College Hockey:
Ferris State climbs to No. 1 in men’s poll for first time in school history

USCHO Staff Report • Feb. 13, 2012

Ferris State jumps five spots this week and is the new No. 1-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll with 27 first-place votes.

The Bulldogs have never been the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com poll. The highest FSU has ever been ranked was No. 4 on March 10 and March 17, 2003. Ferris State is also the 19th team ever to lead the poll, which dates to the 1997-98 season, and the second new entry on that list this season (Merrimack).

Boston University (six first-place votes) falls to No. 2, while Boston College is up two to No. 3 after getting 13 first-place votes, Minnesota-Duluth is down one to No. 4 and Michigan is down one to No. 5.

UMD and Michigan each received one first-place vote.

Massachusetts-Lowell is sixth and also earned a first-place vote and No. 7 Minnesota, down five places, garnered the other first-place vote this week.

Union, Merrimack and Denver round out the top ten.

Maine is up one to No. 11, Cornell climbs to 12th, Notre Dame drops four to No. 13, North Dakota rises two to No. 14 and Colorado College falls five spots to No. 15.

At No. 16, Michigan State is up one, Ohio State drops two to No. 17, Western Michigan stays 18th, Miami jumps to No. 19 and Northern Michigan falls one to No. 20.

In addition, seven other schools received votes.

Possibly related:

Links are automatically generated

The following is a self-policing forum for discussing views on this story. Comments that are derogatory, make personal attacks, are abusive, or contain profanity or racism will be removed at our discretion. USCHO.com is not responsible for comments posted by users. Please report any inappropriate or offensive comments by clicking the “Flag” link next to that comment in order to alert the moderator.

Please also keep “woofing,” taunting, and otherwise unsportsmanlike behavior to a minimum. Your posts will more than likely be deleted, and worse yet, you reflect badly on yourself, your favorite team and your conference.

Newengland
Wow…so Maine beats BC, BU for 4 wins, and then UMass,Lowell last weekend and they’re still not on the top 10? hahaha…this is a joke!

GodsSquadForever
I am not a kockey east fan but that does actually make me laugh.
Slambammy
Ya, this USCHO poll makes no sense any more. Who the hell is voting? Are there a bunch of monkeys and whoever hangs the most bananas in front of them gets the most votes?

nogofer
I must agree (gulp) with Slambammy: Who voted for the gofers?

Slambammy
I think all the WCHA teams should get on a bus and head towards the CCHA. They should all play a huge single elimination tourney and see who comes out on top. I have a strange feeling, in the end, two WCHA teams would be fighting it out for the tourney championship. Yes…I am a WCHA snob.

DU_Fan
No doubt about the strongest league this century. Look at final PWR rankings and records against other conferences. One other fact is that over 1/2 the WCHA loses in the NCAA’s have come against each other. Would love to see some HE or ECAC teams join the NCHC in 2013!!!!! Is there really any true hockey fan that doesn’t believe this will be the most powerful group of teams???MINN and WISC will do VERY well in the Big 10….

Slambammy
And nogopher…I would not have voted for the Gophs this week. :) Saturday nights game made me throw bricks at my TV.

DU_Fan
I hope you missed and your TV survived!!!
Slambammy
My aim is like the Gophers right now. Wide to the outside of the goal.

WcHa HoCkEy
Well we know no one voted for the Sioux.

nogofer
At least we know you can read. How was Friday’s pup pounding? The Sioux were moments away from tying the game on Saturday. Even a transplanted gofer/homer like you knows how close the pups came to only 1 or fewer points last weekend. Hang on, sister, the next 6 weeks will be a great ride.

MNfan
OTH, Maine just lost to a mediocre Providence team and barely beat bama-huntsville. There is a lot of parity in college hockey this year.

Yooper
I understand the frustration of every fan who’s team, in their view, gets slighted in the polls. I don’t understand the dynamics either. NMU for example: while they have been losing one and winning one for about a month – their relative placement in the polls has not changed much. (even when they’ve dropped in CCHA standings) With
a tough SOS and good PWR and a 14-10-6 record to show for it, they do deserve to be noticed in the polls. However, how do they drop after getting a road sweep?? There are no easy to beat teams in the CCHA. how did they figure????? Isn’t an improvement supposed to be rewarded????
Ferris95
The Ferris State Bulldogs have all the right to be #1 in the Nation. Sweeping Notre Dame convincingly this past weekend, along with posting a 9-0-3 record since the start of 2012. First team to record 20 wins thus far!!
GO DAWGS!!

Go BU
You are joking, right? Ferris State beat has wins over the likes of St Lawrence (8-9-1) and Rensselaer (5-10-3), and let’s not forget Bowling Green (4-16-4), not to mention 2 losses to Alaska (8-14-4) as well as a loss each to Vermont (2-18-1). If they played in Hockey East, they would be the 4th or 5th best team in league play. Step up and play the “big boys”, and don’t be impressed by your 20 wins when they come against sub-par competition! Early exit in the NCAA’s!

