Notre Dame made it a six-for-six run at the summit of the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll, collecting 31 of 40 first-place votes to finish No. 1 again in Monday’s release. The Fighting Irish swept Alaska last weekend in the CCHA quarterfinals to hold their ground at the top of the poll.
Next up was No. 2 Minnesota, which got by Alaska-Anchorage in three games in the WCHA first round, and then third-ranked New Hampshire. The Wildcats shut out Providence twice to reach the Hockey East semis and moved up a notch in the rankings.
Fourth was St. Cloud State, which traded places with UNH after needing three games to oust Minnesota-Duluth, while Clarkson was again fifth after sweeping Harvard.
The next three teams were likewise unchanged from last Monday. North Dakota, which won its playoff series in two games against Minnesota State, was sixth, followed by archrivals Boston College (sweep of Northeastern) and Boston University (winner in three games over Vermont).
UND and BC are arguably the hottest teams in the country, as the Eagles sport an eight-game winning streak and the Fighting Sioux have lost just once in their last 17 games.
Another pair of bitter rivals rounded out the top 10: No. 9 Michigan, up a spot after winning two straight against Northern Michigan, and 10th-ranked Michigan State, which climbed three places by sweeping Nebraska-Omaha.
St. Lawrence continued to move up the poll one place at a time, to No. 11 this time in the wake of a sweep of Colgate, and Massachusetts used two more wins over Maine — giving the Minutemen four straight victories against the Black Bears — to jump three spots to No. 12.
Miami came in at No. 13, down four spots after being swept by Lake Superior State. The RedHawks are the highest-ranked team gone from the conference playoffs, and must hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament to continue their season.
Dartmouth was No. 14, up three places after taking two straight from Princeton, and Denver fell four slots to 15th after being swept out of the WCHA playoffs by Wisconsin. Michigan Tech, which ousted Colorado College in three games, rose two places to No. 16, followed by Maine.
DU and Maine, like Miami, will see their NCAA fates ride on the results of this weekend’s championships.
Quinnipiac re-entered the poll at No. 18 with a sweep of Cornell, while CC was No. 19 and Wisconsin, with its chance at defending its NCAA title still alive, returned to the rankings at No. 20.
Dropping out this week were Vermont and Cornell.
