Michigan State hockey gets Big Ten tournament semifinals opponent

Michigan State hockey learned who its Big Ten Tournament semifinals opponent will be this weekend at Munn Arena.

The wait is finally over. After Michigan State hockey won its first Big Ten regular-season championship, it had a lot of waiting to do to see who it’d play in the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans earned the only first-round bye while the six other teams battled it out in best-of-three series this past weekend.

With those games complete, we now know who the Spartans will take on in the semifinals.

And it will be MSU- Ohio State in the Big Ten semis next week at Munn. Stay tuned for a Gametime announcement (check https://t.co/KfGywp4ccS for the most up-to-date info) pic.twitter.com/HVR9Ww99Xa

— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) March 11, 2024

Michigan State vs. Ohio State

In a shocking turn of events, the Spartans will host 7-seed Ohio State in their semifinals matchup. The game will be played at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing at 6:30 p.m. ET on March 16. The rest of the tournament is single-elimination, so the winner of this game will head to the Big Ten championship game the following weekend.

Michigan State and Ohio State have played four times already this season. The first two game series came in early November when Michigan State beat the Buckeyes 6-0 and 6-4 in Columbus. These two teams played again in East Lansing at the end of February and split their two game series this time. Ohio State won the first game 6-2 and the Spartans won the rematch 5-2.

You might think playing the 7-seed will be an easy win for MSU, but that isn’t the case. Sure the Buckeyes finished in last place in the regular season, but they are playing their best hockey right now. They obviously just beat 2-seed Wisconsin twice on the road just to get to this semifinals matchup. Ohio State also beat the Badgers twice at home towards the end of the regular season as well.

Then you have the 6-2 victory over MSU that I mentioned, and this shows they are playing some great hockey. Also, Ohio State’s only chance to make the NCAA tournament is by winning the Big Ten Tournament, so the Buckeyes will be playing desperate.

Potential championship opponent

If Michigan State hockey beats Ohio State, it would play the winner of Michigan and Minnesota. These two teams play this weekend at Minnesota, also in a single-elimination game. Since the Spartans are the 1-seed, they would host the championship game in East Lansing as if they win.

Can the Spartans sweep the Big Ten this year. They have never won the Big Ten Tournament in its history, so this would be another first for the program. Munn Ice Arena has already sold out for the game on Saturday, but it will be televised on Big Ten Network.