Where does Penn State men’s hockey stand on its quest to becoming Big Ten champions?
Penn State welcomed Minnesota into Pegula Ice Arena this weekend for its final regular season series of the season with a ton on the line.
The two teams were tied at the top of the Big Ten standings and Penn State needed wins, both for the conference and in the national ratings — and Penn State delivered.
The Nittany Lions were unbeaten on the weekend, with a tie on Friday, followed by a thrilling victory on Saturday.
Here is where Penn State stands in both the Big Ten and nationally after a big weekend at home in its regular season finale..
Big Ten standings
Penn State entered the weekend tied with Minnesota in the Big Ten, but concluded the weekend as the sole leader in the conference, taking five of the possible six points from the Golden Gophers.
Penn State concluded the season with 41 points, the most the Nittany Lions have ever finished with in the current seven-team Big Ten.
Penn State finished the 2017-18 season with 35 points and the 2016-17 season with 34.
But even though the Nittany Lions have played their final games of the regular season, the rest of the conference hasn’t, meaning Penn State is going to have to watch from home to see if it can capture its first ever Big Ten regular season title.
Penn State has clinched at least the No. 3 seed in the conference, meaning the Nittany Lions will host a game in the Big Ten tournament.
Minnesota and Ohio State are currently tied for second in the conference with 37 points.
In order for Penn State to capture the title, the Nittany Lions need these two teams to not earn more than four points this weekend.
Should either the Buckeyes or Golden Gophers finish with 41 points, tying Penn State’s total, the Nittany Lions will win the title as they hold a tiebreaker over both teams.
If Penn State ends up winning the regular season title, the Nittany Lions will be guaranteed home ice throughout the Big Ten tournament and will have a first round bye.
PairWise rankings
Penn State also had a great weekend in the PairWise rankings, as the win and tie, moved them up one spot to No. 7 in the PairWise rankings.
But more importantly, according to College Hockey News’ PairWise Probability Matrix, the Nittany Lions have clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to this weekend, the Nittany Lions were only given an 87 percent chance to make the 16 team field.
Penn State received a lot of help from around the country this weekend, just like it did in the Big Ten.
This is the earliest Penn State has ever been locked into the NCAA tournament and won’t have to play its way during the Big Ten tournament.
That being said, Penn State will still be playing for seeding.
If the NCAA tournament started today, Penn State would be a No. 2 seed in the Allentown region.
The Nittany Lions could potentially play Clarkson, Bemidji State or Northeastern in the opening round of the tournament.
The College Hockey News College Hockey News’ PairWise Probability Matrix says that the Nittany Lions could still finish anywhere from No. 4 to No. 13 in the ratings, but the Nittany Lions have the highest chance of finishing at No. 7, 8 or 9, which could be important as that is the cutoff between being a No. 2 and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The PairWise rankings will continue to change drastically over the next couple weeks, but the Nittany Lions can play in the Big Ten tournament knowing that they have locked up a place in the NCAA tournament.
USCHO.com rankings
Penn State gained two places to No. 9 in the latest USCHO poll.
The Nittany Lions are still the highest ranked Big Ten team in the poll as Ohio State is No. 10 and Minnesota stayed steady at No. 18.
Notre Dame, Michigan and Michigan State all received votes in the latest poll.
