College Hockey Rankings: WCHA has Minnesota at No. 1

The WCHA coaches preseason hockey poll was released on Wednesday night, and Minnesota are the favorites to repeat as McNaughton Cup champions. The complete WCHA coaches poll is as follows:

1. Minnesota 121 (11)

2. North Dakota 110 (1)

3. Denver 91

4. SCSU 90

5. Wisconsin 70

6. Duluth 69

7. Colorado College 56

8t. Omaha 51

8t. Michigan Tech 51

10. MSU-Mankato 37

11. Bemidji State 31

12. Anchorage 15

Nick Bjugstad of Minnesota was the pick for preseason player of the year, and Rocco Grimaldi of North Dakota was the pick for preseason rookie of the year. Minnesota defenseman Mike Reilly finished one place behind Grimaldi in the rookie of the year voting, getting three votes to Grimaldi's seven.

The Gophers will be in action on Saturday, Oct. 6 when they host Lethbridge in a preseason game. They'll open their season against Michigan State on Friday, Oct. 12, and they'll host them again on Saturday, Oct. 13. The complete Minnesota hockey schedule can be found here.