Taking advantage of Miami’s first loss since Nov. 12, Wisconsin solidified its grip on the nation’s No. 1 ranking in Monday’s USCHO.com/CSTV Networks Division I men’s poll.
The Badgers, who were idle last weekend, claimed all 40 first-place votes to head up the poll for the sixth straight week.
Minnesota, which steamrolled Niagara for a weekend sweep at home, moved up one spot to No. 2, giving the WCHA the top two teams in the poll. The Gophers supplanted the RedHawks, who dropped down to third after splitting a series against Northern Michigan.
Boston College, which beat Northeastern and Providence over the weekend, moved up a slot to fourth, followed by idle Colorado College at No. 5. The Eagles and Tigers moved past new No. 6 Vermont, which lost and tied at New Hampshire.
Cornell edged up to seventh after beating RIT in its lone game of the weekend. The Big Red were trailed by No. 8 Michigan, which split with Alaska-Fairbanks.
Maine came in ninth after a decisive sweep of Massachusetts-Lowell, and the No. 10 position went to North Dakota, which split with Alaska-Anchorage.
The next several places in the poll saw considerable adjustment after last weekend’s results. No. 11 was Providence, which moved up two places after beating Boston University, despite its subsequent loss to BC.
New Hampshire jumped three spots to No. 12 after its three-point weekend against the Catamounts, followed by St. Lawrence and Clarkson — which beat archrival SLU in Ottawa, Ont., on Saturday, and then No. 15 Lake Superior, which like Clarkson moved up four places this week.
Colgate was No. 16, followed by Harvard, Denver, Ferris State and finally No. 20 Ohio State, which remained in the poll despite suffering a sweep at the hands of Bowling Green.
Dropping out of the top 20 was Boston University.
