College Hockey:
Undefeated Merrimack remains top-ranked team in men’s poll

USCHO Staff Report • Nov. 28, 2011

With 48 of 50 first-place votes, Merrimack is once again the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

The Warriors are the only undefeated team in Division I hockey and earned their first No. 1 ranking in school history last week.

Boston College, with the other two first-place votes, jumps three places to No. 2, tied this week with Notre Dame. Minnesota-Duluth rises two to No. 4 and Minnesota falls two spots to be ranked fifth this week.

Ferris State jumps one to No. 6, Ohio State is up two to No. 7, Colorado College falls from fourth to eighth, Union goes from 13th to ninth and Denver remains No. 10.

At No. 11, Lake Superior State is up two spots, Western Michigan is still 12th, Boston University jumps a pair to No. 13, Yale falls six places to No. 14 and Colgate rises one to No. 15.

Michigan State jumps four to No. 16, Cornell stays 17th, Miami gets back into the rankings at No. 18, Michigan falls eight to No. 19 and Michigan Tech drops two spots to No. 20.

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Scott Reed
Way to hold on to the top spot back on your heels in a off week… and not even first in your own confrence…
- After Further Review
  Only not in 1st in their own conference because they have played 2 less games than BC and only trail them by 1 point. Keep the .929 winning percentage and see where they end up.
  Congrats to Merrimack on a great start to the season.
  - Tiger Paw
    Almost any team could have a .929 winning percentage if they had played only 1 TUC team. Do you really think Merrimack is the best team in college hockey? If you say yes, then you might as well add Castleton as #2 since they are undefeated in D-III. It has been stated several times that the USCHO poll is meaningless, but then why does it exist? Is celebrating mediocrity its purpose? Or maybe it is simply a way to make the little guys feel good about themselves? The idea that Merrimack can compete with the elite teams in college hockey is laughable, and pretending they are the best team in the country is insulting.
    - Anonymous
      That is the dumbest analogy I have ever read. I am now dumber for having read it. Yea, the Patriots are 8-3, so is Needham High School Football. They are the same caliber!
      Merrimack beat Boston College twice last year, and everyone else in their elite conference on average of twice. So to say Merrimack can’t compete with elite teams is laughable.
    - ibanezist00
      This is a section of collegiate athletics, where most team members are in it for the short haul and coaching staff regularly change. These players are also students at schools of all sorts of different academic calibers. In other words, teams are very transient.
      In 5 years from now, for all we know, Merrimack could be a huge powerhouse of college hockey. I don’t think anyone predicted North Dakota to be underperforming to the extent that they currently are. I never expected the team I root for (Rensselaer) to have the scoring troubles it currently does, and neither did anyone else informed of the sport.
      What’s truly insulting is the fact that you can’t just congratulate Merrimack for doing well this far into the season, take the poll results with a grain of salt, and move on. Just show some respect, give them a congratulations, and let it go (I would actually suggest that to the majority of posters on this article). I agree with Mack83 below, this analogy makes zero sense.
  - Scott Reed
    I have seen it argued both ways now, first you guys say its just the schedule and they can only only play who they are scheduled (in defense of weak opponets) and now its just the schedule and they have played two less games. I have read their confrence by laws and there is nothing about winning % in determining the champion. They are in fact in second place in their own confrence… its in black and white and not up for argument.
    - Ryan D.
      So why are you making the point that Merrimack is in 2nd in HEA if it’s so black and white? BC is ahead in points for playing 2 extra games. You’re taking factual information and spinning it to make your point. To answer your question, yes, a team can be in 2nd in their conference and still be #1 in the country, a fact that you can’t deny either.
      - Scott Reed
        Your correct, but if the season ended today, they would take second place in their confrence.
        Everbody else in the country is playing up and down and losing good games and bad games, but there are at least a handful of far better teams than MC. They haven’t lost and they get the #1 ranking and if I was a fan of theirs I would be reaching for actual ways to justify it as well. But MC is not the best team in the country and the rankings on this site are just for fun, not the real ones.
