Michigan made its case over the weekend, and Monday the voters responded, placing the Wolverines a near-unanimous No. 1 in the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll. A win and a tie at then top-ranked Miami was plenty good enough to return Michigan to the top spot in the nation, as the RedHawks fell to second this week.
North Dakota, which was idle over the weekend, held onto the No. 3 position, followed by New Hampshire, which earned the two first-place votes that didn’t go to the Wolverines. UNH beat Maine twice to trade places with fifth-ranked Colorado College after the Tigers split with St. Cloud State Friday and Saturday.
Denver edged up to No. 6 after taking three points against Minnesota, while Boston College used its Beanpot win over Boston University and a Friday victory against Massachusetts to climb to seventh.
Michigan State, which was swept by Northern Michigan, fell to eighth, while Notre Dame earned just one of four possible points against Ferris State and eased down to No. 9. Wisconsin, which tied and won against Michigan Tech, rounded out the top half of the rankings.
Clarkson opened the second 10 teams this week, up two places after a win versus Cornell and a scoreless tie with Colgate, while Minnesota-Duluth slipped two spots to No. 12 during a bye week.
Another WCHA squad, Minnesota State, continued its hot streak, using two wins over Alaska-Anchorage to move into 13th. The Mavericks were followed by two Hockey East programs: Providence edged down to No. 14 with a split against Vermont, and No. 15 Northeastern rebounded from its Beanpot loss to Harvard by beating Merrimack.
Quinnipiac held its ground in 16th with wins over Yale and Brown, while ECAC leaguemate and travel partner Princeton beat the same two teams to move up to No. 17. Massachusetts-Lowell was 18th after a Friday loss to BU.
St. Cloud State and Niagara joined the rankings at Nos. 19 and 20, respectively, with the Huskies gaining the aforementioned split against CC and the Purple Eagles taking three points from Alabama-Huntsville. Making room for those squads were UMass and Minnesota, which dropped out of the top 20.
