After a week out of the top spot, Quinnipiac is once again the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll after getting 26 first-place votes just one day after being named the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
Last weekend, QU lost to Brown in the ECAC semifinals before beating Yale in the third-place game.
Last week’s No. 1 team, Minnesota, falls to No. 2, but also received 10 first-place votes. No. 3 Massachusetts-Lowell, Hockey East playoff champions, jumps two spots to No. 3 and garnered the other 14 first-place nods.
Notre Dame won the final CCHA tournament and rises five spots to No. 4, Miami lost to Michigan in the CCHA semifinals and dips to fifth and Boston College falls two to No. 6 after bowing out in the Hockey East semifinals to Boston University.
North Dakota fell in overtime in the WCHA semifinals to Colorado College to fall one spot to No. 7, Wisconsin won the WCHA Final Five and jumps six spots to No. 8, St. Cloud State bowed out of the WCHA semifinals to Wisconsin and falls two places to the ninth spot and New Hampshire remains tenth after losing in the Hockey East quarterfinals two weekends ago.
At No. 11, Minnesota is down three after losing to Wisconsin, Denver is up one to No. 12 despite losing to Colorado College in the WCHA quarterfinals two weekends ago, Union captured the ECAC playoff championship and rises five places to No. 13, Niagara is up one to No. 14 even after losing to Canisius in the Atlantic Hockey semifinals and Yale drops four places to No. 15 after losing to Union in the ECAC semifinals and then to Quinnipiac in the third-place game.
Western Michigan, swept by Michigan two weekends ago in the CCHA quarterfinals, comes in 16th, Hockey East tournament runners-up are 17th, Providence is 18th, CCHA tournament runner-up Michigan, despite a sub-.500 record (18-19-3), finishes 19th and AHA playoff champ Canisius takes No. 20 this week.
The next poll (and final poll of the 2012-13 season) will be released on Monday, April 15.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.
