After spending the previous decade as a moribund program, there were few expectations for Michigan State in Adam Nightingale's first season behind the bench.

The Spartans stumbled at the start but went 5–1 against Big Ten opponents in November, including a sweep of #10 Ohio State, which earned the team their first appearance in the national polls in three years.

[3] The Big Ten supported the match penalty but, due to a lack of incontrovertible evidence, would not add any additional punishment.

After the full account of the incident was reported, the Ohio State athletic department sent Sadlocha home for an indeterminate time.

The Spartans came out firing in the first game, sending 36 shots on goal, but were unable to solve the Big Ten's top goaltender, Ryan Bischel.

[5] The win put Michigan State into the top 16, however, because the final spot was reserved for the Atlantic Hockey champion, the Spartans were still outside the playoff picture.

If they wanted to reach the NCAA tournament, MSU would have to take down the top team in the nation and they aimed to do just them when they travelled west to face Minnesota.