It’s no surprise that Boston College is going to be the target for a lot of teams this season. It comes with the national championship trophy, and it comes with the level of success that the Eagles have reached.<\/p>\n
Here’s what might surprise you: Being No. 1 in the preseason poll, as BC was anointed Monday in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, has recently meant an early end to that team’s season.<\/p>\n
Four of the previous seven No. 1 picks in the preseason poll have then missed the NCAA tournament. Boston College is part of it, picked for glory before the 2008-09 season but ending up on the outside of the NCAA field. The others: Denver in 2005-06, Wisconsin in 2006-07 and Notre Dame last season.<\/p>\n
Of the 15 previous No. 1 picks:<\/p>\n
• Only one has ended up as the national champion (Minnesota in 2002-03).<\/p>\n
• Five have made it to the Frozen Four, but none since North Dakota in 2007-08.<\/p>\n
• The average record posted by the teams was 26 wins, 11.53 losses and 3.93 ties.<\/p>\n
Things are a little better for majority No. 1 picks (those who earned more than 50 percent of the first-place votes cast), as Boston College is this season.<\/p>\n
Eight of the 15 preseason No. 1s have fallen into that category, and of that eight, only one missed the NCAA tournament (BC in 2008-09) and three made the Frozen Four.<\/p>\n
This is Boston College’s fifth time as No. 1 in the preseason poll. North Dakota is next with three, followed by Denver and Minnesota with two apiece. Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Wisconsin each have been the preseason No. 1 once.<\/p>\n
Here’s the rundown on the No. 1 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll and how they have fared (first-place votes in parentheses):<\/p>\n
1997-98:<\/strong> North Dakota (30\/30); 30-8-1, won WCHA regular season title, lost in NCAA quarterfinals<\/p>\n 1998-99:<\/strong> Boston College (6\/30); 27-12-4, won Hockey East playoff title, lost in NCAA semifinals<\/p>\n 1999-2000:<\/strong> Boston College (26\/40); 29-12-1, lost in NCAA championship game<\/p>\n 2000-01:<\/strong> North Dakota (24\/40); 29-8-9, won WCHA regular season title, lost in NCAA championship game<\/p>\n 2001-02:<\/strong> Michigan State (33\/40); 27-9-5, lost in NCAA first round<\/p>\n 2002-03:<\/strong> Minnesota (22\/40); 28-8-9, won WCHA playoff title, won NCAA title<\/p>\n 2003-04:<\/strong> Minnesota (25\/30); 27-14-3, won WCHA playoff title, lost in NCAA quarterfinals<\/p>\n 2004-05:<\/strong> Michigan (17\/40); 31-8-3, won CCHA regular season and playoff titles, lost in NCAA quarterfinals<\/p>\n 2005-06:<\/strong> Denver (17\/36); 21-15-3, missed NCAA tournament<\/p>\n 2006-07:<\/strong> Wisconsin (17\/40); 19-18-4, missed NCAA tournament<\/p>\n 2007-08:<\/strong> North Dakota (13\/29); 28-11-4, lost in NCAA semifinals<\/p>\n 2008-09:<\/strong> Boston College (36\/50); 18-14-5, missed NCAA tournament<\/p>\n 2009-10:<\/strong> Denver (20\/46); 27-10-4, won WCHA regular season title, lost in NCAA first round<\/p>\n 2010-11:<\/strong> Boston College (45\/50); 30-8-1, won Hockey East regular season and playoff titles, lost in NCAA first round<\/p>\n 2011-12:<\/strong> Notre Dame (11\/43); 19-18-3, missed NCAA tournament<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s no surprise that Boston College is going to be the target for a lot of teams this season. It comes with the national championship trophy, and it comes with the level of success that the Eagles have reached. Here’s what might surprise you: Being No. 1 in the preseason poll, as BC was anointed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1425],"tags":[1444],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n