The Ohio State Men’s Hockey team looks good to make the NCAA tournament after a road sweep of Michigan State this past weekend.
Just two weeks after sitting in the final at-large spot for the NCAA Tournament, the Buckeyes are up to No. 9 in the PairWise Rankings. That spot has Ohio State solidly in the field, with no need to be concerned about bid thieves.
Michigan State is a solid team, and a road sweep over the Spartans is good for any resume. That, combined with some weakening of the bubble, put Ohio State in strong position moving forward.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed for the Buckeyes yet. This weekend, they close the regular season against Wisconsin. While the Badgers might have a great Men’s Hockey pedigree–including six National Championships and the first-ever Big Ten title in 2014–they are not the best of teams this year. Wisconsin sits at No. 33 in the PairWise Rankings, and a home series against the Badgers is dangerous.
The Buckeyes have enough bubble wiggle room now that they might be able to survive one loss (or tie) against Wisconsin, but it’s far from guaranteed. A sweep, however, would go a long way towards locking up a tournament bid for Ohio State, but it will definitely help. And, of course, the Big Ten Tournament comes up the following week. The first round is a best-of-three series, but Ohio State will lock up the No. 1 seed if it sweeps Wisconsin this weekend. That would likely mean avoiding a potential bad loss in the single-elimination semifinals, assuming higher seeds win the opening round.
Nothing is guaranteed yet. We can’t say anything until we see the first round and how the bubble picture is shaping up. But Ohio State Men’s Ice Hockey looks to be two wins away from an NCAA Tournament bid. Once it gets closer and more guaranteed, we’ll map out where the Buckeyes are likely headed and who the opponents will be.
The Buckeyes have reached the NCAA Tournament each of the last three seasons. They exited in the first round in 2017 and 2019, but reached the Frozen Four in 2018. Ohio State looks good to extend that streak to four years this season, and the season-ending home series against Wisconsin will go a long way towards that.