Dutchmen hold steady in polls

by Ryan Fay

Union remained third in the latest USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.

The Dutchmen (24-6-4), who were idle over the weekend, received one first-place vote in the USCHO.com poll for the second consecutive week.

Union returns to action this weekend, when it hosts Dartmouth (10-18-4) for a best-of-three ECACH quarterfinal series at Messa Rink. The Dutchmen will enter the weekend with the country's longest active unbeaten streak at nine games (8-0-1).

Minnesota and Boston College remained first and second, respectively, in the polls.

USCHO.com poll

Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll
1 Minnesota (29) 24- 4-6 978 1
2 Boston College (19) 25- 5-4 965 2
3 Union (1) 24- 6-4 899 3
4 St. Cloud State (1) 21- 8-5 841 4
5 Wisconsin 21- 9-2 788 5
6 Ferris State 25- 9-3 719 7
6 Quinnipiac 22- 8-6 719 6
8 Massachusetts-Lowell 21- 9-4 669 8
9 Providence 19- 9-6 569 10
10 North Dakota 20-11-3 554 9
11 Notre Dame 21-12-2 481 11
12 Cornell 15- 8-5 428 13
13 Michigan 17-11-4 365 12
14 Northeastern 18-12-4 348 14
15 Vermont 19-12-3 318 15
16 Yale 17- 9-5 254 16
17 Colgate 17-12-5 213 18
18 Minnesota State 22-13-1 205 17
19 Maine 16-13-4 68 20
20 Minnesota-Duluth 16-14-4 62 19
Others receiving votes: New Hampshire 18, Clarkson 8, Western Michigan 8, Ohio State 7, Denver 6, Nebraska-Omaha 5, Air Force 4, Alaska 1.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)
Rank School Last Week’s Ranking
1. Minnesota, 506 (30) 1
2. Boston College, 480 (4) 2
3. Union, 439 3
4. St. Cloud State, 401 4
5. Wisconsin, 371 5
6. Ferris State, 324 7
7. Quinnipiac, 319 6
8. UMass Lowell, 268 8
9. North Dakota, 219 9
10. Providence, 199 10
11. Notre Dame, 161 12
12. Cornell, 133 13
13. Michigan, 86 11
14. Northeastern, 67 14
15. Vermont, 47 RV
Others receiving votes: Yale, 25; Colgate, 22; Minnesota State, 13.

PairWise Rankings

Union is tied for third with Wisconsin in the PairWise Rankings. As of now, the Dutchmen would likely be the top seed in the NCAA Tournament East Regional in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The PairWise Ranking is a system which attempts to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA Division I men’s hockey tournament.

To see the complete PairWise rankings, click here.

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