Still perfect on the regular season after a sweep of Nebraska-Omaha, Miami moved into the top spot in Monday’s USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll, taking 39 first-place votes to secure the No. 1 ranking with a 6-0-0 record.
The RedHawks supplanted last week’s top-ranked team, North Dakota, which slipped to No. 2 after splitting a series with Michigan Tech.
The Fighting Sioux were followed by Michigan, which beat Boston University twice to stay in third, and then by New Hampshire, which gained three places after a sweep of Colorado College. Boston College, which won twice against Merrimack, was again fifth after being leapfrogged by UNH.
Michigan State used a sweep of Northern Michigan to climb two places to No. 6, while the next four poll positions were all held by WCHA squads.
Denver fell one place to seventh in the wake of a split with Minnesota-Duluth as Minnesota moved up two spots to No. 8 after two wins against Ohio State. Colorado College dropped from fourth to ninth after its losses to the Wildcats, and Wisconsin rounded out the top 10 after a pair of decisive wins over Robert Morris.
Starting the second half of the rankings was Clarkson, which was down slightly after a split with Lake Superior State, and Maine was 12th with a sweep of Northeastern.
Michigan Tech edged up to No. 13, followed by Notre Dame, which split with Ferris State, and then No. 15 Minnesota-Duluth, which moved up two places.
St. Lawrence was 16th with a loss to Colgate and a win over Union, and Governor’s Cup champion Rensselaer — which played and defeated the same two teams — debuted at No. 17.
Niagara, which ran its nation-best home unbeaten streak to 20 games with two wins over Western Michigan, joined the poll at No. 18, while the WCHA placed an eighth team in the top 20 as St. Cloud State reentered in 19th by beating Bemidji State twice. Completing the poll was Massachusetts, down four spots after a tie and a loss versus Providence.
Dropping out since last week were Cornell, Ohio State and Alaska-Anchorage.
