Michigan State's head coach Adam Nightingale calls out to players during the second period in the game against Notre Dame on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Munn Arena in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

MSU Hockey Rises to No. 1 in Another Prestigious Ranking

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Tim Marshall | Last updated Jan 14, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Michigan State Hockey, the consensus No. 1 team in the polls, has added another feature to its stacked resume. This weekend, the Spartans jumped Boston College in the PairWise rankings for the top spot in the country.

Despite Michigan State being No. 1 in the polls, the Eagles had previously remained ahead of the Spartans in PairWise.

On home ice, Boston College lost to Merrimack 5-2 on Friday night. As a result, the Eagles dropped to No. 2, as the Spartans went 1-0-1 in State College, Pa., this weekend.

Boston College opened its season at Munn Ice Arena with a two-game set against the Spartans. The Eagles took the first game of the series 3-0, but Michigan State answered in game two to split the series.

The PairWise Rankings are an algorithm the NCAA uses to decide who qualifies for the postseason tournament. This system is similar to the BCS-era rankings of College Football from the turn of the century.

The Spartans have the highest winning percentage in the nation, with a record of 18-2-2. However, Boston College plays in the Hockey East, the premier college hockey conference, with 10 teams in the top 25 of the PairWise Rankings.

The Big Ten is close behind, with four of the seven teams in the conference ranking in the top 20 but doesn’t have the same depth as the Hockey East.

These two squads at the top are quite familiar with each other. In the IIHF World Juniors, the gold medal-winning Team USA featured many Spartans and Eagles.

Most notably, Michigan State goaltender Trey Augustine was the starting netminder for the United States. The Eagles were also prominent in the tournament, with captain Ryan Leonard and forward Teddy Stiga, who scored the game-winning goal against Finland in overtime of the Gold Medal game.

Augustine returned to the net from World Juniors for the Spartans to face Penn State on Saturday. The Red Wings prospect made 32 saves in the shootout loss, which goes down as a tie in their overall record.

If Michigan State holds on to the No. 1 spot in the PairWise rankings by the end of the season, it will have its choice of picking which regional it would want to play at. Most likely, it would decide to travel to Toledo, Ohio, to play in the regional hosted by Bowling Green.

This article first appeared on Michigan State Spartans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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