The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ohio State University are no strangers in women’s hockey, playing together in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) since 1999.
In the more than 25 years facing off in the same conference, the Badgers and the Buckeyes have developed a rivalry grounded in different coaching styles, one-goal games and sheer determination to be the best.
Five years after the University of Minnesota-Duluth took home the first Women’s Ice Hockey National Championship in 2001, Wisconsin women’s hockey won its first national championship, defeating the University of Minnesota in 2006. Wisconsin continued to dominate the hockey world, taking home another victory in 2007 for a back-to-back championship win. They won again in 2009 and 2011 to rack up four national titles.
The Badgers loomed over the Buckeyes for years. Wisconsin consistently swept Ohio State at the time, holding a 2005-2009 win streak. Then, 2018 hit and the Buckeyes swept the Badgers in a two-game series.
The Buckeyes had found their spark. They made the Frozen Four for the first time in program history in 2018.
2018-19 was the first real battle between the teams in program history. They swept each other in every other series and split them consistently. The Badgers took down Minnesota and won their fifth national title in 2019.
In 2021, Wisconsin won another national title, defeating Ohio State in the semifinals to do it. Ohio State had found their way to a national championship, so close they could almost taste it. Their first win in program history had been, one could argue, taken away from them by Wisconsin.
But the Buckeyes would return stronger than the year before to take their first national title in 2022, defeating Minnesota-Duluth. Wisconsin had a rough playoffs that year, not even making it to the semifinals before being taken out by Northeastern.
The conference play resumed the next season, and Wisconsin was getting pushed around the ice by Ohio State. The tables had turned — Ohio State was now a force to be reckoned with.
In 2023, Wisconsin and Ohio State faced off in Duluth for their first appearance together in the Frozen Four championship game. It was a fierce battle that was anyone’s game. A team that had built a strong program right from the start versus a team that has been waiting for the opportunity to prove itself as a winning program.
Wisconsin took that game 1-0 for its seventh national title.
But Ohio State didn’t rest. The Buckeyes played Wisconsin hard in the first games of the new season, bringing the game to the point where you never really knew who would win. And as fate would have it, Wisconsin met Ohio State once again in the National Championship game.
A mirror image of the 2023 game, Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 1-0 and won its second national title in 2024.
A rivalry had been brewing. They battled for years up until this point, meeting twice in the Frozen Four finals and playing toss-up games in the regular season.
It was only fitting that the 2024-25 season ended with the rivalry.
A thrilling overtime game in Minneapolis gave fans of both teams one of the most exciting matchups in NCAA history. Two teams who can’t seem to stop meeting, forced to play over 60 minutes, each pushing for glory for their universities.
Wisconsin pulled the 4-3 overtime victory over Ohio State and won its eighth Frozen Four National Championship.
Two talented teams with strong rosters and exciting new commits will only bring more hunger to the WCHA to see who takes the trophy next year. Could 2026 be a mirror of 2025, just like 2023 and 2024?
