The Denver Pioneers moved back into the top 15 on both the USA Today and USCHO national college hockey rankings this week. Last week, Denver failed to qualify for USA Today's Top 15 list while it came in at No. 16 on USCHO's Top 20 list. The Pioneers have won five of their past six games to get back into the thick of things.
Minnesota-Duluth is once ranked No. 1 in both polls this week, the unanimous top team in each set of rankings. The overall top 5 was shook up a bit, though, by Ohio State and Notre Dame dropping in the rankings. While both were ranked in the top 3 in both polls last week, Ohio State is now ranked No. 5 in both polls while Notre Dame is out of the top 5. Colorado College also dropped, going from No. 8 to No. 11 in both polls this week.
Although the orders aren't identical, the same five teams populate the top of both polls: Minnesota-Duluth, Boston University, Boston College, Minnesota and Ohio State. The full USA Today poll is shown below, but you can find both polls in the links given above.
Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Record | Previous |
1 | Minnesota-Duluth (49) | 15-4-3 | 1 |
2 | Minnesota | 16-8-1 | 5 |
3 | Boston University | 13-6-1 | 6 |
4 | Boston College | 14-8-1 | 4 |
5 | Ohio State | 14-6-3 | 2 |
6 | Notre Dame | 13-8-3 | 3 |
7 | Merrimack | 12-4-5 | 7 |
8 | Western Michigan | 12-7-5 | 11 |
9 | Cornell | 10-4-3 | 9 |
10 | Michigan | 14-8-4 | 15 |
11 | Colorado College | 13-8-1 | 8 |
12 | Union | 12-5-6 | 13 |
13 | UMass-Lowell | 12-6-0 | 10 |
14 | Ferris State | 14-8-2 | 12 |
15 | Denver | 13-8-3 | NR |
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