Colorado College remained unbeaten last weekend and claimed a third straight week atop the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I men’s poll, released Monday. Though the Tigers added a third tie to their record, a three-point weekend against archrival and then-No. 4 Denver was plenty to consolidate CC’s standing atop the rankings. The Tigers received 41 of 50 first-place votes.
For the second week in a row, Hockey East antagonists held down the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Boston College swept Merrimack and tallied five first-place nods, while Boston University won its lone game of the weekend Saturday against Vermont and was the top pick of four voters.
Minnesota continued to edge upward in the national rankings after a tie and a win against Minnesota State. The Gophers were fourth, up one place from last week. New Hampshire also picked up a spot, to No. 5 after beating and tying Northeastern. Both of those teams leapfrogged Denver, which fell two places to sixth.
Michigan rose one position to No. 7 after a sweep of Ohio State; the Wolverines traded places with Miami, which split with Alaska Friday and Saturday. Meanwhile, the Ivies joined the fray as Princeton opened its season with a win over Brown and was up one spot to ninth. The Tigers took the place of Northeastern, which slipped to No. 10.
Michigan State continued to hold down the No. 11 ranking after a three-point weekend against Western Michigan, followed by CCHA mate Notre Dame. The Irish beat Northern Michigan twice to move up one place, trading spots with Minnesota State.
Air Force continued its winning ways with a sweep of Bentley to get to 8-0-0; the Falcons were rewarded with a three-place jump to No. 14. Next up was Clarkson, which held its ground after playing only an exhibition over the weekend.
Vermont, which beat Dartmouth after its loss to BU, was No. 16, followed by Cornell, the only team in the poll yet to play a game. Harvard kicked off 2008-09 with a win over Dartmouth to finish 18th, while Massachusetts’ sweep of Providence and Minnesota Duluth’s Saturday win over St. Cloud State saw those teams join the poll at Nos. 19 and 20, respectively.
Dropping out since last week were North Dakota and St. Cloud State.
