Big Ten Hockey Tournament To Debut New Format in 2026

Photo courtesy of Michigan State Athletics

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Change is coming to the Big Ten Hockey Tournament, which will have a new format in March 2026.

The postseason tournament, which determines the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, will shift to a two-week, single-elimination format with all games played on campus.

The 2025-26 regular season concludes with games on Thursday and Friday, March 5-6. All seven teams will qualify for the Big Ten Tournament with quarterfinals being held on Wednesday, March 11. Teams seeded No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 will host the No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7 seeds respectively. The No. 1 seed gains a bye into the semifinals.

Semifinals will take place on Saturday, March 14, hosted by the No. 1 seed and the highest advancing seed from the quarterfinals. The championship game will be held the weekend of March 20-21 and hosted by the highest remaining seed.

Michigan State defended its tournament title in 2025, recording a 4-3 double overtime victory over Ohio State in Munn Ice Arena.