Around the Big Ten college hockey: Week of Dec. 5

A thrilling weekend of Big Ten college hockey is in the books and there were plenty of good matchups that took place with some highlight reel moments.

The Big Ten conference currently has three teams ranked in the top ten and continues to be one of the most competitive conferences in the country. Let's take a look around the prestigious Big Ten conference.

Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers continue to roll in the Big Ten play after sweeping the weekend series versus the No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions. The Badgers remained as the No. 6 team in the college hockey rankings even after beating a ranked opponent.

The Badgers were led by forward Carson Bantle who scored one goal in each period off the third line for a hat trick which was the Badgers’ first hatty of the season.

They are now on a four-game win streak after back-to-back Big Ten Sweeps and will not head into a long extended three-week break.

Michigan State Spartans

The Michigan State Spartans have been trending up in the rankings recently and continued their strong play this past weekend with a series sweep over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The Spartans remained at No. 7 in the rankings and have the best team record so far in the Big Ten.

They were led by their Freshman goaltender Trey Augustine who made 31 saves in their 2-1 victory holding a shutout for 59 minutes and 46 seconds. Austine was also named Big Ten's first star this week.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Golden Gophers had a solid weekend versus the Ohio State Buckeyes after defeating them 5-4 on Friday then tying them on Saturday 1-1.

The Gophers moved up a spot in the rankings and came in at No. 9 this week in the poll, but are still looking for more statement wins heading forward.

The next game for the Gophers will be on New Year's Day versus the USA U18 Development Team at home and this should be a very fun matchup for hockey fans to watch.

Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines were off this week and it affected their spot in the rankings just by one as they dropped to No. 15 in the country.

Sophomore defenseman Seamus Casey and sophomore forwards Frank Nazar III, Rutger McGroarty, and Gavin Brindley were selected to the preliminary roster for Team USA world junior rosters this past week.

The Wolverine's next game will be against the USA U18 Development Team at Yost Arena on Jan. 6 so they will have plenty of time to rest up and get ready for the second half of the season.

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions are coming off a tough weekend of play after getting swept in dominating fashion by the Wisconsin Badgers.

They now fall two spots in the rankings down to No. 19 and are really struggling to find wins in Big Ten play.

Their next matchup will be against Army at home after the three-week break then the following weekend they will go against a scorching hot Michigan State Spartans team, so the schedule does not get easier for the Nittany Lions.

Christian Holtzapple is a fourth-year student majoring in broadcast journalism, To contact him email cmh7064@psu.edu