USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
 

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MADISON, Wisc. ­ The three teams still in the hunt for the 2004-05 Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season championship and MacNaughton Cup ­ Colorado College, University of Denver and University of Wisconsin ­ occupy three of the top six slots in this week¹s two national polls with the Tigers and Pioneers alternating at No. 1.

CC (25-6-3), coming off a 1-5, 2-1 split at UW, leading the nation in victories and holding a two-point lead over Denver in the WCHA race, is the new No. 1 in the USA Hockey/USA Hockey Magazine Poll while Denver (22-7-2), coming off a home split against Minnesota Duluth, retained it¹s top ranking in the latest USCHO.com poll for the second straight week. Wisconsin (21-9-2), meanwhile, held on to it¹s No. 6 ranking after winning and losing to the Tigers last weekend.

Also ranking among the top 15 again this week is University of Minnesota (20-12-1) at No. 12. The Golden Gophers played just one game last week, a 7-5 exhibition victory over the U.S. Under-18 Team. And the team at the top of those who also received votes is University of North Dakota (16-13-3).

The WCHA, home to a record 34 national championship teams since 1951 ­ including those in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004 ­ and it¹s 10 member teams sport a collective 41-15-13 (.688) record against non-conference competition. The WCHA has had at least five of its member teams ranked among the top 15 in 20 of 21 weeks this season, with this being the first time the league has had four representatives. In addition, five WCHA-member teams ­ North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota, Colorado College and Denver ­ have been ranked No. 1 in one of the two weekly polls during the course of the current campaign.

This weekend¹s (Feb. 25-27) schedule finds Denver at Minnesota State, Wisconsin at North Dakota, Minnesota and St. Cloud State playing a home-and-home set, and Michigan Tech at Alaska Anchorage. In non-conference play, Minnesota Duluth plays a home-and-home set against Bemidji State.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Division 1 Men¹s College Hockey Poll ­ #21
February 21, 2005 (first-place votes in parentheses)

Rk Team, Points (1sts) Last Wk Record
1 Colorado College, 461 (10) 3 25-6-3
2 Denver, 460 (10) 2 22-7-2
3 Cornell, 453 (12) 4 20-4-3
4 Michigan, 407 (2) 6 24-7-3
5 Boston College, 367 1 19-6-5
6 Wisconsin, 352 5 21-9-2
7 New Hampshire, 320 8 22-7-3
8 Ohio State, 253 7 23-8-3
9 Massachusetts Lowell, 216 13 19-7-4
10 Boston University, 204 11 20-10-2
11 Harvard University, 169 9 17-7-2
12 Minnesota, 157 10 20-12-1
13 Colgate, 141 12 22-8-2
14 Maine, 57 14 16-10-6
15 Northern Michigan, 27 NR 16-9-7
others receiving votes: North Dakota, 23; Nebraska Omaha, 8; Dartmouth, 2; Vermont, 2; Holy Cross, 1.

USCHO.com Division 1 Men¹s College Hockey Poll
February 21, 2005 (first-place votes in parentheses)

Rk Team, (1sts) Record Pts Prev
1 Denver (16) 22-7-2 563 1
2 Cornell (14) 20-4-3 531 4
Colorado College (6) 25-6-3 531 3
4 Michigan (4) 24-7-3 477 5
5 Boston College 19-6-5 431 2
6 Wisconsin 21-9-2 392 6
7 New Hampshire 22-7-3 369 8
8 Ohio State 23-8-3 288 7
9 Boston University 20-10-2 247 11
10 Massaschusetts-Lowell 19-7-4 243 13
11 Harvard 17-7-2 205 9
12 Minnesota 20-12-1 201 10
13 Colgate 22-8-2 172 12
14 Maine 16-10-6 45 14
15 Northern Michigan 16-9-7 36 NR
others receiving votes: North Dakota, 34; Dartmouth, 14; Vermont, 12; Nebraska-Omaha, 4; Bemidji St., 2; Michigan St., 2; Alabama-Huntsville, 1.