Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh discusses the new class of Hall of Fame members.
Only once before has the Border Battle schedule featuring University of Wisconsin hockey against Minnesota looked the way it will in the upcoming season.
The Badgers and Gophers men’s and women’s teams will play each of their two-game series on the same weekend in the same city. Halloween weekend meetings are scheduled for Madison, while a return trip to Minneapolis awaits at the end of January.
Big Ten changes men’s hockey playoff format with eye toward NCAA Tournament
The Big Ten announced 24-game schedules for its men’s hockey teams Friday. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association slate for women’s hockey was revealed in May.
Wisconsin and Minnesota are set to replicate a scheduling symmetry first seen in the 2008-09 season. Then, the teams played men’s and women’s series in Madison on the weekend of Oct. 24-26, and the Gophers hosted on the weekend of Feb. 6-8.
The Badgers will host Minnesota in the first week of Big Ten play this season, with men’s games at the Kohl Center on Thursday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Nov. 1. The women’s games at LaBahn Arena are scheduled for Friday and Saturday that weekend.
Badgers forward Tyson Dyck, left, tries to work the puck free from Minnesota forwards Aaron Huglen (7) and John Mittelstadt during a Nov. 8, 2024, game at the Kohl Center.
The Gophers have their men’s and women’s home games against Wisconsin set for Friday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Jan. 31.
The Border Battle has been contested with both men’s and women’s games in the same city on the same weekend four other times besides the 2008-09 season — in February 2000, February 2008, November 2010 and February 2021. All of those were in Minneapolis and the last of those sets was played without fans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are some other items to know about the 2025-26 Badgers men’s hockey schedule.
The Big Ten opener against Minnesota is one of three Thursday home games in the regular season for Wisconsin. An exhibition game against the USA Hockey National Team Development Program is also scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 9.
Explore BadgerExtra’s All-Badgers Quarter Century Teams and top games of the past 25 years
The most Thursday home games the Badgers have played in a season is three in 1976-77. They also have one Thursday road game — March 5 at Penn State — because contests in the final week of the Big Ten regular season are being moved up to Thursday and Friday to provide an extra day of rest before the conference playoff quarterfinals are played the following Wednesday. That’s part of a new, shorter postseason format the league announced Aug. 6.
Expect to see more basketball games played on Friday and Saturday nights in future years as part of the Big Ten’s TV partnerships. That could mean more hockey games moving away from the traditional Friday and Saturday window at shared venues like the Kohl Center and Ohio State’s Value City Arena, plus other campuses that prefer not to play basketball and hockey games simultaneously for staffing or parking reasons.
Wisconsin has two homestands of three consecutive weeks but never has to travel on consecutive weekends. Nonconference home series against Minnesota State (Oct. 16-17) and Alaska (Oct. 24-25) precede the Big Ten opener against Minnesota.
Meet our Wisconsin men’s hockey All-Badgers Quarter Century Team
The Badgers also host Alaska Anchorage (Jan. 9-10), Michigan State (Jan. 15-16) and Penn State (Jan. 23-24) in a second-half string. The series against the Spartans and the Nittany Lions will bring top NHL prospects to the Kohl Center: Michigan State freshman forward Cayden Lindstrom was the No. 4 selection in the 2025 draft by Columbus and incoming Penn State forward Gavin McKenna is the consensus pick to go No. 1 next year.
The Badgers start the schedule Oct. 3-4 at Lindenwood, which earned a surprising victory at the Kohl Center on opening night last season.
5 biggest games for Wisconsin men’s hockey in past 25 years
The series against Minnesota State is the first in a two-year commitment with Badgers coach Mike Hastings’ former team. Wisconsin is set to travel to Mankato, Minnesota, in 2026-27.
The Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee on Dec. 28-29 includes defending NCAA champion Western Michigan, Boston College and Lake Superior State.
As of Aug. 22, 2025
Wisconsin’s Jake McCabe clears the puck in front of Wisconsin goalie Landon Peterson and Northern Michigan’s Stephan Vigier during a 2011 game in Madison.
Wisconsin’s Jake McCabe loses his stick in a collision with Northern Michigan’s Jake Baker during a 2011 game in Madison.
Wisconsin goalie Landon Peterson tries to control the puck as Northern Michigan’s Dylan Walchuck battles Wisconsin defenseman Jake McCabe for position during a 2011 game in Madison.
Wisconsin’s Jake McCabe, Justin Schultz and Mark Zengerle celebrate Schultz’s goal against Minnesota-Duluth during a 2011 game at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin’s Jake McCabe’s shot is blocked by Minnesota’s goaltender Adam Wilcox during a 2013 game in Minneapolis.
North Dakota defenseman Paul LaDue battles against Wisconsin defenseman Jake McCabe during their 2014 NCAA Tournament regional semifinal in Cincinnati.
Michigan’s Derek DeBlois and Wisconsin’s Jake McCabe compete for the puck during a 2014 game at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin defenseman Jake McCabe becomes entangled with Denver left wing Gabe Levin as they pursue the puck behind the net during their 2012 game in Denver.
Denver center Nick Shore uses his stick to clear the puck after landing on Wisconsin defenseman Jake McCabe during their 2012 game in Denver.
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Badgers forward Tyson Dyck, left, tries to work the puck free from Minnesota forwards Aaron Huglen (7) and John Mittelstadt during a Nov. 8, 2024, game at the Kohl Center.
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