Maine kept a firm grip on the No. 1 spot in the nation in this week’s USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll, released Monday. Still unbeaten on the season after a win over Merrimack and a tie against Boston University, the Black Bears pulled in 36 of 40 first-place votes to easily head up the rankings for a third straight week.
At No. 2 again was Minnesota, whose only loss on the season came to Maine in both teams’ opener. The Golden Gophers swept Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend and earned the remaining four first-place votes.
Boston College also held its ground this week, in third place, as a Tuesday loss to Providence was offset in the voters’ minds by a win over Vermont Saturday. Fourth again was Miami, which split with Northern Michigan, and following the RedHawks at No. 5 was North Dakota, which rebounded from eighth with three points against St. Cloud State.
Michigan State split with archrival Michigan to stay at No. 6, trailed by seventh-ranked Wisconsin, which fell two spots after splitting with Alaska-Anchorage. Boston University was eighth after tying both Massachusetts-Lowell and Maine.
Ninth position belonged to Notre Dame, which took three points in a series against Ohio State, and No. 10 Michigan rounded out the top half of the poll.
Cornell came in at No. 11 this week, remaining perfect on the year after beating Brown and Yale, and Clarkson was 12th after wins against Harvard and Dartmouth. Next up were New Hampshire, which swept Northeastern; idle Denver; and then poll newcomer Alaska, which claimed three points from Nebraska-Omaha, at No. 15.
Northern Michigan and St. Cloud State tied at No. 16, with Rensselaer, which beat Princeton and tied Quinnipiac, at No. 18.
Dartmouth lost to St. Lawrence and Clarkson to fall eight spots to No. 19, and No. 20 Colorado College re-entered the poll with a sweep of previously red-hot Michigan Tech.
Dropping out of the rankings were former No. 18 Michigan Tech and former No. 20 Nebraska-Omaha.
