Men's Hockey Ends Two-Year Hiatus from National Rankings
December 01, 2003 | Men's Hockey
The Wisconsin men's hockey team (8-3-3, 3-2-3 WCHA) earned its first national ranking in over two years when both the USCHO.com and USA Today/American Hockey Magazine polls put the Badgers at No. 11 this week. The UW's sweep at the College Hockey Showcase last weekend extended the nation's longest unbeaten streak to 10 games and propelled the Badgers into the rankings.
Sitting in the others receiving votes category for the first three weeks of the season, and then again the last three weeks, Wisconsin finally broke into the top-15 in both college hockey polls this week. Wisconsin won both games of the 11th annual College Hockey Showcase with victories at then-No. 6/5 Michigan and Michigan State last weekend. The wins helped the UW earn 173 points in the USCHO.com poll and 165 points in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll for the 11th spot. North Dakota is the top-ranked team in both polls.
Both polls have an identical top five, with Boston College, Maine, Colorado College and New Hampshire completing the top five. In the USCHO.com poll, it 's Ohio State, St. Cloud State, Denver, Massachusetts and Michigan ranked six-through-10, while the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll has the order St. Cloud State, Ohio State, Denver, Michigan and Massachusetts in the six-through-10 spots. Both polls then have Wisconsin at No. 11, followed by Brown, Dartmouth, Notre Dame and Boston University to round out the top 15.
The Badgers, who went unbeaten in the month of November for the first time since the 1983'84 season, were last in either poll on Oct. 1, 2001 in the preseason USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll. The UW was slotted 14th before dropping out the following week. The USCHO.com poll last included Wisconsin on March 19, 2001 at No. 10.
No. 11 Wisconsin travels to No. 8 Denver this weekend for a WCHA series on Friday and Saturday. The games, broadcast live on WIBA-AM radio and on the internet at uwbadgers.com, begin Friday at 8:35 p.m. CT and Saturday at 8:05 p.m. CT.
