Michigan State University Athletics
MSU Hockey Retains Top Spot In National Polls
10/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 23, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State hockey team maintained its position atop this week's national polls, released Monday (Oct. 22).
The Spartans, coming off Saturday's 2-0 win over Ferris State at Munn Ice Arena , captured 15 of 19 first-place votes and 277 total points in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. Minnesota held onto its second-place position with 271 points and four first-place votes. Third-ranked St. Cloud State and fourth-rated North Dakota switched spots from last week while Denver enters the top five for the first time since January 1996. Other Central Collegiate Hockey Association schools in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll are Michigan (tied for seventh), Nebraska-Omaha (12th), Alaska Fairbanks and Northern Michigan (both receiving votes.)
MSU received 32 of 40 first-place tallies in the latest U.S. College Hockey.com poll. Minnesota, St. Cloud State, North Dakota and Colorado College round out the top five. Other CCHA teams in the USCHO rankings are Michigan (seventh), Nebraska-Omaha (12th), Northern Michigan, Alaska Fairbanks, Western Michigan, Ohio State and Ferris State (all receiving votes).
The Spartans are also ranked first in the Sporting News Power Poll. Minnestoa, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota and St. Cloud State comprise the top five in that ranking. Michigan (sixth) and Alaska Fairbanks (honorable mention) are also part of the Sporting News poll.
MSU hits the road for the first time this season when they travel to Nebraska-Omaha for a key CCHA series against the Mavericks Friday-Saturday, Oct. 26-27. Faceoff is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET both nights.
U.S. COLLEGE HOCKEY ONLINE POLL (Oct. 22)
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Votes 1 Michigan State (32) 591 2 Minnesota (7) 555 3 St. Cloud State (1) 515 4 North Dakota 468 5 Colorado College 331 6 Michigan 329 7 Maine 323 8 Denver 283 9 Boston University 242 10 New Hampshire 212 11 Harvard 206 12 Nebraska-Omaha 187 13 Mass.-Lowell 128 14 Providence 119 15 Rensselaer 74
Receiving votes: Dartmouth 56, Alaska Fairbanks 29, MSU-Mankato 29, Union 27, Minnesota-Duluth 20, Northern Michigan 17, Clarkson 16, Boston College 5, Western Michigan 5, Northeastern 4, Wisconsin 4, Cornell 3, Ohio State 3, St. Lawrence 2, Wayne State 2, Ferris State 1, Quinnipiac 1.
USA TODAY/AMERICAN HOCKEY MAGAZINE POLL (Oct. 22)
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Votes 1 Michigan State (15) 277 2 Minnesota (4) 271 3 St. Cloud State 245 4 North Dakota 219 5 Denver 168 6 Colorado College 159 7 Maine 148 Michigan 148 9 New Hampshire 124 10 Boston University 123 11 Harvard 107 12 Nebraska-Omaha 91 13 Mass.-Lowell 65 14 Providence 50 15 Dartmouth 22
Receiving votes: MSU-Mankato 18, Alaska Fairbanks 13, Rensselaer 9, Union 9, Michigan Tech 5, Northern Michigan 4, Clarkson 2, Wisconsin 2, Boston College 1.
SPORTING NEWS POWER POLL (Oct. 22)
Rank Team 1 Michigan State 2 Minnesota 3 Nebraska-Omaha 4 North Dakota 5 St. Cloud State 6 Michigan 7 Harvard 8 Maine 9 Boston University 10 Denver
Others: Alaska Fairbanks, Colorado College, New Hampshire.
