March 23, 2008
INCH Power Rankings

With the regular season and conference championships in the books, we see the top team in the country much like the NCAA Tournament selection process did: the Michigan Wolverines. From there, it changes a bit, just as from here on out, it's a whole new season.

Here's how the Inside College Hockey editors and staff rank the nation's top teams (along with a note for each team).

No.	Team		Of Note
1.	Michigan	1	Michigan returns to Albany for the first time since the 2001 Frozen Four, and holds the top overall seed in the tournament for the first time since 1997.
31-5-4. LAST WEEK: W vs. Northern Michigan, 6-4; W vs. Miami, 2-1. THIS WEEK: NCAA East Regional vs. Niagara (Albany, N.Y.).
2.	North Dakota	1	The last (and only) meeting between the Fighting Sioux and Princeton, at Baker Rink in 2002, featured five assists by Zach Parise in a 5-2 North Dakota win. Apparently, he’s always been productive in New Jersey.
26-10-4. LAST WEEK: L vs. Denver, 3-1; W vs. Colorado College, 4-2. THIS WEEK: NCAA Midwest Regional vs. Princeton (Madison, Wisc.).
3.	Miami	1	The RedHawks have five forwards with 34 or more points, which makes it disturbing that defenseman Alec Martinez scored the team's last two goals.
32-7-1. LAST WEEK: W vs. Notre Dame, 2-1 ot; L vs. Michigan, 2-1. THIS WEEK: NCAA Northeast Regional vs. Air Force (Worcester, Mass.)
4.	Colorado College	3	The Tigers suffered consecutive losses for the second time all year (and first time since Oct. 26-27), with the offense providing just one even-strength goal in two games.
28-11-1. LAST WEEK: L vs. Minnesota, 2-1; L vs. North Dakota, 4-2. THIS WEEK: NCAA West Regional vs. Michigan State (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
5.	Denver	1	George Gwozdecky joins Jeff Sauer as the only coaches to have won four WCHA tournament titles.
26-13-1. LAST WEEK: W vs. North Dakota, 3-1; W vs. Minnesota, 2-1. THIS WEEK: NCAA Midwest Regional vs. Wisconsin (Madison, Wisc.).
6.	New Hampshire	1	The penalty kill may have quickly become a concern, as BC scored on 3-of-6 power plays in the Hockey East semis. UNH's PK ranks 10th among the 16 teams in the tournament.
25-9-3. LAST WEEK: L vs. Boston College, 5-4 3ot. THIS WEEK: NCAA West Regional vs. Notre Dame (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
7.	Boston College	2	It's hard to get a bigger marquee matchup in the first round than BC-Minnesota. At least one of those teams has been at each of the last 10 Frozen Fours.
21-11-8. LAST WEEK: W vs. New Hampshire, 5-4 3ot; W vs. Vermont, 4-0. THIS WEEK: NCAA Northeast Regional vs. Minnesota (Worcester, Mass.).
8.	Michigan State	1	Hobey Baker finalist, Sullivan Award finalist ... in all honesty, Jeff Lerg had too much going on to be playing last weekend.
24-11-5. LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: NCAA West Regional vs. Colorado College (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
9.	St. Cloud State	1	Huskies making their second NCAA playoff trip to Albany, having lost 5-3 to Boston University there in 2000 as Ricky DiPietro out-dueled Scott Meyer between the pipes.
19-15-5. LAST WEEK: L vs. Minnesota, 3-2. THIS WEEK: NCAA East Regional vs. Clarkson (Albany, N.Y.).
10.	Minnesota State	—	The best team not to make the NCAAs, the Mavericks were 9-10-1 against teams that did make the tournament, including a 7-4-0 mark down the stretch.
19-16-4. LAST WEEK: Off.
11.	Princeton	3	Lee Jubinville is the first Hobey Baker Award finalist from Princeton, the alma mater of the award's namesake.
21-13-0. LAST WEEK: W vs. Colgate, 3-0; W vs. Harvard, 4-1. THIS WEEK: NCAA Midwest Regional vs. North Dakota (Madison, Wisc.).
12.	Minnesota	7	A rain of boos from Gopher fans when Peter Mannino was named the Final Five’s all-tournament goalie. They turned to cheers a beat later when Alex Kangas was named tourney MVP.
19-16-9. LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Cloud State, 3-2; W vs. Colorado College, 2-1 ot; L vs. Denver, 2-1. THIS WEEK: NCAA Northeast Regional vs. Boston College (Worcester, Mass.).
13.	Clarkson	2	The Golden Knights won their last two games at Times Union Center in Albany, in last season's ECAC Hockey championships. Their last NCAA Tournament win also took place in that building, in 1996 against Western Michigan.
21-12-4. LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: NCAA East Regional vs. St. Cloud State (Albany, N.Y.).
14.	Notre Dame	2	The Irish have only four wins against teams headed to the NCAA Tournament, two of which came in an early December sweep at Princeton.
24-15-4. LAST WEEK: L vs. Miami, 2-1 ot; L vs. Northern Michigan, 2-1. THIS WEEK: NCAA West Regional vs. New Hampshire (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
15.	Harvard	2	Senior Jon Pelle had five goals in Harvard's five ECAC Hockey playoff games.
17-13-4. LAST WEEK: W vs. Cornell, 3-1; L vs. Princeton, 4-1.
16.	Niagara	3	With the third-ranked offense in the country, you can expect Niagara to try to run and gun, but goaltender Juliano Pagliero (.929 save percentage) has the stuff to give teams fits as well.
22-10-4. LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: NCAA East Regional vs. Michigan (Albany, N.Y.).
17.	Boston University	2	A tip of the cap to Pete MacArthur, who can expect to hear his name called early in this week's INCH Wish List Draft.
19-17-4. LAST WEEK: L vs. Vermont, 3-1.
18.	Cornell	1	Sophomore Colin Greening had points in eight of Cornell's last nine games, tallying 6-6—12 in that stretch. He finished as the Big Red's leading scorer with 33 points.
19-14-3. LAST WEEK: L vs. Harvard, 3-1; W vs. Colgate, 4-2.
19.	Air Force	1	The Falcons can't expect the friendly reception they got last year in Denver, but it's not like the RedHawks will pack the DCU Center, either.
21-11-6. LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: NCAA Northeast Regional vs. Miami (Worcester, Mass.).
20.	Vermont	NR	A touch of green was welcome at the Hockey East championship weekend, even for those still nursing a St. Patrick's Day hangover.
17-15-7. LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston University, 3-1; L vs. Boston College, 4-0.

Dropped out: Ferris State

Bubble-licious: Ferris State, Wisconsin