The 4th seeded Wisconsin Badger hockey team faces 5th seeded Minnesota State in
John Ramage
the WCHA Final 5 Quarterfinals today in St. Paul, Minnesota. The winner faces top-seeded St. Cloud State on Friday afternoon.
The Badgers, who swept Minnesota-Duluth in the opening round in Madison, enter the Final 5 in a five-way tie for 16th in the Pairwise rankings. They can secure the league’s automatic berth in the 16-team NCAA field by winning the tournament. But the Badgers could be in good position with the NCAA if they can reach the WCHA title game.
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UW split four games with Minnesota State this season, two home losses in November, coming during Wisconsin’s 1-7-2 start. The Badgers won two overtime games at Minnesota State in January and is 18-5-5 in the last 28-games.
The Mavericks advanced to the final 5 by taking 2 of 3 games from Nebraska-Omaha in the first round.