Penn State Men’s Hockey’s Big Ten Tournament Opponent, Broadcast Information

After a disastrous slide to close out the regular season, Penn State is gearing up for the Big Ten tournament, where it may need a win to reach the NCAA bracket.

The Nittany Lions locked in the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament, meaning they’ll host six-seed Minnesota in the quarterfinal round at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. on March 11, with the game broadcast on Big Ten Plus. Tickets are available at this link, with the cheapest options sitting around $18 as of Sunday.

With a win, the Nittany Lions would advance to face either No. 2-seed Michigan or No. 7-seed Notre Dame in the semifinal round, which would take place on Saturday.

A second victory would propel Penn State to the title game against either No. 1 Michigan State, No. 4 Wisconsin or No. 5 Ohio State, scheduled for March 21. The semifinals and finals will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.

To reach the NCAA tournament, six conference champions will earn auto-bids, while the next 10 highest ranked teams in the NPI will gather at-large bids. The Nittany Lions once sat in the top-five in NPI but have since dropped to No. 11, meaning their fate is still up in the air.

A win over the Golden Gophers would likely clinch a tournament spot, but with a loss things could get dicey. Penn State would then have to root against bid thieves for a chance at the national championship, though the odds are still strong.