It wasn't but a couple of weeks ago when Boston
College sat atop the INCH Power Rankings. Alas, the Eagles
have stumbled three times in as many weeks, which allowed
Miami to ascend to the top spot. The RedHawks lost and tied
at Ferris State this past weekend, however, which means we're
in the market for a new No. 1 team. That honor goes to BC's
crosstown rival, Boston University. At 6-0-2, the Terriers
are one of the two remaining undefeated teams in the country.
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. |
 Boston
University |
 2 |
BU's penchant for playing close games continued, with
a 2-2 tie against Maine. The Terriers knotted the score
with 1:21 left in the third period on an extra-attacker
goal Charlie Coyle. |
| 6-0-2 (4-0-2
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: T vs. Maine, 2-2 ot. THIS WEEK:
vs. Merrimack, at Merrimack |
| 2. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
— |
Saturday's overtime win at North Dakota pushed the Bulldogs'
OT record since the start of last season to an impressive
7-1-3. |
| 7-1-2 (4-1-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: L at North Dakota, 4-2; W at North Dakota,
3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan Tech, vs. Michigan Tech |
| 3. |
 Maine |
3 |
You know all about Gustav Nyquist, but classmate Spencer
Abbott shares the points lead for the Black Bears with
13 points on six goals and seven assists. |
| 4-1-3 (2-0-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: T at Boston University, 2-2 ot.
THIS WEEK: vs. Northeastern, vs. Northeastern |
| 4. |
 Yale |
3 |
Yale is perfect through four games and has posted
impressive scorelines in each win, but they've trailed
at one point in three of their four contests. |
| 4-0-0 (2-0-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W vs. Princeton, 5-3; W vs. Quinnipiac,
5-1. THIS WEEK: at Colorado College, at Air Force |
| 5. |
 Miami |
 4 |
Finally, someone heeded our RedHawk scouting report:
Ferris State earned a win and a tie against Miami, limiting
Carter Camper to two assists on the weekend. |
| 5-2-3 (4-1-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Ferris State, 3-2; T at Ferris State,
1-1 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska, vs. Alaska |
| 6. |
 Michigan |
1 |
Notre Dame, this weekend's opponent, has been a thorn
in the Wolverines' side in recent years; the Irish are
8-5-0 against Michigan since the start of the 2006-07
season. |
| 5-2-3 (4-1-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Alaska, 3-0; W at Alaska, 5-2. THIS
WEEK: vs. Notre Dame, vs. Notre Dame |
| 7. |
 Union |
2 |
Union's 0-0 tie at Dartmouth was the fifth in program
history. They most recently had that scoreline last November,
against Lake Superior State in the opening round of RPI's
Thanksgiving tournament. |
| 6-1-3 (1-0-1
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Harvard, 2-1; T at Dartmouth,
0-0 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Rensselaer, at Rensselaer |
| 8. |
 North
Dakota |
— |
The Fighting Sioux are in the middle of a six-week stretch
of games against teams currently in the INCH Power Rankings
— they've already faced Maine, DU, and UMD and have
Wisconsin, UNO, and Notre Dame up next. |
| 5-4-1 (4-2-0
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 4-2; L vs. Minnesota
Duluth, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: at Wisconsin, at Wisconsin |
| 9. |
 New
Hampshire |
2 |
The Wildcats are 4-0-2 in six games since dropping their
season-opener at Miami. Matt DiGirolamo stopped 55 of
57 shots he faced in a pair of 2-1 wins over the weekend. |
| 4-1-2 (2-0-1
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W at Boston College, 2-1; W at
UMass Lowell, 2-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Massachusetts, vs. Massachusetts |
| 10. |
 Boston
College |
1 |
The Eagles have a heavy burden as defending
national champs. They're the biggest game on everyone's
schedule. That said, three losses in three weekends isn't
what anyone expected. |
| 5-3-0 (3-2-0
Hockey East) LAST WEEK: W vs. UMass Lowell, 5-2; L vs.
