USA Today and USA Hockey Magazine released their preseason poll for the start of the NCAA hockey season and the names at the top look really familiar.
Defending national champion Boston College will start the year at the top of the polls with the University of Minnesota tied at No. 1.
Jerry York’s Eagles dominated through the tournament last year and return this season with many of the players that helped them take it all. Meanwhile, the team BC beat in the national semifinals, Don Lucia’s Golden Gophers, begin the season with huge expectations after making their way back to the NCAA tournament last year.
You can catch college hockey action on NBCSN this year featuring many of the teams in the USA Today Top 15 including North Dakota, Union College, Cornell, Denver, Notre Dame, and BC’s rivals from Boston University.
Here’s how the poll sits with the season ready to kick off in October:
Rank | School | 2011-12 | 2011-12 Record | Weeks in Top 15 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Boston College, 476 (20) | 1 | 33-10-1 | 1 |
1 | University of Minnesota, 476 (12) | 4 | 28-14-1 | 1 |
3 | University of Michigan, 408 (2) | 7 | 24-13-4 | 1 |
4 | University of North Dakota, 407 | 6 | 26-13-3 | 1 |
5 | Union College, 295 | 3 | 26-8-7 | 1 |
6 | Cornell University, 233 | 13 | 19-9-7 | 1 |
7 | UMass-Lowell, 221 | 9 | 24-13-1 | 1 |
8 | University of Denver, 220 | 8 | 25-14-4 | 1 |
9 | Miami University, 203 | 10 | 24-15-2 | 1 |
10 | University of Notre Dame, 186 | NR | 19-18-3 | 1 |
11 | Western Michigan University, 182 | 14 | 21-14-6 | 1 |
12 | University of Minnesota Duluth, 176 | 5 | 25-10-6 | 1 |
13 | Boston University, 158 | 11 | 23-15-1 | 1 |
14 | Ferris State University, 123 | 2 | 26-12-5 | 1 |
15 | University of Wisconsin, 99 | NR | 17-18-2 | 1 |
Others receiving votes: Harvard University, 58; University of Maine, 24; Quinnipiac University, 24; Michigan State University, 19; Colorado College, 19; University of New Hampshire, 17; Ohio State University, 17; St. Cloud (Minn.) State University, 15; Merrimack College, 7; Providence College, 6; Yale University, 6; United States Air Force Academy, 3; Northern Michigan University, 1; Michigan Tech University, 1.