UMaineRocks
LOL – semi-valid points, but I hope that BU didn’t teach you sentence structure. In any case – Go Maine. Who cares who is #1 on February 13th? We know that in the end – the cream will rise to the top. Hockey East has 4 of the top 10 this week…5 of the top 11 if you count Maine. Enough said.

Go BU
Who is GO BU? I see a couple of entries – different teams. Honestly – GO BC!

BlackBear Hockey
What?

After Further Review
You left out Ferris’ loss to Atlantic Hockey powerhouse RIT! And, since a Notre Dame win over BU was worthy of some attention, so must be Notre Dame getting swept by Northeastern at home, one game 9-2! Yes, the same Northeastern that is in 9th place in HE.
BC has BU’s #? They are 2-2 against each other this year, seems pretty even to me.
I think the parity this year between teams and conferences is even closer than it usually is. There is no clear cut #1 team, nor is there a “best” conference this year.
How many people does Ferris State’s arena hold? Maybe you can petition the NCAA immediately, so you can host the regional this year. Let’s face it, will probably be the only year Ferris State has any relevance and their road/neutral site record is not all that good.
Ferris95
Really….BU? You have a powder puff schedule to close out the year against northeastern and vermont that have a combined conference wins of 9 games, really BU are you serious? Would love to see BU come to Ferris for a weekend series and see how you would do against the DAWG POUND!!

After Further Review
There is your visit to the Dawg Pound again… how about neutral ice? Oh yeah, you once again forgot that one of Vermont’s very few wins overall was over Ferris State.

College Hockey Fan
In support of Ferris 95 comments, its clear that ferris95 is simply proud of Ferris States performance as of Jan. As noted they currently have the nations longest unbeaten streak(12) games. So all the negative postings are somewhat hilarious. I would have thought that the much bigger schools(hockey east, wcha,etc) would be more understanding. The competition this year clearly shows parity amongest each league. Having said that, anyone team can be beaten.
Finally, it does make sense that Ferris State is th true #1. Don’t be mad. Its just a sport and ranking. I am sure BU and others will do just fine come the post season.
After Further Review
I have no worries about what he is posting, he just seems to be a bit too proud of their performances. He also seems to make mention of the easy games that BU has coming up, so he needs to be reminded of the slip ups that Ferris had to some of those same teams. Right now, I would vote them #1, without a doubt.
I am certainly not mad, as a matter of fact, I am far from a BU fan. You will see in a post further down, that I am happy to see new blood at the top, just like I was happy to see Merrimack there, but let’s not start badmouthing BU’s schedule, saying BC has their number, etc… just because Ferris finally has a good team. I am all about cheering for your own team, but not mouthing off at other teams. That is why I am throwing the jabs back at him. I am just replying because I find his posts to be rather ridiculous in a lot of ways.
After Further Review
Things such as these posts are not necessary and rather pathetic:
Taken directly from a Ferris95 post…
” Let’s talk about parity and matchups. BU has lost to the
likes of Holy Cross, UMASS, Providence which by the way are all .500 or
below teams. How was the beat down from Notre Dame 5-2 feel? How did
Ferris do against ND, well we took 3 out of 4 against them including a
shut-out at ND 3-0, then destroyed them the following night at Ferris
5-1. BTW how does it feel to lose the beanpot in OT? BC has your #.
Better luck next year. Final note, wow your home record is
really impressive… NOT! posting a 7-6 record one over .500 that is
pathetic.”
How is that being happy about your teams accomplishments? That is intentionally slapping another team in the face.
Ferris95
This weekend should be a exciting one for the CCHA as teams are fighting for the Regular Season Title.
Bulldogs vs. BGSU
WMU vs. LSSU
UM vs. NMU
These three series could potentially determine who will win the Title. Ferris needs to get 8pts to lock it up.
After Further Review
Great weekend for Ferris. I am more than happy to see them at the top and wish them well. I just like the “good” banter, not the bashing, that becomes old and boring fast. Keep up the good work and I’ll be seeing them in Tampa on 4/5 and 4/7!

Yooper
Your darn right the Bulldogs deserve their #1 ranking. I watched them
recently at NMU. They clearly were the best team I’ve seen this year. They
played like they would lead in any league in the country,

Ferris95
Thanks Yooper for your remarks. Apparently BU has no clue on the CCHA which in my opinion is the toughest conference in College Hockey. In fact CCHA Teams( NMU, Miami, MSU, UM, ND, WMU OSU, FSU) represents 40% of the Top 20 teams. Let’s talk about parity and matchups. BU has lost to the likes of Holy Cross, UMASS, Providence which by the way are all .500 or below teams. How was the beat down from Notre Dame 5-2 feel? How did Ferris do against ND, well we took 3 out of 4 against them including a shut-out at ND 3-0, then destroyed them the following night at Ferris 5-1. BTW how does it feel to lose the beanpot in OT? BC has your #. Better luck next year. Final note, wow your home record is really impressive… NOT! posting a 7-6 record one over .500 that is pathetic. The Bulldogs have only lost 1 game thus far at home. Hockey East didn’t even want to send us an invite to their conference for next years realignment, too scared!!

