After a weekend of big games, notable results and a number of upsets, Notre Dame rose to No. 1 in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I men’s poll released Monday. The Fighting Irish beat and tied Western Michigan (the tie a CCHA win after a shootout) and easily moved to the top spot with 40 of 50 first-place votes.
Boston College followed at No. 2, giving last year’s national finalists the top two spots in the poll. The Eagles rose three places after wins against Harvard and Dartmouth, while last week’s top team, Minnesota, fell to third after losing to Michigan and tying Michigan State in the College Hockey Showcase.
Miami moved up to fourth this week without playing a game, rising two spots as other top teams slid in the rankings. One of those teams was Colorado College, which slipped two places to No. 5 after losing to Air Force and beating Colgate.
Northeastern ended up sixth, down two notches in the latest rankings. The Huskies lost to Princeton, then beat host Rensselaer at the Engineers’ holiday tourney. Boston University edged up one to No. 7; the Terriers beat Holy Cross last Tuesday and then St. Lawrence Saturday.
Coming in eighth was Denver, up one place thanks to wins over Colgate and Air Force. Princeton, meanwhile, lost to Mercyhurst in the RPI tournament title game in arguably the weekend’s biggest upset and fell two positions to No. 9. Completing the top 10 was Air Force, which rose one place with its split against the WCHA’s Rocky Mountain schools; AFA’s loss to DU was its first of the season.
Minnesota State opened the second half of the poll after a tie and a win against Bowling Green, with Vermont next at No. 12 in the wake of wins over Massachusetts and Maine.
Cornell edged down to No. 13 after a split with North Dakota gave the Big Red their first loss of the year. Combined with AFA’s weekend, the results mean that no unbeaten teams remain in men’s Division I. Michigan, meanwhile, held steady in 14th with its Showcase win over Minnesota and loss to Wisconsin.
No. 15 belonged to Alaska-Anchorage. The Seawolves climbed four places despite a bye week as teams around them in the poll lost ground. Dartmouth was up four spots as well, beating Providence but losing to Boston College to land at No. 16.
Massachusetts-Lowell entered Monday’s rankings at No. 17 after wins against Merrimack and RIT, while Nebraska-Omaha was down a touch to 18th after two losses to Ohio State. New Hampshire continued to slip in the rankings, down to No. 19 after dropping its lone game of the weekend to Merrimack, and Alaska completed the poll by appearing at No. 20 this week; the Nanooks beat and tied Lake Superior State, recording a CCHA win in the shootout of the second game.
Dropping out since last week were Massachusetts and St. Cloud State.
