Boston College remained the overwhelming pick for No. 1 in the nation in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports XXL Division I men’s poll, released Tuesday. The Eagles beat Wisconsin Friday in their lone game of the weekend and garnered 45 of 50 first-place votes to stay atop the rankings.
No. 2 was again Michigan, which swept St. Lawrence and tallied two first-place votes. The other three first-place nods went to Colorado College, again in third after sweeping Alabama-Huntsville.
Denver moved up to fourth this week with a win over Notre Dame in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The Pioneers were followed by Boston University; the Terriers impressed voters with two wins at the Ice Breaker Invitational, over North Dakota and Michigan State and jumped four spots to No. 5.
New Hampshire edged up to sixth by beating Wisconsin Saturday, with Miami also up one place to No. 7 after a series with Ohio State which inaugurated the CCHA’s use of the shootout to settle ties. OSU won Friday’s shootout tiebreaker to claim a win for the purposes of the CCHA standings, but the game will be recorded as a tie for NCAA tournament selection purposes.
Notre Dame was down four spots to eighth with its loss to Denver, followed by Minnesota, which has yet to play an official regular-season contest. Princeton, idle last weekend as ECAC Hockey awaits the start of its regular season, moved into the top 10.
Michigan State held its ground at No. 11 after beating Massachusetts but losing to BU at the Ice Breaker, trailed by St. Cloud State. The Huskies moved up three places with two wins over Mercyhurst.
North Dakota suffered the worst drop of the week, falling eight places to No. 13 after starting its season with two Ice Breaker losses to BU and then UMass. The Sioux were followed at No. 14 by idle Clarkson; in 15th was Minnesota State, up three positions after sweeping Bemidji State.
Cornell and Harvard, idle like their ECAC Hockey brethren, were No. 16 and No. 18, respectively, sandwiching Vermont in 17th. The Catamounts won their lone game, over Rensselaer in Quebec. Northern Michigan slipped to 19th after beating Michigan Tech but losing to Minnesota Duluth at the Superior Cup, and Wisconsin fell six places to round out the rankings at No. 20.
