And now the fun starts. The rest of college hockey is still fuming at the Big Ten, and non-conference play is now almost over for the six power conference teams. So far, all Big Ten teams have struggled – making it interesting to see who’ll do well in the league.

The Big Ten has a 29-32-11 non-conference record, third-worst in the country behind the WCHA and Atlantic Hockey. But if you take away the 23 non-conference wins against Atlantic Hockey, the Big Ten’s record drops to 17 non-conference wins.

Right now, Penn State has the best record at 8-2-3. The Wolverines are behind them with seven wins, while Minnesota and Michigan State are tied with four. The Badgers and Buckeyes both have three wins, but Ohio State’s nine losses are more than Wisconsin’s.

It’s pretty early to tell which teams will fare well in the conference, although competition may be closer than we think.

Michigan vs. Wisconsin: Dec. 4 at 7:35 p.m.; Dec. 5 at 7:35 p.m.

The Wolverines host a Wisconsin team that looks much different from last year’s Badger squad. Wisconsin hasn’t earned many wins, but they’ve been better. And they also earned an impressive win at North Dakota. Matt Jurusik has played well for Wisconsin, and it earned him the team’s starting role. You also can’t overlook Grant Besse, Luke Kunin, Adam Rockwood and Seamus Malone. Besse leads the team with 11 points.

Michigan has again been pretty inconsistent, and scored seven goals on Dartmouth before settling for a 1-1 tie against the Big Green last weekend. The Wolverines have a good offense, though, and two of the top freshmen in Cooper Marody and Kyle Connor. The pair lead Michigan with 12 points. While offense has fared well, goaltending has again been an issue for Michigan. Steve Racine has earned most of the playing time, and both Racine and Zach Naglevoort hold a .911 save percentage.

The Badgers aren’t great, but Michigan is still a question mark. What will happen, I don’t know.

Prediction: Michigan sweeps

Penn State vs. Michigan State: Dec. 4 at 7:07 p.m.; Dec. 5 at 3:07 p.m.

The Nittany Lions are so far the winningest team in the conference. Their offense hasn’t suffered, despite losing three of its leading scorers last year. The Nittany Lions haven’t lost in their last six games. Freshman Chase Berger is tied for the team lead with 14 points and leads the team with nine goals.

The Spartans are on a five-game winless streak, dropping matches to Boston College, Michigan Tech and North Dakota. This has been an odd season for the Spartans, with their offense over performing. Jake Hildebrand, once the Big Ten’s best goaltender, hasn’t been putting up the same numbers – and neither has the team’s defense.

Prediction: Series split

Minnesota vs. Ohio State: Dec. 4 at 7:05 p.m. CT; Dec. 5 at 7:05 p.m. CT

The Gophers host the Buckeyes this weekend. While Minnesota is on a three-game losing streak, the Buckeyes are on a two-game losing streak. But they’ve won three of the last five, and have been putting up impressive numbers over the past few games. Nick Schilkey has a team-high 13 points.

Sophomore Leon Bristedt is having a breakout season, and has 12 points so far. Eric Schierhorn has played pretty well in net, and earned the starting job shortly into the season. He has a .916 save percentage.

Prediction: Series split

Friday, December 4th, 2015 - 9:00 am | Big Ten, Blogs, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings