Michigan State's Trey Augustine, left, guards the goal against Minnesota during the first period on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at Munn Arena in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

MSU Hockey Starts 2025-26 Season with Stellar Ranking

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 8:00 AM ET

Michigan State hockey is looking to be a national title contender again this upcoming season, and the preseason rankings seem to indicate that the Spartans will do just that.

On Monday, the USCHO released its preseason top 20 teams, and the voters collectively placed MSU at No. 3 in the country, only behind defending national champion Western Michigan and Boston University.

MSU received a total of 14 first-place votes out of 50 possible, the second-most in the poll after No. 1 WMU.

The preseason https://t.co/2QgdyNoa0Z Division I Men’s Poll is here! pic.twitter.com/sFJfyG9WuK
— USCHO.com (@USCHO) September 22, 2025

Key Returners

Michigan State is entering its fourth year of the Adam Nightingale era, with the last two seasons resulting in both regular season and tournament Big Ten championships. The Spartans will have to try to replace Hobey Baker Award recipient Isaac Howard, who is now with the Edmonton Oilers. Still, MSU has several key players from last season's squad coming back.

The biggest name is goalie Trey Augustine, a second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2023. He's entering his third year in East Lansing, and he made a jump from his freshman to his sophomore year. His save percentage increased from .919 to .929, and his GAA went from 2.82 to just 1.97.

MSU's top returning points-getter is senior forward Charlie Stramel, whose 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) last year ranked third on the team. He was also a first-round pick for the Minnesota Wild in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Ranked Opponents on Schedule

MSU is going to end up with a big-time test early on in the season. The Spartans' second series of the season is on the road against No. 2 Boston University. One of those games will be on national television, as well. Those two matchups are set for Oct. 17 and 18.

There are also several ranked Big Ten teams that the Spartans will see. The conference boasts No. 5 Penn State, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 12 Michigan, No. 16 Ohio State and No. 20 Wisconsin. Notre Dame is the only team in the B1G that isn't ranked, though the Fighting Irish did receive some votes.