NPI, the official system for selecting and seeding teams for the NCAA tournament. Sixteen teams will make the national tournament, with all conference tournament winners receiving automatic bids, and the rest of the field determined by NPI placement.
"This is a time of the year where there's not a lot of motivation that comes from the coach, Hastings said. "Our group is driven from within – the leadership group – and I think that group's done a really good job, whether we've been in a good spot or when we went through that six-game stretch. They've done a good job at keeping this group together."
4 - LAST TIME OUT: Wisconsin finished the regular season with a B1G road sweep at No. 6 Penn State on Thursday and Friday, March 5-6, winning game one, 7-3, and game two, 5-2.
In game one, Penn State got on the board first, 6:25 into the first period, before Quinn Finley tied the game for Wisconsin at 9:11. PSU took a 2-1 lead on the power play at 10:56 into the first, but UW's Vasily Zelenov tied the game at two, 2:29 into the second. Continuing back-and-forth play in the second period, Grady Deering gave Wisconsin its first lead of the night at 4:14, but PSU tied it at three with 1:06 remaining in the middle frame.
Wisconsin took off running in the third period, scoring four goals in the final 20 minutes of play. Simon Tassy struck first four minutes in, before Ryan Botterill and Adam Pietila added goals at 6:24 and 13:52, respectively. Gavin Morrissey notched the Badgers' seventh goal at 17:32 on a five-on-three power play to seal a 7-3 win for UW.
Lucky number 7⃣ goals
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 6, 2026
Highlights from a B1G win at No. 6 Penn State! pic.twitter.com/Dga3xCYghb
In game two, Wisconsin got on the board first, 11:37 into the first period, with a goal from Quinn Finley. Twenty-two seconds into the second, Gavin Morrissey doubled UW's lead, before Oliver Tulk and Blake Montgomery added tallies at 1:29 and 4:52, respectively, to make it 4-0. Penn State scored its first goal of the game at 12:43 on the power play. It scored again at 13:56, making it a 4-2 game heading into the third. At 1:59 into the final frame, Tulk notched his second goal of the night to seal a 5-2 win for the Badgers.
Oh, how sweep it is 🧹
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 7, 2026
Badgers stood on business tonight! The highlights 👇 pic.twitter.com/P1XSVuQOhs
"We put ourselves in some tough spots this last weekend," said Hastings on the series at PSU. "We had two five-minute majors that we ended up having to kill, and we still won two hockey ganes on the road. We were able to get to a lead and sustain it, and even at times extend it. A lot of good things happened."
5 - SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES: The Buckeyes finished the regular season with a 12-20-2 overall record, going 8-15-1 in Big Ten play to finish fifth in the conference with 29 points. They enter the postseason after playing Notre Dame at home on Thursday and Friday, March 5-6, dropping game one, 5-4, in overtime before losing 4-3 in overtime in game two.
Freshman forward Jake Karabela leads the roster with 31 points (12g, 19a) in 34 games played, while junior forward Max Montes leads with 14 goals in 34 games. Junior goaltender Kristoffer Eberly has eight wins in 23 games played, accumulating a .881 save percentage and 3.41 goals-allowed on average.
The Badgers and Buckeyes' first regular-season meeting this year came in Madison on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14-15. UW dropped game one, 5-1, before rallying for a 6-5 overtime win on Saturday. The teams then met at Ohio State on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-14. The Badgers won the first game, 4-2, before losing game two, 3-2.
That's three straight wins for the Badgers!!! pic.twitter.com/qrz4hgdhVs
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 14, 2026
6 - HOW TO WATCH: Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CT, and the contest will stream on B1G+. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA, as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
