Hockey Slips to No. 4/5 in National Polls
10/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Hockey
Oct. 10, 2011
OXFORD, Ohio - After a season-opening weekend split, the Miami University hockey team fell from its preseason No. 1 national ranking, landing at No. 4 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll while earning the No. 5 spot in the USCHO.com Poll, as both polls were released Monday. The RedHawks were ranked second in the preseason USCHO.com Poll.
Miami garnered 384 points in the USA Today Poll after totaling 453 in the preseason poll. In the USCHO.com Poll, the `Hawks earned 742 points, including one first-place vote, compared to 722 points and 12 first-place votes in the preseason poll.
With each of the top three teams losing over the weekend, Boston College in the new No. 1 team in the country in both polls, receiving 27 of 34 first-place votes and 495 points total in the USA Today Poll while tallying 973 points and 36 of 50 first-place votes in the USCHO.com Poll. CCHA foe Notre Dame is No. 2 in both polls, staying put in the USA Today Poll after splitting with defending champion Minnesota Duluth while dropping from No. 1 in the USCHO.com Poll. The Irish, who Miami hosts in late February, received three first-place votes in the USA Today Poll and seven in the USCHO.com Poll.
Denver, who has yet to play a regular-season game, is No. 3 in both polls, moving up one spot in both, while receiving a pair of first-place votes in each. The Pioneers and RedHawks clash Nov. 26 in the Denver Cup. CCHA rival Michigan is No. 4 in the USCHO.com Poll, jumping two spots with 806 points, while the Wolverines sit behind Miami at No. 5 in the USA Today Poll (338 points), though they did jump four places. Miami and Michigan play four times during the season, twice in Ann Arbor and twice in Oxford.
North Dakota is No. 6 in both polls, falling from No. 3 in each, while Colorado College is No. 7 in the USCHO.com Poll followed by Boston University at No. 8. In the USA Today Poll, the Terriers are No. 7 while the Tigers sit at No. 8. Minnesota Duluth and Yale round out the top 10 in each poll, respectively.
Western Michigan is the only other CCHA member ranked, sliding up one spot to 12th in both polls. Union is No. 11 in both polls while Merrimack and Minnesota are 13th and 14th, respectively, in each. New Hampshire is ranked 15th in the 20-team USCHO.com Poll while Nebraska Omaha rounds out the 15-team USA Today Poll. Bemidji State, who the RedHawks split with over the weekend, is now receiving votes in both polls.
For the complete USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, click here. For the USCHO.com Poll, click here.
Miami hits the road for the first time in 2011-12 this weekend, traveling to Hamilton, N.Y. for a pair of games at Colgate, who is receiving votes in both polls and would be 19th in the USA Today Poll and 21st in the USCHO Poll, if the rankings were extended. Puck drop both nights is set for 7:00 p.m.
--MURedHawks.com--
