The Badger Showdown was a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

Division I men's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

usually played before

New Years New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

at first the Bradley Center in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

and then the

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in Madison.

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served as the tournament's host for the entirety of its run. The tournament was first held in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

and was played during the final week of December every year but twice: in 2005 and 2010. Wisconsin competed in the tournament every year and won more than half of the total championships (11 out of 21). The tournament was conceived by Jeff Sauer and Joel Maturi and was initially a huge success, drawing over 30,000 fans for its first iteration. By the 21st century, however, its audience had dwindled to less than half that number and its main sponsor dropped the showcase in 2002. A move to the Badger's home venue in 2003 kept the tournament alive for several more years but it was ultimately cancelled as a cost-cutting measure, with the final championship held in January 2010. The tournament champion received the Pettit Cup, named in honor of Lloyd and Jane Bradley Pettit.

Yearly results

Team records

References

{{Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey College ice hockey tournaments in the United States College sports tournaments in Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers ice hockey Ice hockey competitions in Wisconsin 1989 establishments in Wisconsin 2010 disestablishments in Wisconsin Recurring sporting events established in 1989 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2010