The top 20 teams are still the top 20 teams, but there’s a lot of movement in this week’s poll.
Miami’s road split with Bowling Green was enough for the RedHawks to fall from grace and to vault the Michigan Wolverines into the top spot in the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll, released Monday.
Three of the top five teams in the country were idle last weekend, including the Wolverines, who received an overwhelming number of first-place votes (38). Miami dropped to No. 2 with six votes.
Also idle were No. 3 Denver and No. 5 Massachusetts. The Pioneers held their position and received five first-place votes in spite of No. 4 Colorado College’s decisive sweep of Wisconsin in Madison, a two-game set in which the Tigers allowed just one goal. The Tigers earned one first-place vote.
Also holding steady at No. 6 is Notre Dame, who split two low-scoring games in Marquette against unranked Northern Michigan.
The remaining four top-10 teams are the same from a week ago, but two have moved. With a 7-3 win over Maine in Orono, Northeastern jumped from No. 9 to No. 6. New Hampshire slipped one position to a tie for No. 8 with North Dakota. UNH beat Merrimack but lost to St. Lawrence last weekend; the Sioux, who split with St. Cloud State, don’t move.
Michigan State took three road points from Lake Superior State to remain in No. 10.
Clarkson and Boston College switched places from a week ago after the top team in the ECAC beat the third-place Hockey East team in a single game in Potsdam, N.Y., 4-2, giving the Golden Knights the No. 11 slot and the Eagles No. 12.
Wisconsin’s losses to CC helped several teams move up in this week’s rankings. The No. 13 slot now belongs to Mass.-Lowell, who also saw no action last weekend. St. Cloud State moves up a spot to No. 14 and Minnesota does likewise to No. 15. The Golden Gophers swept Wayne State in nonconference play in Mariucci Arena.
No. 16 Quinnipiac also leapfrogged over Wisconsin after tying Harvard and defeating Dartmouth. The Badgers drop to No. 17.
No. 18 Michigan Tech, No. 19 Minnesota-Duluth and No. 20 Minnesota State claim the last three places. The Huskies climbed two spots after sweeping Mercyhurst on the road, the Bulldogs dropped two after splitting with Bemidji State at home and the Mavericks, idle last week, dropped a spot.
