Inside College Hockey | INCH Power Rankings

November 21, 2004
INCH Power Rankings

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These are streaky times in college hockey, as the residents of our INCH Power Rankings can attest. Cornell, which started 4-0-0, is winless in four straight, and headed in the wrong direction. BU, meanwhile, started 0-2-0, but has won seven out of eight, leading to the biggest jump in this week's rankings. Among all of that, we have a new No. 1 team streaking to the top of the list.

Here's how the Inside College Hockey editors and staff rank the nation's top teams (along with movement since last week and a note).

No.	Team		Of Note
1.	Michigan	1	Say what you want about fan behavior at Yost, but apparently it's better than down the road at Auburn Hills.
9-2-1 (7-1-0 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Michigan State, 4-2; W vs. Michigan State, 5-4. THIS WEEK: at Minnesota, at Wisconsin.
2.	Minnesota	1	The Gopher-Wolverine meeting on Friday shapes up as a classic matchup between two teams with talent, depth and goaltending.
8-3-0 (6-2-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Denver, 5-4; L at Denver, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan, vs. Michigan State.
3.	Wisconsin	1	Four straight wins and a trip to Alaska later, and the Badgers' two losses to Minnesota seem like they happened a long time ago.
9-3-0 (7-3-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Alaska Anchorage, 4-1; W at Alaska Anchorage, 4-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan State, vs. Michigan.
4.	Boston College	3	You can't spell BCS without BC, but that doesn't help you in hockey.
4-2-2 (2-0-2 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: L at Harvard, 3-1; T at Providence, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Holy Cross, at Northeastern.
5.	Colorado College	–	Visit to Colorado Springs – home of former SID Dave Fischer, now with USA Hockey – apparently wasn't enough to inspire Michigan Tech.
8-2-0 (4-2-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan Tech, 6-1; W vs. Michigan Tech, 5-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Boston University.
6.	New Hampshire	–	Both the Whittemore Center and CC's World Arena welcomed their millionth fans Friday night. These things always happen in threes, they say; we figure somewhere the millionth person wondered whatever happened to the NHL.
8-2-1 (5-1-0 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W at Merrimack, 4-1; W vs. Northeastern, 4-3; W at Northeastern, 7-4. THIS WEEK: at UMass Lowell, at Vermont.
7.	North Dakota	4	Deja vu all over again? Fighting Sioux head to Michigan Tech this weekend, where their football team bounced the Huskies out of the NCAA D-II playoffs Saturday.
7-5-2 (5-4-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 4-1; W vs. St. Cloud State, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Michigan Tech, at Michigan Tech.
8.	Boston University	10	Whether it comes Tuesday, Friday or Saturday, you can bet that Jack Parker will win his 700th career game this week. We wouldn't have been so sure with last year's BU team.
7-3-0 (6-1-0 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W at UMass Lowell, 7-2; W vs. UMass Lowell, 5-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Harvard, at Denver, at Colorado College.
9.	Minnesota Duluth	2	What a difference a second makes: Brown's goal at 19:59 of the third period led to a one-hour Bulldog team meeting after the game.
6-4-2 (4-2-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Brown, 6-2; L vs. Brown, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at St. Cloud State, at St. Cloud State.
10.	Denver	–	We love watching the Pioneers on TV, but could you maybe do something about the Magness Arena lighting? With all the shadows, It's like watching an episode of the 'X-Files'.
6-5-0 (5-3-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Minnesota, 5-4; W vs. Minnesota, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University, vs. Massachusetts.
11.	Maine	2	Black Bears scored 14 goals this weekend, or two more than the number of shots they allowed in Friday's win vs. UMass.
9-6-0 (5-3-0 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W vs. Massachusetts, 6-2; W vs. Providence, 8-4. THIS WEEK: at Dartmouth.
12.	Ohio State	3	Leading scorer Tom Fritsche scored his first goal of the year against Nebraska-Omaha Saturday...on an assist from Ted Ginn, Jr.
9-4-1 (7-2-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: L at Nebraska-Omaha, 4-0; T at Nebraska-Omaha, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: Off.
13.	Northern Michigan	1	Wildcats are 3-0-1 in the U.P., with a home-and-home with Lake Superior this weekend.
5-3-2 (3-2-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: at Lake Superior State, vs. Lake Superior State.
14.	Vermont	5	Vermont hasn't lost in eight games. Last year, it was February before the Catamounts collected eight wins or ties on the year, never mind in a row.
6-4-3 (4-0-2 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: T vs. Cornell, 2-2 ot; W vs. Colgate, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts, vs. New Hampshire.
15.	Colgate	1	The Raiders are home for the holidays: their next road game is Jan. 1, against Northeastern in Denver.
8-4-0 (3-1-0 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W at Dartmouth, 2-1; L at Vermont, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Mercyhurst, vs. Mercyhurst.
16.	Cornell	8	They say Ithaca is Gorges. After an 0-2-2 road trip, the Big Red can bring their fans back off the ledge as they return home.
4-2-2 (2-1-1 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: T at Vermont, 2-2 ot; L at Dartmouth, 2-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Canisius.
17.	Nebraska-Omaha	3	When teams return home from the Qwest Center after a series, do they get boxes of Omaha Steaks as parting gifts like the guests on 'Live With Regis and Kelly'?
7-4-1 (5-4-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Ohio State, 4-0; T vs. Ohio State, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: Off.
18.	Union	NR	Who'd of thought a few weeks ago that the Dutchmen would be the favorites in the Dunkin Donuts Coffee Pot? Well, second-favorite – we're still partial to chocolate glazed.
7-5-0 (6-0-0 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W at Princeton, 6-4; W at Yale, 5-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Merrimack, vs. Holy Cross or Providence (Dunkin Donuts Coffee Pot).
19.	Bowling Green	2	This week's recipient of the INCH Power Ranking mulligan after a disastrous 9-3 home loss to Wayne State, a team they'd beaten 7-3 two days earlier.
6-3-1 (3-2-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Wayne State, 7-3; L vs. Wayne State, 9-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Miami, vs. Miami.
20.	Harvard	NR	After upsetting BC, Crimson had an opportunity to see their football team win The Game. Their reaction: "Big deal, everybody's beating Yale this year."
3-2-1 (2-2-1 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston College, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Boston University, at St. Lawrence, at Clarkson.

Dropped out: Northeastern, Michigan State

Bubble-licious: Alaska-Fairbanks, Michigan State, Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, Alabama-Huntsville, Massachusetts

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