Michigan hockey may be the No. 1 team in the nation in the USCHO and NPI rankings, but they fell short of a regular-season title and don’t have the clearest path to a Big Ten Tournament win.

But three wins can help the Wolverines solidify their status as the best in the nation, even if they’re No. 2 in the Big Ten as of now.

The Wolverines (26-7-1) face Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Big Ten Hockey Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. ET and will not be televised on a traditional channel, but streamed exclusively on BIG+.

Michigan finished with the most overall wins (26) and most conference wins (17) in the Big Ten, but finished second to Michigan State in points, relegating them to the No. 2 seed. As a result, the two-time defending-champion Spartans got a bye and head right into the semifinals, while the Wolverines play last-place Notre Dame to kick off the tournament.

Since the tournament reseeds winners for the semifinal round, it is not clear who Michigan will play if it wins. However, with the Spartans holding the No. 1 seed, a rematch between the top two teams in the conference can only happen in the final game, which will take place on Saturday, March 21.

Here’s what you need to know as Michigan hockey begins its quest for a Big Ten tournament title.

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame, Big Ten tournament time

• Date: Wednesday, March 11.
• Time: 7 p.m. ET.
• Location: Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor.

Michigan hockey vs Notre Dame, Big Ten tournament channel

• Time: 7 p.m. ET.
• Channel: N/A.
• Streaming: BIG+.

Wednesday’s game against Notre Dame will not be on a traditional television channel, but can be streamed on the BIG+ app.

Big Ten hockey conference tournament bracket

The Big Ten hockey conference tournament uses a three-round, single-elimination bracket that involves all seven conference teams, with the top seed earning a first-round bye. The remaining six teams then play a knockout round with the winners advancing to the semifinals.

Big Ten hockey 2026 standings

1. Michigan State (51 points).
2. Michigan (49 points).
3. Penn State (41 points).
4. Wisconsin (39 points).
5. Ohio State (29 points).
6. Minnesota (27 points).
7. Notre Dame (16 points).

For some programs, spring football has started in earnest, but for Michigan football, it will have to wait another week. But with practices on the horizon, college football pundits are starting to ask questions about what the upcoming season may look like, and among the questions is what Kyle Whittingham’s Wolverines will be in his first year.

On3’s popular show ‘Ari & Andy’ attempted to ask and answer that question on their latest episode.

As the duo of Ari Wasserman and Andy Staples mulled over various storylines in the coaching realm, once they got to the ‘newcomers’ — coaches who have taken over new programs — they started with Whittingham. For Wasserman, the big question is how quickly Whittingham can win in Ann Arbor?

“How much pressure is Kyle Whittingham to make sure that Michigan doesn’t lose whatever momentum that it had from winning the national championship and falling back into another 25 year period of being pretty good, but not great?” Wasserman said. “Because on one hand, this is a very critical moment in their program arc. But on the other hand, don’t you also have to give him the benefit of the doubt that, hey, what happened at the end of or during last year was highly dysfunctional in a way that we don’t really see very often in sports in general, let alone college sports? And you got hired during a weird time on the calendar. You probably weren’t anticipating coaching this year.