New Hampshire, 2-1. THIS WEEK: at Vermont, at Vermont |
| 11. |
 Nebraska-Omaha |
3 |
The nation's second-best scoring offense at 4.62 goals
per game boasts seven players averaging better than a
point per game. |
| 7-1-0 (4-0-0
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota State, 5-1; W vs. Minnesota
State, 5-2. THIS WEEK: at St. Cloud State, at St. Cloud
State |
| 12. |
 Wisconsin |
4 |
Freshman Mark Zengerle had a goal and two assists in
Friday's 6-0 at Minnesota and added three assists in the
Badgers' 3-3 tie at Mariucci Arena Saturday. |
| 6-2-2 (3-1-2
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota, 6-0; T vs. Minnesota,
3-3 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota, vs. North Dakota |
| 13. |
 Notre
Dame |
1 |
Senior forward Ryan Guentzel had a goal and three assists
in this weekend's split at Bowling Green, giving him 13
points in nine games this season. He entered the year
with 21 points in 102 career games. |
| 6-2-1 (4-1-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Bowling Green, 3-2; W at Bowling
Green, 6-3. THIS WEEK: at Michigan, at Michigan |
| 14. |
 Alaska |
1 |
The Nanooks had their 10-game home winning streak snapped
Saturday when Michigan scored three third-period goals
en route to a 5-2 win at the Carlson Center. |
| 6-3-1 (3-2-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan, 3-0; L vs. Michigan,
5-2. THIS WEEK: at Miami, at Miami |
| 15. |
 Michigan
State |
5 |
Despite getting swept by Western Michigan, defenseman
Torey Krug extended his point streak to five games with
a single assist in each game against the Broncos. |
| 3-2-3 (1-2-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: L at Western Michigan, 4-3; L at Western
Michigan, 3-1. THIS WEEK: vs. Ohio State, vs. Ohio State |
| 16. |
 Denver |
3 |
“This was an embarrassing loss and we'll correct
it starting Monday,” coach George Gwozdecky said
following his team's 9-2 defeat at Colorado College Saturday.
Guessing the week's first practice will consist of a whole
lot of skating and not a lot of pucks. |
| 4-4-2 (3-2-1
WCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Colorado College, 4-1; L at Colorado
College, 9-2. THIS WEEK: vs. Minnesota State, vs. Minnesota
State |
| 17. |
 Western
Michigan |
NR |
How impressive has Western Michigan's start been? They're
one of seven teams with six wins so far. Only Nebraska-Omaha
and Minnesota Duluth (seven each) have more. |
| 6-2-2 (2-1-1
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Michigan State, 4-3; W vs. Michigan
State, 3-1. THIS WEEK: Off |
| 18. |
 Rensselaer
|
1 |
The Engineers yielded a power-play goal in the final
10 seconds of the third period in a 1-0 loss at Harvard.
It was the first time this year that RPI was shutout. |
| 4-2-3 (1-1-0
ECAC Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Dartmouth, 4-1; L at Harvard,
1-0. THIS WEEK: at Union, vs. Union |
| 19. |
 Robert
Morris |
— |
If this was pro hockey, Robert Morris would have a point
in every game this season. Both of their losses came in
overtime, including this past weekend against Holy Cross,
when the Crusaders scored at 4:55 of OT. |
| 6-2-0 (5-2-0
Atlantic Hockey) LAST WEEK: W at Holy Cross, 4-2; L at
Holy Cross, 3-2 ot. THIS WEEK: vs. Sacred Heart, vs. Sacred
Heart |
| 20. |
 Ferris
State |
NR |
Two goals against is a pretty telling number for Ferris
State. They're 5-0-2 when allowing two goals or fewer,
and have been hit for three or more in all three losses. |
| 5-3-2 (2-2-2
CCHA) LAST WEEK: W vs. Miami, 3-2; T vs. Miami, 1-1 ot.
THIS WEEK: at Lake Superior State, at Lake Superior State |