WRBB Sports » Pollercoaster: Pops and drops

Pollercoaster: Pops and drops

Yes, time to break out the Dramamine. This time of year, when every conference has started play, we’re bound to be in for a wild ride on the ‘ol pollercoaster. If anything, we have more questions than answers now, and there are some teams that have every right to feel a bit queasy.

Is Bemidji State for real, or was this just a product of catching non-conference success at the right time? Has BU really fallen that far, or are injuries still to blame? Can Cornell and goalie Ben Scrivens continue their hot place once ECAC competition starts? Has Dean Blais finally turned around Nebraska-Omaha? Is Hockey East due for a turnaround or is the league going through a down year?

We’ll probably have some of those answers by the time we cross into the new year, but for Northeastern, it’s all irrelevant. The Huskies need to pick up some more wins, otherwise their NCAA bid from last year may not have a follow-up story.

First, the USCHO.com poll:

	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points	Last
1	Miami (49)	999	1
2	North Dakota (1)	948	3
3	Cornell	855	5
4	Denver	830	2
5	Mass.-Lowell	778	8
6	Michigan	653	4
7	Bemidji State	599	11
8	Notre Dame	549	9
9	Alaska	521	13
10	Colorado College	478	12
11	Nebraska-Omaha	456	10
12	Yale	435	6
13	Michigan State	425	17
14	Massachusetts	357	19
15	Vermont	329	15
16	Boston College	316	16
17	Boston University	235	7
18	Minnesota-Duluth	178	20
19	Princeton	175	14
20	Quinnipiac	139	NR
Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin 137, St. Cloud State 20, Rensselaer 18, Northeastern 16, Minnesota 13, Providence 9, Ferris State 8, Merrimack 8, Western Michigan 8, New Hampshire 5, St. Lawrence 3

USA Today:

	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points	Last
1	Miami (33)	510	1
2	North Dakota	471	2
3	Denver	407	3
4	Cornell	397	6
5	Massachusetts Lowell	357	8
6	Michigan	272	4
7	Bemidji State	226	12
8	Notre Dame	214	9
9	Alaska	174	14
10	Massachusetts	155	NR
11	Yale	148	7
12	Nebraska Omaha	142	10
13	Colorado College	140	11
14	Michigan State	119	NR
15	Vermont	95	15
Others receiving votes: Boston College, 80; Boston University, 74; Princeton University, 39; Quinnipiac University, 27; University of Minnesota Duluth, 21; University of Wisconsin, 9; Ferris State University, 3.

The women’s polls have also continued to shower praise on Northeastern hockey, as the unbeaten streak stretches to five games. USA Today:

	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points	Last
1	Mercyhurst (16)	187	1
2	Clarkson (3)	171	2
3	Minnesota	159	4
4	New Hampshire	140	3
5	Minnesota Duluth	94	5
6	Wisconsin	70	6
7	Boston University	63	8
8	Harvard	48	10
9	Princeton	34	NR
10	Cornell	28	NR
Others receiving votes: Northeastern University, 19; St. Lawrence University, 11; The Ohio State University, 8; Robert Morris University, 7; Dartmouth College, 6.