After a week filled with holiday tournaments, the Big Ten is back to conference play. This means all teams are in action, featuring some interesting matchups and in-state rivalries. Probably the best matchup will be Wisconsin and Ohio State, so we can finally see which team belongs in the Big Ten basement. Penn State against Minnesota could also be interesting.

The Michigan-Michigan State series, probably not so much. While the Wolverines and Spartans haven’t met yet this season, Michigan State really hasn’t been playing well and the defense has struggled, meaning it’s doubtful the Spartans can contain the Wolverines.

But before conference play resumes, here’s a breakdown of the Big Ten conference standings:

1. Minnesota (9 points)
2. Michigan (8 points)
3. Penn State (6 points)
4. Wisconsin (4 points)
5. Michigan State (3 points)
6. Ohio State (0 points)

Michigan vs. Michigan State: Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m.; Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.

The infamous Michigan-Michigan State rivalry that managed to avoid the Great Lakes Invitational this year. The Wolverines are on a two-game winning streak and have just one loss in its last nine games. The Wolverines have some wins, but their schedule hasn’t been very difficult. Michigan is still struggling to stay consistent, but the Wolverines did receive good goaltending from Steve Racine at the GLI. Racine has a .918 save percentage but has shared netminding time with Zach Nagelvoort (.888 save percentage.) Kyle Connor is now leading the team with 25 points and 12 goals.

While Michigan State played well against Michigan last year, that was due to a solid defense and solid goaltending. Jake Hildebrand, who has a .902 save percentage, has still played well. But the defense hasn’t been good this year, which has caused much of Michigan State’s misfortune. Where the defense has failed, the offense has surprisingly picked up a little. Michael Ferrantino leads the team with 16 points. Michigan State has one win (that came in a split against Wisconson) over its last 12 games.

Prediction: Michigan sweeps

Minnesota at Penn State: Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m.; Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.

The Gophers are first in the conference, but that doesn’t say much at the moment. Minnesota, relying on freshmen, is a shell of the team that went to the Frozen Four in 2014. The Gophers’ inconsistency from last season has carried over to this year, but Minnesota has gotten a boost from freshman Eric Shierhorn in net. Hudson Fasching leads the Gophers with 17 points, while Leon Bristedt, who’s having a breakout year, has 16. The next top two scorers are freshmen.

As far as out-of-conference play goes, Penn State has done much better this year than was expected. The Nittany Lions weren’t supposed to be a force in just a few seasons of Division I hockey, yet that’s what they are. Part of that comes from scoring. But like with Michigan, Penn State’s strength of schedule is questionable. Curtis Loik and Kenny Brooks each have 18 points while Eamon McAdam (.923 save percentage) and Matthew Skoff (.914 save percentage) have split netminding duties.

Prediction: Series split

Ohio State at Wisconsin: Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. CT; Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. CT

This is the matchup of two teams I thought would battle to stay out of the Big Ten cellar. But now that I think about it, the basement might belong to Michigan State and Ohio State and Wisconsin could finish higher than projected. The Badgers quickly showed they were better than last year’s team, cemented with a solid win over North Dakota. Grant Besse has 14 points while Matt Jurusik has appeared in 15 games and has a .900 save percentage.

All eyes are on the Buckeyes for knocking off Boston College and Cornell in the Florida College Classic. All five Ohio State wins have happened in the last nine games. Nick Schilkey has 17 points and nine goals. While Ohio State has used a goaltending tandem of Christian Frey and Matt Tomkins, they haven’t been used in a traditional rotation.

Prediction: Ohio State sweeps

Friday, January 8th, 2016 - 9:00 am | Big Ten, Blogs, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings