The INCH Power Rankings reflect the recently
completed conference tournaments. Some teams played their
way up with wins in the conference events and some fell after
losses, with 15 of the 16 NCAA Tournament teams appearing.
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. |
 Miami |
 1 |
Not sure if it's a cause for concern, but goaltender
Cody Reichard has allowed five goals in each of his last
two starts. He was yanked from the RedHawks' 5-2 loss
to Michigan Friday at Joe Louis Arena. |
| 27-7-7 LAST
WEEK: L vs. Michigan, 5-2; W vs. Ferris State, 2-1 (CCHA
Tournament). THIS WEEK: vs. Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA
Midwest Regional) |
| 2. |
 Wisconsin |
1 |
The Badgers are 12-4-1 in 17 games since Jan. 22, and
have scored a total of two goals in those four losses.
Wisconsin scored 63 goals in the 12 wins and one tie. |
| 25-10-4
LAST WEEK: L vs. St. Cloud State, 2-0; W vs. Denver, 6-5
(WCHA Final Five). THIS WEEK: vs. Vermont (NCAA
West Regional) |
| 3. |
 Denver |
 2 |
Cheverie and Rakhshani are the Pioneers' Hobey candidates,
but forward Joe Colborne has been the team's best player
in recent weeks. He scored 15 of his 21 goals since Jan.
1, and DU is 16-0-1 when he lights the lamp. |
| 27-9-4 LAST
WEEK: L vs. North Dakota, 4-3; L vs. Wisconsin, 6-3 (WCHA
Final Five). THIS WEEK: vs. RIT (NCAA
East Regional) |
| 4. |
 Boston
College |
|
The Eagles’ senior class has a career record of
24-3-2 in the month of March entering the program’s
first meeting with Alaska. |
| 25-10-3
LAST WEEK: W vs. Vermont, 3-0; W vs. Maine, 7-6 ot (Hockey
East Tournament). THIS WEEK: vs. Alaska (NCAA
Northeast Regional) |
| 5. |
 North
Dakota |
|
Here's a quick summary of the Fighting Sioux season
to date: a 7-1-1 start followed by a 6-10-4 stretch from
Nov. 14-Feb. 12, and a 12-1-0 run from that date through
Saturday's WCHA title game win against St. Cloud State. |
| 25-12-5
LAST WEEK: W vs. Minnesota Duluth, 2-0; W vs. Denver,
4-3; W vs. St. Cloud State, 5-3. (WCHA Final Five). THIS
WEEK: vs. Yale (NCAA
Northeast Regional) |
| 6. |
 Cornell
|
— |
The recent shutout streak by Ben Scrivens - 230 minutes,
24 seconds is the longest in school history, bettering
the mark previously held by ... Ben Scrivens (206:44). |
| 21-8-4 LAST
WEEK: W vs. Brown, 3-0; W vs. Union, 3-0 (ECAC Hockey
Tournament). THIS WEEK: vs. New Hampshire (NCAA
East Regional) |
| 7. |
 St.
