If you're a school that has "Minnesota" in its name and doesn't make people think about the show "Coach," then it's a good week in the college hockey polls.
Minnesota (19-9-1, 15-5-0 WCHA) and Minnesota-Duluth (17-5-4, 11-4-3 WCHA) are ranked one and two in both major polls. The Bulldogs, who tied and lost to Michigan Tech last weekend, are the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com poll with 28 of 50 first place votes. The Gophers, who swept St. Cloud State, are second and received 21 first place votes.
The USA Today/USA Hockey rankings are much closer. the two teams tied at 473 points but Minnesota is first based on having more first place votes than Minnesota-Duluth (18 to 16).
Despite that, the Gophers are presently ninth in the Pairwise rankings and would have a #3 seed if the NCAA Tournament started today.
Last week's second-ranked team, Boston University (15-8-1, 12-6-1 Hockey East), dropped to third in both polls after being swept by Maine. The Terriers were one of many top teams who faltered last weekend. In fact, four of the top-six teams in last week's USCHO poll lost at least once and only Minnesota swept two games with fourth-ranked Merrimack (14-5-5, 10-4-3 Hockey East) playing Providence once.
Boston College rose two spots to fifth after sweeping New Hampshire. Ferris State went from tenth to sixth after sweeping Michigan State and taking over first place in the CCHA, ahead of seventh-place Michigan and eighth-place Notre Dame. Massachusetts-Lowell is ninth and Ohio State rounds out the top ten after getting one point in two games against Lake Superior State and dropping four spots.