Vegoe’s Top 20 – 10/7/2024
1-Denver
2-Boston College
3-Minnesota
4-Boston University
5-Michigan State
6-North Dakota
7-Wisconsin
8-Omaha
9-Quinnipiac
10-Colorado College
11-St. Cloud
12-Cornell
13-Providence
14-Michigan
15-Maine
16-Bemidji State
17-Western Michigan
18-Massachusetts
19-Minnesota State
20-St. Thomas
College hockey season is under way for some schools, so there was a little bit of movement in my Top 20.
North Dakota played an exhibition with Augustana that doesn’t count in the PWR, but the 4-1 score difference was enough for me and apparently others in the USCHO poll to dock the Fighting Hawks a little bit in the second ranking. I moved them down two spots to sixth and USCHO voters moved them down one spot from fifth to sixth.
Michigan split in a series with unranked Minnesota State at Yost Ice Arena. I maybe overrated the Wolverines a bit in my first vote after seeing them play, and I dropped them from sixth to No. 14. Coach Brandon Naurato has a talented team that can beat anyone, but looks like they’ll be inconsistent again. The Mavericks also jumped up into my poll to No. 19, the addition of Rhett Pitlick to Mankato certainly makes them a more dangerous team.
More games are underway this upcoming weekend as most teams start their regular season. Big match-ups for poll watchers will be No. 2 Boston College against No. 4 Michigan State, No. 15 Omaha at No. 14 Massachusetts and No. 14 Providence at No. 6 North Dakota. Those results will be big factor’s in next week’s poll and have PairWise Ranking impacts for the season ahead.