Wisconsin vs. Dartmouth Preview: Time for a run?

Wisconsin center Gavin Morrissey (7) shoots against Lake Superior State in a Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off semifinal Sunday, December 28, 2025, at Fiserv Forum in MIlwaukee, Wisconsin. | Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Following an extended layoff after their early exit in the conference tournament, the Wisconsin Badgers return to action on Thursday with the NCAA Tournament opener against Dartmouth. The Badgers are making their second tournament appearance under head coach Mike Hastings, who is looking for his first tournament win at Wisconsin and the program’s first win since 2010.

Their opponent, Dartmouth (23-7-4 overall), finished runner-up in the ECAC regular season to Quinnipiac before besting Princeton in the ECAC championship game. They are 2-1 against tournament teams by virtue of splitting the season series with Quinnipiac and picking up a win earlier this year against Merrimack and 3-2 against ranked opponents overall. Thursday’s regional semifinal is the first-ever meeting between Wisconsin and Dartmouth.

The Big Green are undefeated in their last eight games, going 6-0-2. Their last loss came to Brown back on Valentine’s Day. Dartmouth has relied heavily on home cooking this year, going 17-1-2 at home compared to only 5-6-2 on the road.

They went 1-0 in neutral site games during the regular season, though the regional just outside of Boston may have Dartmouth feeling more at home than the other teams in the group, save for UConn. Of the two teams, the Badgers have no doubt played a tougher schedule to get them ready for the tournament, but none of that matters once the puck drops in a single-elimination tournament. While Wisconsin is more battle-tested, Dartmouth already has four postseason wins under its belt en route to the ECAC Championship—two against Colgate, one against Clarkson, and its title game win over Princeton.