Cloud State |
— |
Cobbled together after the injury to Garrett Roe, the
makeshift line of Tony Mosey, Drew Leblanc, and David
Eddy was the Huskies' best trio in Saturday's WCHA championship
match against North Dakota, combining for two goals and
four assists in the 5-3 loss. |
| 23-13-5
LAST WEEK: W vs. Wisconsin, 2-0; L vs. North Dakota, 5-3
(WCHA Final Five). THIS WEEK: vs. Northern Michigan (NCAA
West Regional) |
| 8. |
 Northern
Michigan |
3 |
The key to the Wildcats' NCAA Tournament success might
be avoiding Michigan. NMU is 10-2-2 since Jan. 23 with
the Wolverines the opponent in both losses, the most recent
coming in Saturday's CCHA championship game. |
| 20-12-8
LAST WEEK: W vs. Ferris State, 5-4 ot; L vs. Michigan,
2-1 (CCHA Tournament). THIS WEEK: vs. St. Cloud State
(NCAA West Regional) |
| 9. |
 Yale |
1 |
Yale last met North Dakota in a two-game series in Grand
Forks to open the 2003-04 series and lost by scores of
8-4 and 10-0. The prior year, the teams combined for 160
minutes in a game in New Haven. |
| 20-9-3 LAST
WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. North Dakota (NCAA
Northeast Regional) |
| 10. |
 Union |
2 |
The best season in Union history ended with a loss in
the league championship game to Cornell. It was only the
second time all year that Union was blanked, the first
coming in a 0-0 tie against Lake Superior State. |
| 21-12-6
LAST WEEK: W vs. St. Lawrence, 3-1; L vs. Cornell, 3-0
(ECAC Hockey Tournament) |
| 11. |
 Bemidji
State |
1 |
Had they known half the conference would be in the Midwest
Regional, the CHA could have saved some travel headaches
by having Robert Morris and Niagara meet there for the
conference tourney. |
| 23-9-4 LAST
WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Michigan (NCAA
Midwest Regional) |
| 12. |
 Michigan |
6 |
The Wolverines have scored four or more goals seven
times in the last nine games and are 8-1-0 during that
span. Compare that to the nine games prior to their current
run when U-M scored four or more goals twice and had a
3-6-0 mark. |
| 25-17-1
LAST WEEK: W vs. Miami, 5-2; W vs. Northern Michigan,
2-1 (CCHA Tournament). THIS WEEK: vs. Bemidji State (NCAA
Midwest Regional) |
| 13. |
 Ferris
State |
4 |
The Bulldogs were 1-9-3 against teams that made the
NCAA field, with the one win coming against Michigan. |
| 21-13-6
LAST WEEK: L vs. Northern Michigan, 5-4 ot; L vs. Miami,
2-1 (CCHA Tournament) |
| 14. |
 Minnesota
Duluth |
1 |
The disappointing end to the season goes beyond the
Bulldogs' 2-0 loss to North Dakota in Thursday's WCHA
Final Five quarterfinal. UMD was 16-7-1 on Jan. 16 and
went 6-10-0 the rest of the way, winning consecutive games
once. |
| 22-17-1
LAST WEEK: L vs. North Dakota, 2-0 (WCHA Final Five) |
| 15. |
 RIT |
2 |
Marc Cheverie and Ben Scrivens are the big-name goalies
in the NCAA East Regional, but Jared DeMichiel is fourth
nationally in goals-against average (2.00) and ninth in
save percentage (.922). |
| 26-11-1
LAST WEEK: W vs. Canisius, 4-0; W vs. Sacred Heart, 6-1
(Atlantic Hockey Tournament). THIS WEEK: vs. Denver (NCAA
East Regional) |
| 16. |
 Michigan
State |
2 |
/Doomed by a 5-7-2 finish, the Spartans then had to
watch their archrivals win the league and claim an automatic
berth. |
| 19-13-6
LAST WEEK: Off. |
| 17. |
 Alaska |
2 |
The Nanooks would like to give a hearty "Domo
arigato" to the NCAA Tournament selection committee
for sending them to the Northeast Regional in Worcester.
Boston's Logan Airport is a 3,250-mile flight from Fairbanks;
it's 3,500 miles from Fairbanks to Tokyo. |
| 18-11-9
LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Boston College (NCAA
Northeast Regional) |
| 18. |
 New
Hampshire |
2 |
The Wildcats haven’t scored in 136:54, which seems
like a long time until you figure that their first-round
foe, Cornell, hasn’t allowed a goal in 230:30. |
| 17-13-7
LAST WEEK: Off. THIS WEEK: vs. Cornell (NCAA East Regional) |
| 19. |
 Maine |
NR
|
Of Joey Diamond’s three goals on
the weekend, Friday’s was an absolute beauty and
Saturday’s second made SportsCenter’s Top
Plays. Still, we wouldn’t recommend searching his
name on YouTube. |
| 19-17-3
LAST WEEK: W vs. Boston University, 5-2; L vs. Boston
College, 7-6 ot (Hockey East Tournament) |
| 20. |
 Vermont |
NR |
While we wouldn't have included Vermont if we were in
charge of selecting the NCAA Tournament field (more in
the INCH Podcast), the Catamounts deserve this spot in
the INCH Power Rankings. |
| 17-14-7
LAST WEEK: L vs. Boston College, 3-0 (Hockey East Tournament).
THIS WEEK: vs. Wisconsin (NCAA
West Regional) |