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Gophers roll into No. 1 spot in latest polls

12/14/2020, 1:15pm CST
By NEWS RELEASE

The Gophers are off to an 8-0-0 start, catapulting them to the top spot in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. PHOTO BY BRAD REMPEL/UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Minnesota jumps to No. 1 in both polls

 

For the first time in more than six years, the Gopher men's hockey program sits on top of both national men's Division I hockey polls as the Maroon & Gold head into the holiday break. 

Minnesota (8-0-0 overall, 8-0-0-0-0-0 Big Ten) jumped to the top of the USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll with 34 of 40 first-place votes and 786 total points and later moved to the top spot on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine 2020-21 Men's College Hockey Poll with 498 points and 23 first-place votes.

It is the first time the Gophers have been ranked first by either poll since Nov. 10, 2014. 

In the program's 100th season, the Gophers are off to the team's best start since the 1987-88 campaign with eight-straight wins and four-straight Big Ten series sweeps. Minnesota has not trailed this season and has outscored its opponents 27-8 on the year. The Maroon & Gold have actually won 10-straight games dating back to the end of the 2019-20 campaign – the program's longest winning streak since the 1995-96 season (11 games). 

Minnesota has now completed the first segment of its 2020-21 schedule. The Big Ten Conference will announce the remainder of the schedule at a later date.

 

 

Rank

School

Last Week's Rank

2020-21 Record

Weeks in Top 15
1. University of Minnesota, 498 (23) 4 8-0-0 6
2. Boston College, 458 (6) 2 5-1-0 6
3. University of Minnesota Duluth, 449 (2) 3 5-1-1 6
4. University of North Dakota, 418 (3) 1 4-2-1 6
5. Minnesota State University, 351 6 2-1-0 6
6. University of Michigan, 273 5 5-5-0 6
7. University of Denver, 256 8 2-4-0 6
8. Clarkson University, 243 7 4-2-0 6
9. St. Cloud State University, 224 11 4-2-0 2
10. Northeastern University, 203 14 2-0-0 3
11. Quinnipiac University, 155 10 0-0-0 6
12. Bowling Green State University, 132 NR 6-1-0 1
13. University of Massachusetts, 109 12 2-3-1 12
14. University of Wisconsin, 93 13 5-5-0 13
15. University of Massachusetts-Lowell, 66 9 0-1-0 9

 

 

Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame University, 61; University of Nebraska-Omaha, 19; Ohio State University, 18; Boston University, 15; Providence College, 13; Lake Superior State University, 10; Penn State University, 8; AIC, 4; Robert Morris University, 3; Northern Michigan University, 1.

Notes: The University of Minnesota takes over the No. 1 ranking with 498 points and 23 first-place votes... The Hockey East Association and NCHC lead with four teams in the ranking, while the Big Ten has three and ECAC and WCHA have two... Team records are listed as W-L-T... For past polls, click here.

About the Poll: The 26th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey.
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Tag(s): State Of Hockey  College  Bryan Zollman