Another Day, Another Team at No. 1 in College Hockey: Rankings Reaction

Another day, another team atop the college rankings rankings.

"Wait," you may be thinking. None of the top three teams, which had all been at No. 1 in the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index that will be used to determine at-large teams and the seedings in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, played on Sunday. Michigan State locked up the Big Ten title over Michigan last Thursday, but when it tied Minnesota the next day it fell to No. 3 and North Dakota moved into the top spot.

It obviously didn't last, though. On Monday, the top three was, in order, Michigan, North Dakota, and Michigan State.

Why? Because Air Force lost to Robert Morris in the final game of their best-of-3 playoff series in the AHA quarterfinals in Moon Township, 1,170 miles away from Grand Forks. N.D. It had played UND's weekend opponent, Omaha, earlier this season and that tweaked the Fighting Hawks' strength of schedule just enough that Michigan's rating was better by roughly one hundredth of a point (58.691 to 58.682) in the formulated rating. UND, meanwhile, is one tenth of a point ahead of the Spartans (58.592).

While it was interesting to see both major polls had Michigan at No. 1 on Monday, with North Dakota second, the most notable aspect of all this just how close the three teams are at the top of the rankings some 35-plus games into the 2025-26 season. All three and Western Michigan landed first-place votes in the polls.

In terms of bracketology, and projecting the field for the upcoming 16-team NCAA Tournament, the order at the top may not matter much because North Dakota will likely be placed in the Sioux Falls, S.D., regional, and one of the Michigan schools will end up in the Loveland, Colo., Regional hosted by Denver, depending on where the Pioneers end up in the bracket.

Still, it's going to be fun seeing how it all plays out. Here are this week's rankings.

National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index

1. Michigan
2. North Dakota
3. Michigan State
4. Western Michigan
5. Providence
6. Denver
7. Quinnipiac
8. Minnesota Duluth
9. Cornell
10. Dartmouth
11. Penn State
12. Wisconsin
13. Augustana
14. Massachusetts
15. St. Thomas
16. Connecticut
17. Minnesota State
18. Boston College
19. Michigan Tech
20. Maine

Now for the comparison to the two major polls, ranking the top 20 in college hockey. Both had Michigan at No. 1, but for the second straight week the top three teams split the first-place votes

Made Biggest Jump: Three teams moved up two spots, Minnesota Duluth from 10 to 8, Augustana from 15 to 13, and Massachusetts from 17 to 15. UMD swept St. Cloud State with a pair of dramatic overtime games, the Vikings swept Bemidji State out of the CCHA tournament, and UMass closed the Hockey East regular season with a big home win against Boston College and at New Hampshire.

Had Biggest Fall: Penn State went from sixth to tied for 10th, and Boston College dropped from No. 13 to No. 17. The Nittany Lions are 2-6-2 over their last 10 games, and the Eagles have lost four straight, heading into their conference tournaments.

Most underrated ranked team per NPI: St. Thomas. The polls have the Tommies at No. 18 and 17, but they're No. 15 in NPI. Next up, it hosts Augustana in a CCHA semifinal.

Most overrated ranked team per NPI: Connecticut. The Huskies are No. 14 is both polls, but NPI has the Huskies at No. 16 just outside of the NCAA field due to the automatic bids. They'll learn their opponent in the Hockey East quarterfinals after the opening round games on Wednesday, but regardless UConn is in a must-wins situation. Wisconsin also needs to be mentioned as it's tied for No. 10 in one poll and No. 11 in the other, and is No. 12 NPI.

USCHO Men's Poll

March 9, 2026

Rank	Team	Record	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Michigan	26-7-1	968 (30)	1
2	North Dakota	27-8-1	943 (12)	3
3	Michigan State	25-7-2	912 (7)	2
4	Western Michigan	26-9-1	854 (1)	4
5	Providence	23-9-2	781	5
6	Denver	23-11-3	725	7
7	Quinnipiac	26-7-3	701	8
8	Minnessota Duluth	22-13-1	599	10
9	Cornell	20-8-1	598	9
T10	Penn State	20-12-2	541	6
T10	Wisconsin	21-11-2	541	11
12	Dartmouth	19-7-4	465	12
13	Augustana	22-10-4	345	15
14	Connecticut	18-11-5	343	14
15	Massachusetts	21-12-1	321	17
16	Minnesota State	20-10-7	211	16
17	Boston College	19-14-1	200	13
18	St. Thomas	20-11-5	193	19
19	Michigan Tech	23-12-3	124	20
20	Union	22-10-3	55	NR

Others receiving votes: Maine 48, Miami 9, Bentley 8, Sacred Heart 7, Boston University 1, Princeton 1

USA Hockey Men's Poll

March 9, 2026

Rank	Team	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Michigan	663 (21)	1
2	North Dakota	645 (10)	2
3	Michigan State	628 (3)	3
4	Western Michigan	578	4
5	Providence	534	5
6	Denver	496	7
7	Quinnipiac	482	8
8	Minnesota Duluth	413	10
9	Cornell	392	9
10	Penn State	380	6
11	Wisconsin	358	11
12	Dartmouth	332	12
13	Augustana	228	14
14	Connecticut	224	15
15	Massachusetts	220	17
16	Boston College	163	13
17	St. Thomas	148	19
18	Minnesota State	125	16
19	Michigan Tech	63	NR
20	Union	30	20

Others Receiving Votes: Maine, 27; Bentley 6; St. Cloud State 3; Bowling Green 1; Princeton 1.

USCHO Women's Poll

March 9, 2026

Rank	Team	Record	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Ohio State	34-4-0	299 (19)	2
2	Wisconsin	32-4-2	281 (1)	1
3	Penn State	32-5-0	258	3
4	Minnesota	26-11-1	242	4
5	Northeastern	28-8-1	213	5
6	Connecticut	27-8-2	206	6
7	Quinnipiac	28-8-3	178	8
8	Yale	25-9	160	7
9	Princeton	23-10	139	9
10	Minnesota Duluth	20-14-3	117	10
11	Cornell	20-11-2	99	11
12	Mercyhurst	23-11-3	76	12
13	Minnesota State	17-19-2	46	13
14	Colgate	19-16-1	42	14
15	Clarkson	20-12-3	34	15

Others receiving votes: Brown 7, St. Cloud State 2, Holy Cross 1

USA Hockey Women's Poll

March 3, 2026 (Will be updated Tuesday with updated rankings)

Rank	Team	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Wisconsin	284 (18)	1
2	Ohio State	267 (1)	2
3	Penn State	243	3
4	Minnesota	227	4
5	Northeastern	209	5
6	Connecticut	186	6
7	Quinnipiac	163	7
8	Yale	159	8
9	Priceton	136	10
T10	Minnesota Duluth	102	9
T11	Cornell	102	11
12	Mercyhurst	69	12
13	Minnesota State	58	14
T14	Clarkson	23	15
T15	Colgate	23	13

Also receiving votes: Brown 12; Holy Cross, 8; St. Cloud State 7; Harvard 2; Vermont, 1.

Puck Drop: Tuesday, March 10, 2026

• The U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team defeated Germany 13-0 at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Declan Farmer had four goals and three assists, and Jack Wallace notched two goals and four assists. The U.S. outshot Germany 41-1. Farmer became the first American to reach the 50-point mark in Paralympic history. The U.S. will close the preliminary round Tuesday against China.