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Wisconsin's Jack Gorniak (11) tries to get a shot past Minnesota goalie Justen Close (1) during the team's hockey game at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. on Saturday Feb. 11, 2023. Wisconsin won, 3-1. Uw Minnesota Hockey 1 Feb 11 2023 Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Wisconsin hockey poll moves sets up massive Border Battle

Originally posted on Wisconsin Badgers on SI
By Kedrick Stumbris | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 8:07 PM ET

Putting together back-to-back wins to sweep non-conference opponents has been a challenge of late for the Wisconsin men's hockey team. The Wisconsin Badgers opened the season by twice winning over the Lindenwood Lions and securing UW's first non-conference sweep in seven tries, dating back to November of 2023. Results from two weekends ago, however, made it clear the Badgers had not quite gotten that monkey off their back.

A pair of ties against the Minnesota State Mavericks, where Wisconsin failed to score first in either contest, prevented the Badgers from putting together a proper winning streak. As the Alaska Nanooks traveled to Madison this past weekend, it was obvious that nothing was guaranteed.

Wisconsin won Friday's series-opener over Alaska, but fell behind early on Saturday. It ultimately took a third-period rally, but the Badgers prevailed, ending a streak of nine losses in which opponents scored first.

"It was a big weekend for us, you start off, and part of it is trying to learn how to win. And that's not easy," Wisconsin hockey head coach Mike Hastings said Saturday in a post-game interview. "And what I think we saw this weekend is we found ways. Now, last weekend, we fought from behind... couldn't quite get over the hill. And this weekend I though we did. And that is what we're looking for."

UW's wins, improved its record to 4-0-2 on the year, and set up a monumental series against a noted rival.

Wisconsin men's hockey is second-largest riser in weekly polls

Mens D1 Poll for Oct 27, 2025 pic.twitter.com/d4a3EYkgG1
— USCHO.com (@USCHO) October 27, 2025

The USCHO.com poll and the USA Hockey poll came to parity in ranking Wisconsin hockey this week. UW is up to 14th in both polls. Its three-spot move up is the second-most of any team in the USCHO poll. Wisconsin tied with the UConn Huskies as teams with the second-most upward trajectory in the USA Hockey poll.

The only other team to move up more dramatically in either poll was the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. No. 10/11 Duluth rose eight spots in both sets of rankings after sweeping Wisconsin's next opponent–the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Gophers suffered a pair of home losses, each by three goals, at the hands of the Bulldogs. As a result, No. 18/19 Minnesota took the most dramatic fall in the rankings of any team this week. It was the first time the Gophers had been swept in any series in two years.

Minnesota now travels to play the team that swept the Gophers two years ago: the Wisconsin Badgers. UMN has not been swept in back-to-back weekends since closing the 2017-18 season with back-to-back series hosted by the Penn State Nittany Lions, in which PSU took four straight over the Gophers.

The last time Minnesota was swept in back-to-back weekends by different opponents was in January of 2009. The Gophers were first swept by Minnesota State, then by the Wisconsin Badgers the following weekend.

Wisconsin and Minnesota meet this weekend in a ranked-on-ranked matchup for the fourth time in five series.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Badgers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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