Sports

Gophers climb to No. 1 in both major national hockey polls

The U's sweep of North Dakota enabled the Gophers to jump four spots to the top of national ratings.

By Roman Augustoviz

November 7, 2011 at 10:01PM

Minnesota's Kyle Rau, top right, scored against Minnesota Duluth. Also pictured is Gopher Nick Bjugstad, left. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Gophers, often called the New York Yankees of college hockey, are back to where many of their fans expect them to be every year.

The maroon and gold is No. 1 in this week's uscho.com national and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine ratings, jumping four spots in both after a sweep of North Dakota last weekend.

Here is the uscho.com top five: 1. Gophers, 2. Boston College, 3. Colorado College, 4. Michigan and 5. Western Michigan. All four team below the Gophers in the top five lost one game over the weekend. Michigan and Western Michigan played each other and split.

Boston College, 8-2 and the previous No. 1 team, beat Maine 5-1 but lost to UMass 4-2 over the weekend.

The Gophers received 32 of a possible 50 first-place votes, Boston College got 15.

In the USA Today/USA Magazine poll, the top three are the same -- the Gophers, BC and CC -- then Merrimack (7-0-1) is fourth and Michigan fifth. The Gophers received 27 of the 34 first-place votes, BC got nine and Merrimack one.

The Gophers are 9-1-0 -- their nine wins are the most in college hockey -- and beat the Fighting Sioux 2-0 and 3-2 this past weekend at Mariucci Arena.

INCH, Inside College Hockey, also has the Gophers' No. 1 in their power rankings, but that was much more predictable. INCH had the 'U' at No. 2 the previous week.

HOCKEY POLL FOLLOWERS CRASH SITE

When uscho.com -- short for U.S. College Hockey Online -- put out a tweet that the Gophers were the new No. 1 team, their site crashed. Gopher Nation overwhelmed it, it seems.

Here is what the Gophers PR staff says:

Minnesota is the new No. 1 team in the country in the USCHO poll. News of the Gophers new ranking caused USCHO.com to momentarily crash. The Gophers started the season No. 19 but climbed to No. 1 after five weeks. The 9-1-0 Gophers last played a game ranked No. 1 on Nov. 29, 2008. They tied Michigan State 4-4 at home.

Date USCHO Rank
Oct. 3 ... No. 19
Oct. 10 ... No. 14
Oct. 17... No. 8
Oct. 24 ... No. 8
Oct. 31 .... No. 5
Nov. 7 ... No. 1

POLL THAT MATTERS

The most significant poll, of course, is the PairWise ratings, a numerical comparison of the top teams which mimics how the NCAA fills its 16-team postseason field after the conference playoff champions get their automatic bids.

The Gophers are in great shape there, too. They are No. 2 behind Merrimack, which at 7-0-1 is the nation's only unbeaten team. On the heels of the Gophers are No. 3 Western Michigan, No. 4 Lake Superior State and No. 5 Michigan, which lost to UMD in the Frozen Four final in St. Paul last March.

The only WCHA teams that would receive at-large bids at the present time for the NCAA field besides the 'U' are No. 6 Colorado College and No. 13 UMD. The Bulldogs are 4-0-2 since being swept at home by the Gophers.