A sweep of Western Michigan kept Michigan in the top spot in Monday’s USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll, as the Wolverines racked up 45 of 50 first-place votes to retain the national pole position.
Michigan was trailed once again by Miami, which picked up two wins over Nebraska-Omaha and earned the remaining five first-place nods to stay at No. 2, while Colorado College and Denver swapped places this week after the Tigers swept Alaska-Anchorage and the Pioneers split with Wisconsin. CC is No. 3 and DU No. 4 this time around.
Comfortably ahead of the rest of the pack in fifth place was New Hampshire, which made a statement by taking two decisions from then-No. 5 Massachusetts, handing the Minutemen their first losses since November. The Wildcats jumped three places as a result of last weekend’s performance.
In at No. 6 this week was North Dakota, which climbed two spots after a sweep of Michigan Tech, while Michigan State rebounded three places to seventh with a three-point weekend against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish slipped to eighth, right behind the Spartans.
Northeastern finished ninth in the latest rankings, down two spots after a split with Merrimack, while UMass fell to 10th after its losses to UNH.
Opening the second half of the poll was Boston College, twice a winner over Vermont, and Clarkson stood fast at No. 12 after losing to Dartmouth but rebounding to beat Harvard.
St. Cloud State edged up to 13th with a win and a tie against Minnesota, and Quinnipiac moved up to No. 14 after topping Brown and Yale. At No. 15 was Massachusetts-Lowell; the River Hawks split a pair of overtime decisions against Providence last weekend.
Minnesota-Duluth finished at No. 16, up three spots with a win and a tie versus Minnesota State, while Wisconsin was No. 17 this week. Minnesota fell to 18th, followed by Princeton, which moved into the rankings at No. 19 with wins over Yale and Brown. Rounding out the poll was Minnesota State, holding its ground from last week’s rankings.
Dropping out this week was Michigan Tech.