Scott Reed
I have to admit it’s nice to see some fresh blood ready for the verbal spilling… CCHA is not the toughest conference, this year they are ranking well, but don’t let that take away years and years of the WCHA being without a doubt, hands down, the best conference!
I read through your illogical ranting of teams matchups and one thing stands out… your way too excited for nothing, lol nothing about all the teams you mention scream college hockey powerhouse with the exception of a couple.
And one final point, if you think your home record is as outstanding as you claim… how many home games are you going to play in the NCAA tournament?
MNmoose
What a jokester- CCHA the toughest conference? please

Brodi1b
I hope that Ferris State can hold on and win the Division 1 hockey championships. That way they can finally join the list of Michigan universities that have won the championships. At the moment Ferris is the only university in the state of Michigan that has a D1 hockey team that has not won the championships at least once. Oh and just to through one up for my school. University of Michigan is by far the best hockey school in the country with the most championships won by any school since the beginning. Also through the logic that more colleges in the state of Michigan have won the D1 championships than any other state and that all Michigan teams are in the CCHA excluding Michigan Tech, then by this logic the CCHA is overall the best league in the country.

Buster Bronco
Brodi1b wrote: “At the moment Ferris is the only university in the state of Michigan that has a D1 hockey team that has not won the championships at least once.”
Thank you for crediting Western Michigan University with a national championship that they have not won. The only playoff WMU has won was the conference (CCHA) in 1986. WMU has made the NCAA playoffs only in 1986, 1994, 1996, and 2011, and I don’t believe they won any of their first round games.
WMU has won the national championship in only one sport: men’s cross country in about 1965 and 1966. WMU eliminated its men’s cross country and track in about 2005.
However, you are correct that all the other Michigan schools, including Michigan Tech. in the WCHA, have won at least 1 national championship in hockey:
University of Michigan – 9 NCAA titles (1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1964, 1996, 1998)
Michigan State University – 3 NCAA titles (1966, 1986, 2007)
Lake Superior State University – 3 NCAA titles (1988, 1992, 1994)
Michigan Technological University – 3 NCAA titles
Northern Michigan University – 1 NCAA title (1991)
Ferris95
check your facts before spouting off Brodi1B, because the Bronco’s of WMU have never won a National Championship in hockey. Thank you buster bronco for the correction. Ferris State did appear in the NCAA tourney back in 2002/3 season making it to the second round but lost against the Champs Minn Gophers 6-4. One step away from the final four. GO DAWGS

GodsSquadForever
Haha….yeah right! I would love the Sioux to get a hold of those pillow fighters. All CCHA team are WAY overrated! Look at their losses, it’s a complete mess.

CrockoGrimaldi
typical loser UND fan.
bluetell
I’m sure that’s what you said before the national semi’s last year too

Houston Oiler
At least an Ivy team isn’t #1. I looked at Ferris Bueller’s schedule … second rate at best. Let them enjoy the ranking. If they make it to a regional final it will be about as far as they go this year.
hockey21
Ferris State absolutely does NOT deserve to be number one, but the reality is this: no one knows who should be number one, including the voters. The teams who were at or near the top of last week’s poll weren’t able to to what was needed to become number one, so good for Ferris State.
Scott Reed
No clue how this year is going to end up… rank whoever you want where ever you want, but lets not kid ourselves, Ferris is not he best team in the country at all. They started hot against very poor teams, then took a huge dive with losses to the likes of, Alaske, RIT, and Vermont. 5-8-1 in the middle of the season, and now they are hot again. Regional championship game will be a great accomplishment for them.
OiledHouston
Nice to see a smaller school and fresh face in the top slot. Merrimack earlier this year, Yale last few years. Good to see variety and not the same olds. Love d-bags like Houston Oiler who probably is a North Dakota fan

After Further Review
I agree, it’s nice to see, but Ferris95 needs to realize that it’s not April 7th yet, so it doesn’t mean all that much.

Black bears all the way
Bu, and bc are both overrated! Come on man, Maine Beat #2,3,6 and they are ranked 11th!! Wow. Yes they lost a game to providence this past weekend, but come on they are easily a top 7 team… The only team I put ahead of them out of the hockey east teams ranked ahead of them which are( bu,bc, umass-Lowell, and Merrimack) the only team better then umaine is Merrimack. Beating Maine twice and tying once with them. This team is going to be extremely dangerous in the hockey east tourney, and the NCAA tourney.
totalx
10 of the top 13 teams in SOS are from the CCHA. Either I don’t know what SOS means and how it’s determined, or everyone here who is whining about the CCHA being weak has no idea what they are talking about. Granted, I don’t think Ferris is a number 1 quality team, but they have been playing lights out and are being rewarded CURRENTLY for their play. They are 9-0-3 in their past 12 and are getting recognition for that. It’s been such a volatile year in college hockey; much more parity, which is great for the game.