        Oh, and any team would be undefeated beating up on the local girl scout club team… play some real competition week in and week out and see how they do. We have seen this before many times, a high ranked team from a weak confrence gets their butt handed to them in the NCAA tournament.
      - Ryan D.
        Great point about them being in second if it ended today. Fortunately that is completely irrelevant.
        It seems like the people who are excited for Merrimack being successful are the ones who acknowledge that the polls mean nothing in November. It’s the people who follow the teams below them that are making a deal over it.
      - Scott Reed
        just as irrelevant as being ranked #1 in November… Only MC fans are excited about it and I have heard none of them do anything but defend their weak schedule and say its legit. Educated college hockey fans see through it all.
        You can throw a dart at a board with the other top 10 teams and anybody you hit will beat MC a majority of the time.
      - Anonymous
        This is hockey. If you have an elite goalie, you are an elite team. So no, I don’t think the other top 10 teams would beat Merrimack a majority of the time. Especially if they play at home.
      - Scott Reed
        the elite goalie comment is true, but goalies are also very very streaky… nobody has the answer, but can MC keep it up in net all year?
      - Ryan D.
        This guy is a joke, he keeps saying that only MC fans care…..have you been reading the other posts from BU, ND, UMO fans saying congrats to them???? Most, if not all, of the MC fans understand that #1 in November means nothing (how many times do we have to repeat that??).
        I’m still trying to figure out which team out West this guy roots for. He really is riled up about MC being #1. If the polls mean nothing to you then why do you keep posting about them????
      - Scott Reed
        I keep posting out of boredom and because I get emails when you keep responding to me.
        If you can’t figure out which team I cheer for…you just dropped a couple notches on the intelligence scale… its not that hard to figure out.
      - Ryan D.
        Is that the “real” intelligence scale, or the one where you can rate people better than everybody else?
      - Scott Reed
        Its the scale where people who make bad impressions and opem their mouths and prove others assumptions about their intelligence correct get laughed at… very similar to life, you should try it sometime
      - Scott Reed
        and the only reason ND fan would give them congrats is so they don;t have to listen to MN fans talk about how great the gophers are…
      - Guest
        He’s right about the Sioux fans not wanting to hear about the MN fans and how great they are (which I think we can now all agree was a bunch of garbage). But that is about all I will agree with. Early last season I didn’t care the Yale was ranked as high as they were but towards the end of the season it became an issue as it helped them get a #1 seed which they didn’t deserve.
        The reason that I don’t care if MC is ranked #1 right now is they are going to have to prove it against some really good team soon and if they are legit they will beat BC, BU, etc and keep the #1 if they lose they lose the #1. Their schedule is going to get much stronger very soon.
      - guest
        Only MC fans are excited about it
        Sounds like you’re pretty worked up about it, too.
      - Ryan D.
        Oh, and can you point me towards where the “real rankings” are at? I think all of us are quite interested to see what those say.
      - Scott Reed
        when two teams play and their rankings are listed next to their school name… the USCHO poll is not what they go by. Consider yourself educated…
      - After Further Review
        They most certainly DO use the polls to rank them. Those are the numbers beside their name. Where else would they come up with the numbers? Pick them out of a hat?
      - Scott Reed
        “polls” meaning more than one… this is technical so your going to have to turn the justin bieber music down and pay attention… when two “polls” contradict each other which one do they use? in my previous comment I stated the “USCHO” poll (notice the singular form here) was not the one.
      - After Further Review
        Sorry, I misread what your post. So, in the USA Today, they are 34 of 34 first place votes. Are their voters somehow smarter? Wait, that’s right, polls mean nothing because it’s November… which is very true!
        Not a Bieber fan, couldn’t even tell you anything he sings, but since he was so high on your list I’m thinking you were listening as you were typing.
      - Scott Reed
