BEMIDJI -- The Bemidji State men’s hockey team was ranked No. 14 in the USCHO.com preseason top 20 poll on Monday, coming off a season in which the Beavers made a run to the NCAA Tournament East Regional Final.
BSU earned 293 points in the poll, placing the team 16 points behind No. 13 Denver, which had 309 and one first-place vote.
Reigning national champion Massachusetts sits atop the poll with 909 points and 19 first-place votes. St. Cloud State ranks second with 902 points and 13 first-place votes, and Michigan rounds out the top three with 861 points and 11 first-place votes.
No. 5 Minnesota State ranks first among teams in Bemidji State’s newly minted conference, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, with 779 points and one first-place vote.
North Dakota, the Beavers’ exhibition opponent on Saturday, Oct. 2, ranks No. 8 with 652 points and two first-place votes.
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BSU ranked in the USCHO poll 12 times in 2020-21, including six straight to end the season. The team peaked at No. 10 in the season’s final poll after securing a win over No. 1 seed Wisconsin in the East Regional semifinal.
Elsewhere in the CCHA, Michigan Tech (54), Lake Superior State (40), Bowling Green State (34) and Northern Michigan (5) were listed among teams receiving votes.
Bemidji State finished 16-10-3 overall in 2020-21 and 8-5-1 in the former Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Puck drop between the Beavers and UND is set for 6:07 p.m. on Oct. 2 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D.
The USCHO.com Poll consists of 50 voters, including coaches and beat writers and sports professionals from across the country. The weekly poll is a production of USCHO.com.
Ranking, team, first place votes, record, points, last week
1, Massachusetts, (19), 0-0-0, 909, 1
2, St. Cloud St. (13), 0-0-0, 902, 2
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3, Michigan (11), 0-0-0, 861, 9
4, Minnesota (2), 0-0-0, 802, 7
5, Minnesota State (1), 0-0-0, 779, 4
6, Minnesota Duluth (1), 0-0-0, 741, 3
7, Boston College, 0-0-0, 709, 6
8, North Dakota (2), 0-0-0, 652, 5
9, Quinnipiac, 0-0-0, 498, 12
10, Boston University, 0-0-0, 452, 11
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11, Wisconsin, 0-0-0, 443, 8
12, Providence, 0-0-0, 320, 16
13, Denver (1), 0-0-0, 309, NR
14, Bemidji State, 0-0-0, 293, 10
15, Cornell, 0-0-0, 264, NR
16, Harvard, 0-0-0, 254, NR
17, Omaha, 0-0-0, 240, 13
18, Notre Dame, 0-0-0, 234, 17
19, Clarkson, 0-0-0, 216, 20
20, AIC, 0-0-0, 147, 15
Others receiving votes: Northeastern 111, UMass Lowell 59, Michigan Tech 54, Western Michigan 54, Lake Superior 40, Bowling Green 34, Penn State 23, Arizona State 21, Connecticut 20, Sacred Heart 17, Army 12, Canisius 12, St. Lawrence 6, Colgate 5, Northern Michigan 5, Brown 2
