Sixty years after historic freezing temperatures turned the NFL championship game into the aptly named “Ice Bowl,” Lambeau Field will host a different type of championship-caliber contest — this time on a literal sheet of ice.
Green Bay’s iconic NFL stadium will host the Frozen Tundra Faceoff matching college hockey teams from Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State on Feb. 20, 2027. The first game pits women’s hockey powerhouses Wisconsin and Ohio State, and the nightcap features the Michigan and Wisconsin men’s programs.
They will be the first college hockey games at Lambeau Field since 2006, when the Wisconsin men’s team beat Ohio State.
“When we started talking to our leadership group about, ‘Is there an interest to do this?’ they about jumped out of their skins,” Wisconsin men’s hockey coach Mike Hastings said.
“I’ve been doing hockey for a long time, and there’s certain things you pluck out of your career … and this will be one of those that you pluck out,” said Wisconsin women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson, who was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal squad.
All four teams qualified for the Frozen Four last season. Wisconsin’s men’s team advanced to the championship, after Michigan dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker to eventual champion Denver in the semifinals. The Badgers and Wolverines have won 15 NCAA titles combined.
The Wisconsin-Ohio State women’s hockey series has become the sport’s premier rivalry. They have won the past seven NCAA titles together and battled each other in the past four NCAA championship games. Ohio State beat Wisconsin to win the WCHA conference championship this past season (the Big Ten does not sponsor women’s hockey), but Claire Enright’s third-period goal in the national championship game gave Wisconsin the NCAA title.
The rivalry aspect to both games is appealing.
“The nice thing, too, is, and Mike can attest to this, where you’re playing Michigan,” said Johnson, who has won nine national titles at Wisconsin. “No matter where you play Michigan, you’re going to get excited and fired up. And for us the last four or five years, us and Ohio State, and going back and having one of our rivals get to experience the same thing, it’s going to make it really special.”
The event marks a continuation of Wisconsin sporting events taking place in Green Bay. On Sunday, the Badgers will face No. 5 Notre Dame in both college football teams’ season openers.
The Lambeau game marks a record 11th time Michigan men’s hockey has competed in an outdoor venue, the last taking place at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in 2025 against Ohio State. The Wisconsin and Ohio State women’s teams also competed at Wrigley Field as part of the doubleheader.