Gophers defend Big Ten crown, earn conference tourney's No. 1 seed

Final: Back-to-back #B1GHockey regular season CHAMPS! #PrideOnIce pic.twitter.com/sPjsgQibrN

— Minnesota Men?s Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 15, 2015

The Big Ten announced on Saturday the bracket for the 2015 Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, with Minnesota collecting the top seed after earning its second consecutive Big Ten title.

The Gophers clinched the outright conference crown and the No. 1 seed with a 6-2 win against Penn State on Saturday. Read GopherSports.com's full recap.

The 2015 Big Ten Tournament will be played Thursday through Saturday, March 19-21, at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

[ MORE: View official Big Ten hockey tournament bracket (PDF) ]

Minnesota led the conference with 39 points and a conference record of 12-5-3-0. Michigan State enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed, earning a first-round bye along with Minnesota. The Spartans finished the conference season with 37 points and an 11-7-2-2 record.

The tournament will open at 4:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, as fourth-seeded Penn State takes on fifth-seeded Ohio State. Thursday's second game is set for 8 p.m. as third-seeded Michigan challenges sixth-seeded Wisconsin.

The Big Ten Tournament championship game will take place at 8 p.m. on Saturday. All five games will be broadcast live by BTN.

— BigTen.org

Here is your 2015 #B1GHockey Tournament bracket: http://t.co/tbNsVdnHkL pic.twitter.com/Ni54AkpBXQ

— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) March 15, 2015

Coach Lucia on the B1G title for the #Gophers https://t.co/vNSqCuQkm2 via @audioBoom

— Minnesota Men?s Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 15, 2015