Editor’s note: NESN’s Tom Caron is on the 50-member USCHO ranking committee, and you can find his votes and thoughts on the college hockey week that was every Monday on NESN.com.
The University of Minnesota no longer deserves the top spot in the USCHO poll after splitting a pair with St. Cloud State over the weekend.
The No. 1Â spot could have gone to a number of teams, but every one of my top-eight schools that played two games over the weekend lost at least one. That paved the way for North Dakota to move up one position in my poll after surviving an overtime scare against unranked Air Force. UND needed a short-handed goal with six seconds left to force overtime before getting the win in extra time.
The Boston College Eagles would have soared to No. 1 had they swept the University of Denver, but coming away with a win and an overtime loss against the Pioneers still was enough to move Jerry York’s team up to No. 3 on my ballot.
Boston University moved up one spot in my poll after splitting a home-and-home series with Providence, which drops out of my top 10 for the first time this season. The Friars snapped the Terriers’ unbeaten start at four games.
BU faces BC on Friday night in the latest edition of the Battle of Comm Ave.
Here’s my official USCHO.com ballot for the week of Nov. 3:
1. North Dakota
2. Minnesota
3. Boston College
4. Colate
5. Boston University
6. Union
7. Massachusetts-Lowell
8. Minnesota State
9. Notre Dame
10. Miami University
11. St. Cloud State
12. Providence
13. Denver
14. Ferris State
15. Vermont
16. Michigan Tech
17. Northern Michigan
18. Bemidji State
19. Minnesota-Duluth
20. Cornell
And here is the USCHO top 20:
1. Minnesota
2. North Dakota
3. Boston College
4. Colate
5. Boston University
6. Massachusetts-Lowell
7. St. Cloud State
8. Union
9. Michigan Tech
10. Denver
11. Miami
12. Providence
13. Minnesota State
14. Vermont
15. Notre Dame
16. Ferris State
17. Minnesota-Duluth
18. Robert Morris
19. Nebraska-Omaha
20. Northern Michigan
Photo via Twitter/@GopherHockey