        No, they are not… I would say the oppisite, at least the USCHO had a couple people who weren’t eyeing their own colon… if you get what I am saying. I would bet your a pretty liberal person and we aren’t going to see eye to eye on anything… so go further review something else. MC being ranked #1 in any poll no matter when doesn’t make your program any better.
      - After Further Review
        Actually I am pretty easy to get along with and not even close to being a Merrimack fan. I really could care less about them, just happy for them that they are ranked #1, though meaningless, it’s nice to see somebody different have a nice season.
      - Scott Reed
        right, I never said you were a MC fan… your a season ticket holder to UNH, ergo the liberal assumption. them being ranked doesn’t make YOUR program any better.
      - After Further Review
        Wow, not only are you the college hockey expert, you are the expert on everything! I am impressed, can I get some info about all the other people posting too?
      - Scott Reed
        yeah who do you want to know about? icelund is a pretty smart guy…
      - After Further Review
        But he game Merrimack some credit, how can he be smart?
        Enjoy the season, Scott and I’m sure I’ll see you on here again.
      - Scott Reed
        It was getting too small and hard to read at the bottom… he didn’t exactly give them credit… just said good luck, but I like who he cheers for… you enjoy the season as well, see you around
      - RENCEB
        Wow, condescending AND uninformed. Not a good combination. Um, just where do you think their “rankings” come from, US News and World Report?
      - Ryan D.
        OH, RIIGHHHTT, so what is MC ranked in the “real” poll then? Because in a world where polls don’t matter to you, one is more real than another.
        If it’s the USAT poll, you might want to check that to see who’s #1…..
    - After Further Review
      I honestly could care less about the polls, who is number 1 or anything at this point. My post was merely congratulating Merrimack (a perennial doormat) on a great start to the season. I don’t believe they are the best team in the country, but I do believe they are much better than some people give them credit for.
      - Scott Reed
        they are rated #1 in the country by 48 of 50 people who are supose to know what they are talking about… and you say they are underrated by some? how about overrated by far more than they are underrated by…
      - RENCEB
        So “Mr. I Know Better Than At Least 48 of the 50 Voters in the USCHO Poll”, where would you rank them? Obviously, you’ve seen them play since you have such an informed opinion about their mediocrity. I’m going to guess you’ll have how many western teams ahead of them? Just another condescending elitist “,,,making the little guys feel good about themselves….”. Geez, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a BC fan!
      - Scott Reed
        at least 3 WCHA teams would beat MC 3 out of 5 times…you disagree?
      - RENCEB
        Maybe. Given my tiny alma mater’s “mediocrity” I’m surprised that you think they might win even 1 game let alone 2 against your vaunted WCHA powers. I’ll ask again, where would you rank Merrimack? Looks like we’ve already established 4th at best.
      - Fan Man
        I would agree with the 48 voters who said they are the #1 team (Ima Sioux Fan who are un~ranked for now!). I say this because like previously mentioned on this site, who else COULD you vote for? Every team has basically faltered to a weaker opponent, who had lost to an even weaker opponent at some time during the first course of this season… Who in the heck do you rank numero uno…
      - Scott Reed
        I honestly don’t know where I would put them, but the top is wrong, they are there by default, they are warming the spot untill the rightful owner starts playing better. I am not saying they are a horrible team, but we should use common sense and not rank them number 1 just because the better teams have made some mistakes.
      - Scott Reed
        maybe 5th just to tick a few more people off…
      - After Further Review
        I mean people such as you… hockey fans, not people who vote in polls.
- CrockOGrimaldi
  ah here we go. Loser Sioux fan logic. Merrimack is this year’s Yale for the lunatic fringe of the forum. Same old tired logic, SOS, week off, blah, blah, blah.
  - Scott Reed
    if you had anythign other than broke insults to back up your opinion you might matter… but a person who’s screen name is aimed at hatred of one player and obviously that players team has no credibility.
    You have a name hating the Sioux, a profile with one post hating on the Sioux, and its on a MC article… you randomly found this to to write on for your first post… That dog don’t hunt…
    - justsayin
      Your ad hominem attack is meaningless. Try harder.
      - Scott Reed
