College Hockey:
Minnesota-Duluth remains No. 1 in men’s poll

USCHO Staff Report • Jan. 30, 2012

Minnesota-Duluth remains the top team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll after receiving 28 first-place votes this week.

Minnesota garnered 21 first-place votes and is second this week, moving up one spot and leap-frogging Boston University.

Merrimack jumps one to No. 4 and Boston College is up two places to get into the top five.

New No. 6 Ferris State, up four to No. 6, received the other first-place vote.

Michigan jumps one to No. 7, Notre Dame falls four to No. 8, Massachusetts-Lowell is up two notches to No. 9 and Ohio State drops four to No. 10 this week.

At No. 11, Colorado College is up one, tied this week with Union. Denver rises two to No. 13, Cornell drops five to 14th in the poll, while Maine is up five to No. 15.

Western Michigan falls three to No. 16, North Dakota is up one to No. 17, flip-flopping with Miami at No. 18, Northern Michigan remains No. 19 and Colgate re-enters the poll at No. 20.

Eight other teams received votes.

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Seth
Tell me how this makes sense. If BU is so good that they can be swept at home by Maine and only fall one spot in the poll, then shouldn’t Maine have been ranked higher then 15? Maine swept BC two weeks ago and BU last weekend. They are 11-2-2 in their last 15 games making them one of, if not the, hottest team in the nation and that only gets them a #15 ranking? In who’s world does this make sense?
GodsSquadForever
How is BU, Mich, Ferris St (for christ’s sake) and OU ranked higher than the Sioux??? I agree these polls used to favor the Sioux a little too much but man…I guarentee the Sioux would absolutely route Merrimack. Oh well, they all shake out in the end, I just hope this doesn’t cost us a trip to the NCAA’s (which looks like a very real possibility).
- After Further Review
  Just remember, these polls mean absolutely ZERO… only the Pairwise does. These just look good, but have no bearing on NCAA’s.
- SiouxAlumDenver
  They are ranked higher because their body of work is better than UND’s. Simple as that. Our signature wins came against CC. The Sioux only beat MN once in 2 series. Sweeping Wisco at home isn’t a great feat considering they have one road win all year. The polls won’t cost the Sioux an NCAA trip, losing games will. True tests on where they stand will come in road matchups against UMD and Denver. The Sioux were hit harder than any team in the offseason, so to even be in contention for an at large bid at this point is pretty amazing.
  - Fan Man
    That tie and win against Maine is looking pretty good too now!
  - GodsSquadForever
    Not too sure about that, go check the teams I mentioned, then check the teams they lost to.
- Houston
  ya know what’s ironic? Half the basket weavers on UND major in geography and you can’t use the word right. Not route like path. It’s rout. Why don’t you blowhards get by any team in MN first?
  - GodsSquadForever
    Thank you for pointing that out. You must have a great home life to be that mad to point something like that out. Go get help.
  - Fan Man
    I’ wuld muhc rahter be in Huoston aetin gater…
  - GodsSquadForever
    Calm down buddy…..my bad. I think you need to talk your boyfriend into releasing some of that tension you got going.
Streaker
Why do people get bent out of shape about the polls? They don’t mean anything.
North Dakota is a good team, but apparently isn’t good enough in the PWR to make the top 15 playoff teams yet. Going 1-1-1 against HEA and losing 3 of 4 to Minnesota is the only indication of how they would do against other NCAA qualifiers. I’d wait until after UMinn Duluth to rave about how they should be ranked, especially against other teams that have beaten NCAA qualifiers like BU and Michigan have.
- Fan Man
  Top 16 make the tourney
  - anom
    Pairwise not rankings
    - Fan Man
      I obviously meant pairwise as we all know that this ganky ranking on here means nothing! I never complain about the USCHO or INCH Power rankings because they are pointless, though fun to look at…. Favorite article is when that dude tries (usually does), to mimic the way the NCAA will pick the field and where they will be placed. The KRACH or something I think..
CrockOGrimaldi
The polls mean everything in Grand Spoons, ND. Those guys spend every second dissecting every statistic and nuance of the polls as if it’s meant anything the past 10 years. Who’s coaching them? Don Lucia? They must be dying too because Yale graduated 9 kids, 8 of whom are playing pro hockey, and is rebuilding. That was their other favorite topic.
- Fan Man
  Last time I checked, didnt the Gophers to lose Vermont (5-19-1)this year? You cant tell me that the gophers or anybody else are THAT outstanding or dominate as we have seen in years past… Anything is possible come playoff time and I can bet the gophers will be nawing on the short end of the stick when that time comes this year! Also, how would your Season be going without Rau? I love your name, too bad we didn’t get to see what would have Really happened this year if we had a clean bill of health like the dirty varmints of the west…
  - ThousandLaker
    huh? Is that the best knock on the Gophers you can muster? Thank god Rau wasn’t injured the way UND played when they visited Mariucci. Amazing no career ending concussions the way Kristo hits to the head or from behind
    - Fan Man
      I was at the “Hucci” for those games and as I recall, losing that final game in the last minute of the game does not give your team the ace~whooping you think you gave the Sioux… And ya I agree that nobody wants to see anybody have a career ending concussion, that even includes your team!!!
Helsinki
I’m a little confused as to how UMD can almost fall to the UAH Chargers, blow a massive lead over MTU, then the next night have Tech wipe the floor with them and still be in the #1 position. Seems strange.

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