College Hockey:
Minnesota-Duluth the new No. 1 team in men’s poll

USCHO Staff Report • Dec. 6, 2011

Defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth rises three spots this week and is the new No. 1-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

The Bulldogs garnered 25 of 50 first-place votes.

Minnesota is the new second-ranked team, receiving nine first-place votes to jump three notches in the poll.

No. 3 Boston College earned eight first-place votes, but fell one place this week.

At No. 4, Ohio State jumps three spots and was listed No. 1 on seven ballots.

Merrimack, the top team the past two weeks, falls to No. 5.

Colorado College is up two to No. 6, Notre Dame drops from No. 2 to No. 7, but did receive one first-place vote. Western Michigan jumps from 12th to eighth, Ferris State falls three to No. 9 and Union is down one to finish out the top ten.

Boston University is up a pair to No. 11, Colgate jumps three to No. 12, Denver falls three to No. 13, Michigan State rises two to No. 14 and Lake Superior State falls from No. 11 to No. 15.

Cornell is up one to No. 16 and Yale drops three to No. 17.

Nos. 18-20 were all unranked teams last week, as Massachusetts-Lowell, North Dakota and Providence enter the poll this week.

Michigan, at one point this season the No. 1-ranked team, falls out of the top 20.

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GeauxSioux
Notre Dame with a 1st place vote? Hmmm…
- Eagle68
  A few voters should have their credentials suspended.
- SirWhinzeAlot
  What a shock. You’re whining about the polls.
  - Scott Reed
    Nobody in the world of college hockey has defended Notre Dame getting a first place vote, people have been tearing apart who ever that guy is all over the place and you have to complaine about one guy saying something… just go a head a let you true hatred for the Sioux show. Doesn’t matter what they say if its a Sioux fan saying it he must be wrong.
    - SirWhinzeAlot
      I didn’t say Notre Dame deserved the vote. Learn to read. And I actually don’t hate the Sioux. I have respect for the program and I have even met some great fans in person. It’s the group on USCHO that disparages other teams for no reason other than the polls and where they . So speaking of hatred. . .
      Things we have learned over the last two years:
      1. “Polls don’t matter” – except when you don’t like how the vote shakes out.
      2. Any time a WCHA teams loses an out of conference game the other team “got lucky” or their “goalie stood on his head”.
      3. Team X doesn’t deserve to be number one because they lost to Team Y three months ago. Bad losses by WCHA teams three months ago don’t count because, well, it was three months ago (and see Rule 2 above).
      4. Team X doesn’t deserve to be number one because their Strength of Schedule is not in the single digits. (“Who have the beaten?!?!?!?”). Again, this rule doesn’t count when a WCHA team is being discussed e.g. this year Minnesota is currently 26, Duluth 17, North Dakota 18.
      5. And when all else fails, the WCHA has more titles than any other conference.
      So by all means, keep it up. But don’t wonder why hundreds of people were celebrating on these boards when you guys lost in the Frozen Four. It wasn’t about hating the team.
      - Scott Reed
        So its not just a clevar name… you do whine a lot. I bet you didn’t even pick it, the moderators changed it for you didn’t they???
        By the way… there are 353 people registered on this board, look around… there are a lot of Sioux fans…”hundreds of people were celebrating” simple math and common sense would prove you wrong
        You like to point out the reading disabilities of other people… last time I checked you were born with common sense and you learn to count before you learn to read. Your disabilities are more fundamental… and obviously more severe, lol
  - FightingSioux4Ever
    That’s whining? Wow. Ok, then by that rational, you feel Notre Dame deserves a vote for getting SMOKED in their own building by an unknown? Nice logic, you must work for the NCAA.
    - SirWhinzeAlot
      I never said Notre Dame deserved the vote. You should get that reading comprehension disability checked out.
      - Scott Reed
        Its amazing that multiple people took your comments to imply that you were defending the vote, but we all have the communication problem… what color is the sky in the world you live in?
  - GeauxSioux
    I liked your comment to make you feel better. Accept this as my apology for pointing out the obvious fact that a team who gets dusted at home should never receive a first place vote.
    - GodSquadForever
      Dusted at home by NE…..hahaha those were some bad losses. Those guys will rebound though…they aren’t all that bad. Sheahan is a beast.
Guest
Can’t wait to have the Minny fans see this and the complaining to start…”but we swept UMD on their ice…” An unbeaten streak of 12 games is special for any team. To do that after losing the talent they did last year is impressive. They haven’t played a lot of top notch teams in the last 12 (Providence, MN State, Denver, Alaska-Anchorage and Mich Tech) but still 12 games in a row without a loss is tough in college hockey.
Good job UMD.
- GeauxSioux
  Providence beat up on Merrimack. While I don’t believe Merrimack is a strong team at all, those wins for UMD over Providence may prove to be more important at some point. Is it wrong to have my second favorite team be in the same conference as the Sioux? Congrats UMD, they’ll be tough to catch in the WCHA.
- GeauxSioux
  Excuse me, win and tie.
- me
  So your team gets the #1 nod and the first thing out of your mouth is talk about the Gophers. Even when you’re on top you can’t help obsess about your big brother.
Guest
Just glad to see that UND is finally playing a little bit better and moving back into the polls.
The poll doesn’t really count until much later in the year but you like to see your team starting to play better as the year goes on and UND has been doing that as of late. Keep it up. #foreverfightingsioux
gopher fan
Number one doesnt matter at this point in the year. All that matters is that the gophers are on top of the wcha.
- Miller73
  hahaha….oh, is that all that matters?……It doesnt matter at all now, the bulldogs being number one, or the gophers leading by one point in the wcha….typical whiney, childish remark, by a self entitled gopher fan
Slambammy
I am a forever Gopher fan and although it is nice to see the Gophs on top of the WCHA and on top of the national polls, it does not matter at all come the end of the season. When we hit the WCHA playoffs anyone could win. That is the great thing about the WCHA…the rivalries are awesome and at anytime anyone can win.
- MNHockeypuck
  First place is the kiss of death. UMD can have it. I like the Gophers in second place for now but it doesn’t really matter. There’s a lot of hockey yet to play. I agree with you – the WCHA looks strong again this year. I’ll miss the rivalries when they break up the WCHA.
  - Slambammy
    I have not heard one person say they like this break and the formation of the Big Ten Hockey Association….oh wait, the Big Ten likes it because of the $$. I would follow the Gophs if they joined Huntsville and formed a two team league, that is how devoted I am. I hate the idea of breaking up the WCHA. Far to many rivalries and history that the NCAA is trashing. Sad…very sad.
Fuker
What a joke! Maybe they should come out every other week so the smarties can think about it a little more.
Gophers lead Dogs in conference, have better overall record and swept them in Duluth. Ya, Dogs number 1.
- ibanezist00
  Do the Gophers have an 11-0-1 record in the last 12 games, even regardless of who they played? That’s a bit tough to do in any hockey league, let alone college hockey.
  Do readers also not understand that the votes may not be based purely on numbers and that there are some subjective factors that have to be taken into account?
- doofus patrol
  Ha ha ha…good job fuker, I see math isnt your strong point. They have the exact same overall record percentage. Gophers have one two of their last 4 games, three of their last six…..dogs undefeated in last 12…. typical whiney, self entitled gopher fan…..try again doofus
  - doofus patrol
    won..one of last two…spelling isnt mine..but i can edit…lolol
ibanezist00
I knew when I scrolled down to the comments section of this article I was going to have a good laugh. Every time there is a “there’s a new #1!” article on USCHO, all the lunatic fringe comes out and whines about how this team really isn’t the best, etc. etc. Just congratulate the team, even if it isn’t the team you root for, acknowledge that they MAY have an actual good body of work this season so far, take the results with a grain of salt, and move on. Not every team can be the best all the time.
- Slambammy
  I think even the “lunatic fringe” are allowed their freedom of speech and opinions. Funny thing is whining still fits into this no matter who likes it and who does not. I don’t think these people need to be told who to congratulate or who to acknowledge. Best left up to the person commenting to decide that. So…in saying that. I think UMD sucks and UAH should get a feel good number 1 rating. **For the record…I don’t really think UMD sucks**.
  - ibanezist00
    What? When in my admittely soapbox-esque speech did I say anything about taking the rights away to their opinion? I was trying to suggest a classier way to handle the poll ratings rather than saying “MY TEAM SHOULD BE UP THERE BECAUSE THEY’RE BETTER LOL”, and having these comment threads degenerate into Sioux vs. Gopher fans, like they do every time.
    Look, the rankings are a view of who is good at this very moment, not who is necessarily going to win it all come NCAA tournament time — hence why this is a weekly poll. Clearly UMD has a good body of work as of this poll — as Merrimack did the week before. Hence, why I think it’s funny when people freak out about the rankings as if those voting had some kind of mystical power over who is actually going to end up in what position at the end of the season. Anyway, those are my $0.02, tax deductible. Have a lovely evening and I’ll see everyone next week in the comment threads on the story about whoever is first in the polls.
  - ItsOnlyDecember
    “Freedom of speech” refers to interference from the government. There’s nothing to stop us from mocking the poor sports (usually the WCHA fans) who incessantly whine about who is number one and then torture logic to justify their ranting.

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