After a wild weekend of upsets, sweeps and comebacks, this week's USCHO Division I men's hockey poll saw quite a shakeup in the top 10, especially among the top teams. Here's the full top-20 rankings, with a break down of what happened over the weekend below:
|
RANK |
TEAM |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota (38) | 20-7-1 | 985 | 2 |
| 2 | Quinnipiac (4) | 20-3-3 | 922 | 3 |
| 3 | Boston University (7) | 19-6-0 | 903 | 4 |
| 4 | Denver (1) | 20-7-0 | 833 | 5 |
| 5 | St. Cloud State | 18-8-0 | 814 | 1 |
| 6 | Michigan | 16-9-1 | 773 | 7 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 16-9-1 | 773 | 8 |
| 8 | Harvard | 15-5-1 | 628 | 10 |
| 9 | Penn State | 18-9-1 | 614 | 6 |
| 10 | Western Michigan | 17-10-1 | 562 | 9 |
| 11 | Cornell | 13-7-1 | 448 | 11 |
| 12 | Michigan Tech | 18-7-4 | 427 | 13 |
| 13 | Minnesota State | 18-9-1 | 409 | 14 |
| 14 | UConn | 16-8-3 | 400 | 12 |
| 15 | Merrimack | 16-10-1 | 203 | 16 |
| 16 | UMass Lowell | 15-9-1 | 201 | 18 |
| 17 | Michigan State | 13-13-2 | 162 | 15 |
| 18 | RIT | 18-7-1 | 126 | 19 |
| 19 | Omaha | 14-10-2 | 115 | NR |
| 20 | Notre Dame | 13-12-3 | 96 | NR |
Former-No. 1 St. Cloud State plummeted to fifth after a sweep at the hands of sub-.500 Minnesota Duluth, leading Minnesota to take over the top spot this week after the Golden Gophers took care of Michigan State with a sweep of the Spartans.
The Huskies struggled all throughout their series with the Bulldogs, never holding a lead and falling into 3-0 deficits in the first period each night.
SWEEP: Steeves' natural hat trick lifts UMD over St. Cloud in Game 1 | Big first period powers Duluth to sweep
Meanwhile, Minnesota made light work of MSU in Game 1's 8-0 win before responding to adversity in the rematch, coming back twice in the second period and taking over the game en route to a 6-3 final. The Gophers stars were dominant all weekend.
Here’s @bbrodzyy’s breakaway beauty to brighten your chilly Monday morning!#PrideOnIce pic.twitter.com/xaGNNLGtyr
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) January 30, 2023
Behind Minnesota, Quinnipiac jumped up from No. 3 to 2 after sweeping the Connecticut Ice tournament, defeating Sacred Heart in the semifinals before coming back to knock off then-No. 12 UConn in the final to claim some more midseason hardware (they won the Friendship Four tournament in Belfast back in November).
For the Bobcats, it was a big bounce-back weekend after going winless last week and giving up the top spot, suffering their first losses since Oct. 22 when they fell to then-sixteenth Cornell in a 4-0 shutout on the road before blowing a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss at unranked Colgate.
UPSETS: How No. 16 Cornell toppled No. 1 Quinnipiac | How Colgate handed QU a second straight loss
Meanwhile, Boston University continued it's climb up the rankings after a wire-to-wire sweep of hated rival Boston College, moving up one spot into the top three. BU got timely production from up and down the lineup, and Drew Commesso was a rock in goal against the Eagles.
'Messo picking up where he left off last night.
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) January 29, 2023
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/jal0p25FYm@hockey_east | @espn | @NESN pic.twitter.com/cHk1V7RyTQ
The Terriers remain one of the hottest teams in all of Division one, putting up an 11-2-0 record since Dec. 1. They're 4-1-0 against opponents inside the USCHO top 20 in that span, taking care of weaker opponents as well.
Denver checks in at fourth this week, improving from fifth. The Pioneers shut out Colorado College, 2-0, at Ball Arena. DU was all over the Tigers, putting 41 shots on Colorado's Kaidan Mbereko, and Magnus Chrona bounced back from a tough series at St. Cloud the previous week.
Outside the top five, Michigan slid up one spot to sixth with a sweep of Penn State, which dropped the Nittany Lions to ninth. Luke Hughes was dominant for the Wolverines, putting up a goal and two assists on Friday before a four-goal outing the following day.
This what a go-ahead goal sounds like at Yost Ice Arena. Absolutely deafening. @ChildrenOfYost bringing the energy tonight for @umichhockey pic.twitter.com/Y7cQ884eiG
— Alejandro Zúñiga (@ByAZuniga) January 29, 2023
FUTURE STAR'S BIG NIGHT: How Devils prospect Luke Hughes took over for Michigan in a Game 2 comeback
Harvard hopped two spots to No. 8, taking care of the two programs that gave QU trouble a week ago with a 5-4 overtime win against Colgate and a dominant 6-2 showing against No. 11 Cornell. As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes are up to seventh after an idle weekend.
Rounding out the rear is No. 10 Western Michigan, the Broncos fell flat in a 2-0 shutout to split a series with Omaha after a big 6-1 win in Game 1, dropping from ninth.
That all takes us into this coming weekend, which has a couple of critical matchups on tap.
Quinnipiac and Harvard headline the weekend with a Friday matchup with big ramifications on the ECAC standings as the Crimson sit just two points back of the first-place Bobcats.
LATEST RANKINGS: Click or tap here for the latest USCHO poll
In the NCHC, St. Cloud looks to stop the bleeding against a Miami (Ohio) team hungry to end a seven-game skid. Denver has a rematch with Colorado College to deal with, and Western Michigan visits a UMD team that's won three in a row after the sweep of St. Cloud.
Ohio State hosts Penn State in the marquee Big Ten matchup as they jockey for seeding in the conference, tied for second place behind Minnesota, who is off.
Out east, there's also a one-game trip to Maine for BU as they prep for next Monday's Beanpot showdown with Northeastern. The Terriers swept the Black Bears earlier in January, but Maine has given some stronger teams fits with wins over Quinnipiac, UMass Lowell and most recently a sweep of Providence College.
