After trudging through ice and snow, the 2026 broomball season will come to an end with a 32-team playoff bracket. Conferences will be happening on Monday Feb. 23 and Tuesday Feb. 24. The winning teams for their associated divisions can be found at broomball.mtu.edu/seasonstats.
The last week of the broomball season was a struggle for both referees and players. With temperatures reaching above freezing, this poses a possibility for the broomball courts to degrade, crack, or possibly be rendered unusable. It’s hard on the rink staff to keep up given that ice can not be made, which means once there is a chance of above freezing temperatures, games are called off and rescheduled to a later date.
It’s going to be “the most hype week of the season,” according to the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC) Broomball Public Relations Officer Elise Buzzell. There will be five games in the 32-game bracket for all the divisions to compete in. There were three conference playoff games on Monday with the Residential Housing at 9 p.m., the Women’s at 9:45 p.m., and the Off-Campus Compete at 11:15 p.m. The last two conference games will be on Tuesday with the on-campus and off-campus championship at 9:00 p.m. and the final game being the championship game at 10:30 p.m with the consolation game occurring at the same time.
To an outsider, standing on a sheet of ice at 11:00 p.m. in a negative 20 degree wind chill might sound like a punishment, but for the Broomball Team IceHoles, it’s the peak of the spring semester. “It’s so much fun! This is probably the best school activity I’ve done…You gotta do it if you’re at Tech,” said a member of the IceHoles team.
Previously, men’s and women’s All-Star games were played with about 80 spectators watching the game on a snowy, cold, fun-filled Winter Carnival night. Every year, Blue Key Honor Society puts together a broomball game during Winter Carnival to bring the stars of broomball to the public, showcased in colorful lighting with an added horn to let everyone know a goal was scored.
