An early match-up of the nation’s top-rated teams led to uncertainty in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, as six different teams garnered first-place votes. Boston College, which was No. 1 last week, held onto the top spot, but only by a very narrow margin.
A Tuesday night match-up between the No. 1 Eagles and last week’s No. 2 New Hampshire resulted in a thrilling overtime win for the Wildcats. To celebrate the victory over the nation’s top team, New Hampshire traveled to Orono to take on Maine, and lost a 2-1 overtime game in an instant classic.
As a result, New Hampshire dropped to No. 3, Maine rose three places to No. 4, and the first-place votes were split between BC, No. 2 North Dakota, UNH, Maine, and Colorado College and Denver, which tied for fifth place. No team received more than 11 first-place nods.
This week’s poll featured several other oddities. Despite dropping a 5-2 decision against No. 7 Cornell, Harvard climbed two spots following a 7-1 win over Colgate. In fact, teams ranked 12 through 15 in the poll had a combined weekend record of 2 wins, 4 losses and 2 ties.
Thanksgiving on Thursday allows for a time of giving thanks, and college hockey fans can give thanks for exciting games that dot the schedule. The annual College Hockey Showcase features Michigan State and No. 8 Michigan traveling to Wisconsin and No. 9 Minnesota, and after hosting No. 13 Harvard on Tuesday, No. 11 Boston University travels to Ithaca for a two game set against No. 7 Cornell.
The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 40 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 12 beat writers from across the country. The poll is published weekly by the Associated Press.
