COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Bemidji State men’s hockey team now finds itself ranked in a second preseason poll ahead of the 2020-21 season.
The Beavers were tabbed No. 15 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll released Monday after collecting 42 points in the 15-team rankings.
Monday’s poll marked the first time BSU has ever been ranked in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll. Last week , Bemidji State was ranked No. 16 in the USCHO preseason poll, which was also the first time the program had ever appeared in a USCHO preseason poll.
The Beavers were joined by their Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival Minnesota State in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, where they came in at No. 5. Bowling Green, Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan also received votes.
North Dakota captured 494 points and 22 first-place votes to top the poll as the nation’s preseason No. 1 team. Each team in the top six -- No. 2 Boston College, No. 3 Minnesota Duluth, No. 4 Denver, No. 5 Minnesota State and No. 6 Cornell -- received at least one first-place vote. BC, UMD, MSU and Cornell earned three apiece, while Denver received one.
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BSU was ranked in the final five USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls of the 2019-20 season and ended the year ranked No. 11 after going 22-10-5. Bemidji State rose as high as No. 10 in the March 2 poll, marking the first time the program had cracked the top 10 since the 2009-10 season.
The Beavers will open the 2020-21 season Nov. 20-21 with a nonconference series against Minnesota State at the Sanford Center.
