All eyes in college hockey will be on Madison this weekend as No. 5 Wisconsin faces No. 1 Colorado College Friday and Saturday in a battle of conference unbeatens.

While the Tigers (9-1-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) top all the college hockey rankings, the Badgers sit in first place in the WCHA standings, just ahead of the Tigers. The match-up will be the first meeting between top five teams in college hockey this season.

The Badgers (6-1-1, 5-0-1 WCHA) have been on a roll as of late, winning their last five games, two of which came on the road at then-No. 5 North Dakota last weekend. The Badger offense has surged in the last few weeks, moving the team's scoring average to 3.5 goals per game, and has led the team on its hot streak.

The Badgers' recent success can also be explained by the play of junior goaltender Brian Elliott, last week's WCHA Co-Defensive Player of the Week. He has put to rest the doubts about Wisconsin's goaltending this season after the departure of Bernd Brückler.

"In hockey it always comes down to one thing: goaltending. That's the first thing you look at," UW head coach Mike Eaves explained. "You go from the goal line, to the blue line, to the red line where the forwards are, so goaltending is always the key factor."

Elliott has performed admirably thus far. He is fourth in the country with a 1.48 goals-against average and fifth nationally with a .942 save percentage, both of which are tops for conference goalies. He has yet to allow more than two goals in a game this season, and in his last 12 starts dating back to last season.

"One of my goals was to be at two goals against or under, and we've done a good job at doing that," Elliott said. "Setting goals like that and trying to achieve that is what I attribute to that."

Elliott will have to face a flurry of shots against a Tiger offense that has the most explosive scoring line in the WCHA, with seniors Brett Sterling and Marty Sertich scoring a combined 34 points on the season.

Sterling has 10 goals already this season, is averaging one per game, and leads the country in both goals and overall scoring. Junior defenseman Brian Salcido is also an offensive threat on the ice. He sits at second in the conference in scoring, right between Sterling and Sertich, with 16 points scored.

After their top line, however, scoring tapers off for Colorado College, and while Wisconsin does not have one line that can match the Tiger's top line, it has had production from all four of its lines this year.

"We need to make sure we have all four lines going," forward Andrew Joudrey said. "As much as that one line scores for them, if our other three lines that aren't matched up against that top line aren't playing well, they're going to take advantage of that and score."

To get scoring going, the Badgers will have to contend with another steady goaltender in junior Matt Zaba. He is second to Elliott in the WCHA in goals-against average with 1.72 and third in save percentage with a .930 mark. This will be the second week in a row the Badgers face one of the top net-minders in the conference.

The teams also match up well on defense. While Wisconsin's defense has allowed only 1.5 goals per game, good for second in the country, the Tigers have managed to hold teams to only 1.8 goals per game and are just behind Wisconsin in the WCHA.

"One of the key factors for them is their offense is their best defense," Eaves said. "If they have the puck, and you don't have it, then you're not going to score."

Like any good series in hockey, though, the games should come down to special teams. The Badgers haven't had the most potent power play in the WCHA, but it has been strong in the last few games. They have managed at least one goal on the man advantage in their last five games, and at least two power play goals in three of their last four games. Meanwhile the Badgers have stymied opponents' power plays by shutting down 86.7 percent of their chances.

This weekend will prove to be the Badgers' toughest series of the season, and between the two red-hot teams, something will have to give.

"We're just really excited for the opportunity to get a chance and see where we match up against these guys and how well we can play," Joudrey said. "I think this will be a really good indicator of where we're at so far in the season and what kind of team we are right now."