Notre Dame narrowly held onto the top spot in the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll released Monday, edging out St. Cloud State despite the Huskies’ statement weekend against Minnesota. The Fighting Irish, who split Friday and Saturday with Ferris State, earned 20 first-place votes to remain No. 1 for the fourth straight week.
St. Cloud was the new No. 2, rising two places and claiming 15 first-place votes after an impressive road sweep of the Golden Gophers, who dropped two places to fourth overall but still retained three first-place votes.
Sandwiched between the WCHA rivals was New Hampshire, which split with Providence to stay in third. The Wildcats, who took the remaining two first-place votes, were accompanied in the top five by fellow Hockey East member Boston University, which again came in at No. 5 after splitting with Vermont.
The next three teams in the poll also held their ground, with Clarkson in sixth after losing to Princeton and beating Quinnipiac, while Denver and North Dakota, which split last weekend, were again Nos. 7 and 8, respectively.
Boston College returned to the top 10 at No. 9 by sweeping Massachusetts-Lowell, and Miami edged down a spot to 10th with a split against Northern Michigan.
Opening the second half of the rankings was Maine, which rose one place after taking two wins against Merrimack. Following the Black Bears was Michigan; the Wolverines dropped two notches by splitting with Ohio State.
St. Lawrence continued to nose up the rankings, reaching No. 13 this week after beating Quinnipiac but losing to Princeton, and Michigan State dropped one place to 14th in the aftermath of its split with Bowling Green. Vermont was No. 15, up to spots with its split against BU.
Massachusetts beat Northeastern twice and moved up two places to No. 16 this week, with Colorado College falling two spots to 17th after dropping two games to Minnesota State.
Entering the poll this time around were Michigan Tech, now No. 18 thanks to a pair of wins over Wisconsin, and Dartmouth at No. 19 with victories over Cornell and Colgate. The Big Red clung to the last spot in the poll, losing to the Big Green and then Harvard.
Dropping out since last week were Wisconsin and Quinnipiac.
