Wisconsin at Ohio State is a title rematch in October

It's October, and Wisconsin at Ohio State is already the most important weekend of the WCHA season. Last year the league title came down to two points between these two, and the national title came down to one goal. Nobody in Columbus has forgotten either.

The two-time defending champions visit the team they beat in March for a Friday-Saturday series at the OSU Ice Rink: 6 p.m. ET Friday, 3 p.m. ET Saturday. Both teams are 4-0.

The number

296 to 284. That's the gap between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State in this week's USCHO poll. The Badgers drew 16 first-place votes, the Buckeyes four. Twelve points is close enough that one weekend settles it, and this is the weekend.

Rivalry file

The last two meetings that mattered went one each. On Feb. 7, Ohio State won 4-1 in Madison, Wisconsin's first loss to the Buckeyes since November 2024. The Badgers had won the first two meetings that season, 2-1 and 6-1.

Then came March 23. Kelly Gorbatenko scored 78 seconds into the national final, Laney Potter added another six minutes in, and Ava McNaughton made 34 saves. Kassidy Carmichael and Jocelyn Amos tied it early in the third. Claire Enright won it late, 3-2.

That gave Wisconsin back-to-back titles, its ninth overall and its fifth in seven seasons. Mark Johnson put it plainly: "We did enough to get to the finish line."

What's different this time

Ohio State has a freshman in net. Rowan Houweling earned WCHA Rookie of the Week honors after her debut against Penn State, when the Buckeyes swept the Nittany Lions 2-1 in overtime and 2-1 in regulation. That's two one-goal wins against a top-five team, which is either a warning sign or a team that already knows how to close.

I lean toward the second. Amos won 71.8 percent of her draws in those openers, and a forward who wins that many faceoffs lets a young goalie see fewer chances off the draw. Nadine Muzerall, in her 11th season, has built the Buckeyes to win exactly this kind of game.

Wisconsin has done what Wisconsin does, including a 4-1 win over Boston University last Friday. The Badgers don't need to prove anything in October. That's what makes this series interesting: Ohio State does.

The call

Split, with the Buckeyes taking Friday. Home ice, a crowd that remembers March and a team that wants it more this weekend. Wisconsin takes Saturday, because I'm not betting against a Mark Johnson team twice in two days.

Watch the Friday game page for the lineups and the live score, and the Saturday game page for the rematch.

The W read: A split keeps Wisconsin at No. 1 and tells you nothing. An Ohio State sweep tells you the national title runs through Columbus this year.