Hockey Tops Big Ten Preseason Poll, Augustine and Basgall Preseason First Team Selections
9/25/2025 2:00:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The two-time defending Big Ten regular season and conference tournament champion Michigan State hockey program was selected as the preseason conference favorite, as announced by the Big Ten on Tuesday afternoon.
After becoming the first program in conference history to win both the regular season and conference tournament titles in back-to-back seasons, Michigan State returns 14 letterwinners from a year ago while welcoming a much-anticipated class of 13 newcomers. MSU boasts 15 NHL draft picks on its roster, which includes four first round selections and five second round picks. It's the second consecutive season in which the league coaches have voted Michigan State atop the preseason conference table.
Returning first team All-Big Ten selections Trey Augustine (Jr., GK) and Matt Basgall (Sr., D) were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten First Team.
A first team All-American and the 2024-25 Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, Augustine posted a career-best 2.08 goals against on a .924 save percentage last season. He was a finalist for the Richter Award as the top netminder in Division I hockey and was a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award, presented to the top amateur athlete in the United States. Augustine etched his name in international hockey history this past season when he became the first American goaltender to win back-to-back gold medals at the IIHF World Junior Championships, where he became the winningest goaltender in Team USA history at the event with 12 victories.
Basgall was chosen to wear the "C" by his teammates this season. A second team All-American and a finalist for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season, Basgall posted career-bests in goals (6), assists (20). points (26) and +/- (+9) in 2024-25. His 0.70 points per game ranked second among Big Ten defenseman last season. Alongside teammates Tiernan Shoudy (Sr., F) and Daniel Russell (Sr., F), Basgall has played in and started all 113 games for Michigan State over the last three seasons under head coach Adam Nightingale.
Nightingale returns to the Spartan bench for his fourth season as head coach in 2025-26 boasting a career 69-35-9 record, placing him as the winningest coach in program history over one's first three seasons. His career .650 winning percentage is second to only the legendary Ron Mason (.687). Under Nightingale, Michigan State has appeared in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since a three-year stretch from 2006-08.
After becoming the first program in conference history to win both the regular season and conference tournament titles in back-to-back seasons, Michigan State returns 14 letterwinners from a year ago while welcoming a much-anticipated class of 13 newcomers. MSU boasts 15 NHL draft picks on its roster, which includes four first round selections and five second round picks. It's the second consecutive season in which the league coaches have voted Michigan State atop the preseason conference table.
Returning first team All-Big Ten selections Trey Augustine (Jr., GK) and Matt Basgall (Sr., D) were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten First Team.
A first team All-American and the 2024-25 Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, Augustine posted a career-best 2.08 goals against on a .924 save percentage last season. He was a finalist for the Richter Award as the top netminder in Division I hockey and was a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award, presented to the top amateur athlete in the United States. Augustine etched his name in international hockey history this past season when he became the first American goaltender to win back-to-back gold medals at the IIHF World Junior Championships, where he became the winningest goaltender in Team USA history at the event with 12 victories.
Basgall was chosen to wear the "C" by his teammates this season. A second team All-American and a finalist for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season, Basgall posted career-bests in goals (6), assists (20). points (26) and +/- (+9) in 2024-25. His 0.70 points per game ranked second among Big Ten defenseman last season. Alongside teammates Tiernan Shoudy (Sr., F) and Daniel Russell (Sr., F), Basgall has played in and started all 113 games for Michigan State over the last three seasons under head coach Adam Nightingale.
Nightingale returns to the Spartan bench for his fourth season as head coach in 2025-26 boasting a career 69-35-9 record, placing him as the winningest coach in program history over one's first three seasons. His career .650 winning percentage is second to only the legendary Ron Mason (.687). Under Nightingale, Michigan State has appeared in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since a three-year stretch from 2006-08.
Reigning First Team All-Big Ten selections Trey Augustine and Matt Basgall headline this year's Preseason All-B1G squads!
— Michigan State Hockey (@MSU_Hockey) September 25, 2025
The two-time defending Big Ten champions were picked first by the conference coaches in the Preseason Poll. pic.twitter.com/0aDN48jHFN
Players Mentioned
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