Inside College Hockey | INCH Power Rankings

February 6, 2005
INCH Power Rankings

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Seeding speculation:
INCH 4x4

Last week's rankings

USA Today/American Hockey Magazine Poll

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Some great rivalry games over the weekend led to some shake-ups in the INCH Power Rankings, leading into even more rivalries in one of the sport's best tournaments: the Beanpot, which begins Monday.

Speaking of tournaments, it's time to cast our gaze towards the NCAAs; thus the debut of the INCH 4x4, which projects what we think the field might look like once the season ends.

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 for each team).

No.	Team		Of Note
1.	Boston College	–	Patrick Eaves (nine-game point streak) keeps scoring, but defenseman Andrew Alberts (both goals vs. Providence) may make a bid for team MVP honors.
17-3-5 (11-1-5 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: T at Providence, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston University (Beanpot), vs. Merrimack.
2.	Colorado College	–	Brett Sterling scored a hat trick and added two assists in a 7-1 romp at MSU-Mankato.
23-4-3 (16-4-2 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Minnesota State, 7-1; T at Minnesota State, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud State, vs. St. Cloud State.
3.	Denver	1	Does the balance of WCHA power lie squarely in the Rockies? This weekend, with Wisconsin visiting Magness, may hold the answer.
20-6-1 (15-4-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W at North Dakota, 4-2; W at North Dakota, 4-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin, vs. Wisconsin.
4.	Wisconsin	1	Badgers allow five goals in loss vs. Minnesota Saturday after giving up a total of six during the seven-game win streak the Gophers ended.
20-7-1 (15-5-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota, 3-1; L vs. Minnesota, 5-3. THIS WEEK: at Denver, at Denver.
5.	Cornell	1	The Big Red have an eight-game unbeaten streak and none of their six remaining opponents are over .500.
16-4-3 (12-2-2 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W at Colgate, 1-0; T vs. Colgate, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Princeton, at Yale.
6.	Michigan	1	Think Red Berenson will remind his guys that games aren't 56 minutes long?
20-7-3 (17-3-2 CCHA). LAST WEEK: T vs. Michigan State, 2-2 ot; T vs. Michigan State, 1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: at Nebraska-Omaha, at Nebraska-Omaha.
7.	Harvard	1	Crimson already own wins against BU and BC. They'll try for the Hub's triple crown Monday against Northeastern in the Beanpot.
14-5-2 (11-4-1 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W at Union, 8-1; W vs. Dartmouth, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Northeastern (Beanpot), at Rensselaer.
8.	New Hampshire	1	Freshman goaltender Kevin Regan has won three straight, and could be making a push to play ahead of junior Jeff Pietrasiak (0-2-1 in his last three).
18-7-3 (11-3-2 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: L vs. Maine, 3-1; W vs. Maine, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts, at Massachusetts.
9.	Ohio State	2	At 18-5-3 with a 2.12 GAA and a .920 save pct., Dave Caruso is one of the nation's most underrated players.
20-7-3 (17-4-1 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W at Lake Superior State, 3-1; W at Lake Superior State, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Bowling Green, vs. Bowling Green.
10.	Minnesota	1	Yahtzee! Gophers have allowed three goals in each of their last five games.
20-11-0 (13-9-0 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L at Wisconsin, 3-1; W at Wisconsin, 5-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska Anchorage, vs. Alaska Anchorage.
11.	UMass Lowell	1	A freak collision in Friday's game landed junior forward Brad King in the hospital, where he'll spend the next two-to-three weeks. He's out for the year, but it's not career-ending.
16-6-4 (7-6-3 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: T at Boston University, 4-4 ot; W vs. Providence, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Northeastern, at Providence.
12.	Colgate	2	One more victory and the Raiders have back-to-back, 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.
19-8-1 (11-4-1 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: L vs. Cornell, 1-0; T at Cornell, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Yale, at Princeton.
13.	Maine	1	Freshmen scored all four goals for the Black Bears at UNH's "White Out the Whit" weekend.
15-9-6 (10-4-4 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: W at New Hampshire, 3-1; L at New Hampshire, 2-1. THIS WEEK: Off.
14.	Boston University	3	The Terriers haven't gone two years without a Beanpot title since 1993-94.
15-10-2 (11-4-2 Hockey East). LAST WEEK: T vs. UMass Lowell, 4-4 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College (Beanpot), at Providence.
15.	North Dakota	2	Post-mortem. Sioux draw iron three times and had a goal waved off in a 4-2 loss to Denver Saturday.
15-12-3 (10-11-1 WCHA). LAST WEEK: L vs. Denver, 4-2; L vs. Denver, 4-2. THIS WEEK: Off.
16.	Vermont	1	Nobody at INCH is much of a college hoops fan, but you've got to like Taylor Coppenrath. Kid looks like a natural to quarterback a power play.
15-10-3 (9-5-2 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: L at Brown, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Clarkson, vs. St. Lawrence.
17.	Nebraska-Omaha	1	The Mavs are 7-2-1 in their last 10 outings, and they'll likely have 10,000+ at Qwest Center for this week's series against Michigan.
15-10-3 (11-8-3 CCHA). LAST WEEK: T at Notre Dame, 1-1 ot; W at Notre Dame, 6-3. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan, vs. Michigan.
18.	Northern Michigan	2	Saturday loss to visiting Alaska-Fairbanks snapped the Wildcats' 13-game unbeaten streak at Berry Events Center.
14-9-5 (12-7-3 CCHA). LAST WEEK: W vs. Alaska-Fairbanks, 6-3; L vs. Alaska-Fairbanks, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Western Michigan, vs. Western Michigan.
19.	Dartmouth	–	He had a slow first half, but Lee Stempniak has 20 points in the last 11 games. The Big Green are 8-3-0 in that time.
12-9-2 (9-7-0 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: L at Harvard, 2-1; W at Brown, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. St. Lawrence, vs. Clarkson.
20.	Brown	–	Give us your tired, your poor – Bears are 2-5-2 vs. teams with winning records, 10-2-1 against everyone else.
12-7-3 (7-6-2 ECACHL). LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 3-1; L vs. Dartmouth, 3-1. THIS WEEK: at Union, at Rensselaer.

Dropped out: None

Bubble-licious: Bemidji State, Bowling Green, Michigan State, Alabama-Huntsville, Quinnipiac, Holy Cross

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