(UW ATHLETICS) – The No. 4 Wisconsin men’s hockey team is Frozen Four-bound! The Badgers will face North Dakota in the national semifinals on Thursday, April 9, at 4 p.m. CT at T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. The game airs on ESPN2.
Here are quick things to know before tuning in:
Six-time NCAA champion Wisconsin is in its 28th NCAA Tournament appearance, the eighth-most in the nation. UW officially boasts a 39-24-2 mark all-time in NCAA tournament action, with its .615 NCAA win percentage ranking sixth all-time. Its six titles rank fourth all-time.
This year’s Frozen Four features the top four teams with the most all-time NCAA championships, including the Badgers (six), North Dakota (eight), Michigan (nine) and Denver (10).
In the national semifinals, UW will face third-overall-seed and former Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference rival, North Dakota. The Badgers and Fighting Hawks have played each other three times in NCAA Tournament history, with North Dakota winning each time. Their first postseason meeting was on March 27, 1982, when UND beat UW, 5-2, in the national championship game in Providence, Rhode Island. In the 2008 regional final in Madison at the Kohl Center on March 30, UW fell, 3-2, in overtime to North Dakota, before losing, 5-2, to the Hawks in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati on March 28.
Overall, UW leads 87-73-13 in all-time meetings between the teams. Wisconsin most recently played North Dakota on October 14, 2023, in Grand Forks, a 2-0 loss in the 2023 Icebreaker Tournament title game.
If Wisconsin moves on to the national championship game, it’ll potentially face a familiar NCAA tournament opponent.
UW and top overall seed Michigan are Big Ten conference rivals who have faced each other several times in the postseason since the NCAA Tournament started in 1949, with UW owning a 2-3-0 NCAA tournament record versus UM. The Badgers and Wolverines first met in the tournament in 1977, when UW claimed its second national championship on March 26 with a 6-5 overtime win versus Michigan in Detroit. The teams met again on April 2, 1992, when Wisconsin won, 4-2, over UM in the national semifinals in Albany, New York. The Badgers then lost in the second round of the 1993 tournament, a 4-3 overtime loss to Michigan in Detroit on March 27, before also being bested by the Wolverines in the second round of the 1995 tournament, a 4-3 loss in Madison. The teams’ most recent meeting in the NCAA tournament came on March 25, 2005, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where UM won, 4-1, in the first round.
Overall, UW has a 73-95-15 record against the Wolverines, including going 64-66-9 in the modern era since 1963, facing them four times in regular-season play during the 2025-26 season. UW began the season series by splitting a weekend with then-second-ranked UM in Ann Arbor on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8, losing game one, 7-4, before winning game two, 6-1. When then-No. 2 Michigan came to Madison on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, the teams split again, with UW winning game one, 4-1, before dropping game two, 3-1.
Denver, which will face Michigan in the second national semifinal game, is also a historic postseason opponent for the Badgers, as the teams have faced each other three times, with the Badgers owning a 3-0 NCAA tournament record over the Pioneers. UW and DU first met in the NCAA tournament in the 1972 third-place game on March 18 in Boston, where Wisconsin won, 5-2. The Badgers then won their first national championship on March 17, 1973, in Boston, a 4-2 win over the Pioneers. UW and DU’s most recent meeting came on March 29, 2008, a 6-2 Wisconsin win in the first round at the Kohl Center. All-time, UW has a 76-66-13 record over its former WCHA foe, with the teams’ last meeting coming Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25-26, 2024, in Denver.
With a thrilling overtime win over top-seed Michigan State in the Worcester Regional Final on Saturday, March 28, regional third-seed and 12th-overall-seed Wisconsin advanced to its 12th official Frozen Four and first since 2010.
Senior defenseman and team captain Ben Dexheimer’s point shot deflected and found its way into the net 24 seconds into overtime to send the Wisconsin men’s hockey team to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over MSU.
After posting standout performances against Dartmouth and Michigan State, Dexheimer, Finley and Morrissey were the three Badgers on the six-person Worcester regional All-Tournament team.
North Dakota heads into the Frozen Four with a 29-9-1 record, going 17-6-1 in NCHC play to earn the conference regular season championship. To advance to the Frozen Four, the Sioux Falls Regional top-seed Fighting Hawks defeated fourth-seed Merrimack, 3-0, in the regional semifinals, then beat third-seed Quinnipiac, 5-0, in the final. Senior forward Ellis Rickwood leads the roster with 36 points (8g, 28a) in 34 games played, while senior forward Dylan James leads with 21 goals in 39 games played. Freshman goaltender Jan Špunar has 20 wins in 27 games played, accumulating a .917 save percentage and 1.90 goals-allowed on average.
Big Ten tournament champion and top-overall seed Michigan heads to Las Vegas with a 31-7-1 record, going 17-6-1 in Big Ten play. The Wolverines’ journey to the Frozen Four began in Albany, New York, where they beat fourth-seed Bentley, 5-1, in the regional semifinals before earning a 4-3 victory over second-seed Minnesota Duluth in the finals to advance. Hobey Baker top-three finalist and senior forward T.J. Hughes leads the roster and sits second in the nation with 56 points (21g, 35a) in 39 games played, while sophomore forward Will Horcoff leads with 25 goals in 39 games. Freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic has 25 wins in 34 games played, accumulating a .923 save percentage and 2.13 goals-allowed on average.
NCHC tournament-champion Denver boasts a 27-11-3 overall record, going 17-6-1 in conference play. The Loveland Regional second seed advanced to the Frozen Four with a 5-0 win over regional third-seed Cornell before beating defending national champion and regional one-seed Western Michigan, 6-2, in the final. Hobey Baker top-three finalist and junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp leads the roster in both goals and points with 18 and 39, respectively. Freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks has 14 wins in 14 starts and has 21 overall games played, accumulating a .958 save percentage and 1.12 goals-allowed on average. Denver enters on an 11-game win streak.
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