        Crocko tucked his tail and ran, apparently you feel the need to defend him… his second sentence was the definition of an ad hominem attack, attacked me personally with no facts, just WEAK opioions…
        maybe this will satasfy you, we don’t know much about people on this board unless they want us to know and tell us. All we know about him is that the first impression he gives is hatred for a single player and that players team. no matter what the topic or discussion he is the hater of Grimaldi and the Sioux and he has the audacity to accuse someone else of being on the lunatic fringe?
        I don’t know whats funnier his statements or your defense of them, lol
Guest
Where are all the Minny fans now that the team is looking more like they did the last two years? A loss and a tie to Michigan State? They were just barely ranked until they got their hands on the gophers.
Looking forward to the month of December as we will start to see more and more who the top teams are and who will be there in the end. Long season to go. Congrats to Merrimack, they probably aren’t the best team in the nation but they are ranked there for now. Hope they kill it in HE and stay ranked high all year.
- Bmcroberts
  Minny ran into a hot goal tender, if you think they are the same team they were the last 2 years, then you are mistaken. They stumbled a bit but did carry the play in a small rink. No worries, they made some huge defensive mistakes but for heavens sake, most of the team are freshman/sophomores… They will get better as the year goes on. Are they the #1 team right now, no..but they may be a legit #1 in the near future….
  - Scott Reed
    the rodents aren’t a bad team, but still over rated.
Eagle68
It is still November and Christmas is still a long way off. Who is #1 now does not matter.
Anonymous
The strength of schedule argument against Merrimack is only going to get you so far when their main competitor for the top spot earns a single point against Michigan State. The fact remains that these are all Division I programs, and maintaining this sort of winning streak against any of them is a feat in and of itself.
Good luck to Merrimack going forward, and don’t let the ignorant get you down.
- Guest
  The ignorant are only going to add fuel to their fire!
GO WILD
Congrats to Merrimack and all their fans. Have fun with it. Sorry Mac83 there are no “elite” teams in HE. Rankings don’t mean much now. Last year they didn’t mean much at the end of the year either. Haven’t seen a lot of teams play yet. UMD looks good. BC. maybe. Still early.
Warrior04
If you’ve actually seen Merrimack play you would know that their defense has been incredible this year. The 1.2 GA average is only partially due to the goaltender in this case. The defensemen have been taking body shots and playing physical at all times. As long as they keep doing that they will keep winning and remain a high-ranked team. No MC fans have any delusions that they will remain ranked #1 all year, but for now they are playing great hockey. As is BC (it hurts me to say that), and all the other top ranked teams. Go Warriors!
WCHA Fan
This is all so stupid! If I was a Merrimack fan, I would be elated that my team was undefeated 2 months into the season. Congratulations to you! If my team was undefeated to date, I would be pissed if they were not earning the pollster’s respect. Alas, they are not undefeated, and likewise, not ranked either. No, I’m not a Sue or Goofer fan. If Merrimack is able to keep up the tough play, I see no reason why they shouldn’t be rewarded with a high seed into the tourney. If not, they will drop in the polls and that would only be fair as well. For now, enjoy the spotlight and the critism that comes with it. Sue fans, stop whining. You have been high in the polls before when not warrented, you will probably be high in the polls again someday. (Probably not this year:)) It will be fun to see how things shake out come March. Go WCHA!!
- Scott Reed
  yes I agree cheer and be glad they are undefeated… but go look who they played, do you really think they deserve to be ranked # 1? honestly?
  - WCHA Fan
    Right now, I think it is fair. Same in college football, stay undefeated and keep the high ranking. Fall once and suffer the drop appropriate for your schedule strength. Whether or not I think they are the best team in the country really doesn’t matter. I’m not so sure who is? No one has really been dominant. So, for now, I think you gotta give it to Merrimack.
EliBlue
Last year the second the poll results came out there were dozens of people who had an industry in attacking Yale and pummeling everyone with stat breakdowns. Enjoy Merrimack fans! Nice to see someone new!
Scott Reed
wow, everything I was saying on here makes more sense now… MC’s schedule was going to start getting harder… next weekend… Providence isn’t even very good… welcome back to reality.

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