Even with four of the Big Ten’s seven teams making the 16-team NCAA tournament field, there was a question about how good the conference truly was this season.
But the end of Friday night, with the four B1G teams scorching their first-round opponents by a combined score of 36-4 — Minnesota beat Canisius, 9-2, on Thursday; Ohio State beat Harvard, 8-1, on Friday; Penn State beat Michigan Tech, 8-0, on Friday; and, finally, Michigan hockey pasted Colgate, 11-1, on Friday night in Allentown, Pennsylvania — the only question was how many Big Ten teams would make the Frozen Four.