Wisconsin Men's Hockey Falls in Polls During Bye Week

After a momentary rise into the nation's top-five, Wisconsin men's hockey has returned to the same spot it held in the preseason rankings.

The Wisconsin Badgers (4-0-0, 0-0-0 Big Ten) rose in last week's polls after earning an impressive two-game series sweep over the Minnesota State Mavericks. That pair of wins over UW head coach Mike Hastings' former program bumped Wisconsin up two spots after a closer-than-expected series with the Robert Morris Colonials.

Following a bye week, the Badgers are down a spot, right back where they started.

Wisconsin Badgers Men's Hockey Ranked Sixth in National Polls; Sets up No. 5 vs. No. 6

Wisconsin lost only a handful of voting points in each poll, but teams at the top of the rankings consolidating additional votes squeezed UW out of the top-five, down to No. 6. The Western Michigan Broncos rose one spot, overtaking the Badgers, after WMU's home-and-home sweep of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The result sets up a No. 6 Wisconsin going on the road to visit No. 6 Western Michigan this weekend for an exhibition contest. The matchup is a rematch of last year's Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off championship game.

The night before the Badgers face the Broncos, WMU goes on the road to face the nation's new top-ranked team: the Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan visited the Denver Pioneers last weekend, sweeping the reigning national champions in a rematch of their Frozen Four meeting in the penultimate game of the 2025-26 season.

Wisconsin and Western Michigan play inside WMU's Lawson Arena on Saturday, October 24th. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. central. The game can be streamed on NCHC.tv.

The Badgers return to regular-season play on Friday, October 30th when they host Notre Dame for a two-game series inside the Kohl Center.