MANKATO, Minn. - Minnesota State men's hockey was ranked No. 15 in two national polls this week (Jan. 5), including by USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live. The Mavericks appeared inside the top-20 for the 14th time this season. Fellow CCHA institution Augustana appeared at No. 17/18. Bemidji State and St. Thomas also received national votes.
The Mavericks (12-5-5, 8-3-3 CCHA) sit atop the CCHA standings and welcome second place St. Thomas to the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center on Saturday, January 10 at 6:07 p.m. CT. MSU split a pair of games last week in the Coachella Cactus Cup in Palm Springs, California. The Purple and Gold fell 3-1 to University of Massachusetts Lowell, then bounced back in the third place game with a 4-3 victory over Yale.
Michigan (46 first place votes) topped both national rankings polls this week, followed by Michigan State, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth. The Mavericks are currently 14th in the NPI ratings (replaced old pairwise rankings in 2025-26).
USCHO.com Division I Men's Ice Hockey Poll (Jan. 5, 2026)
| Rank/Team (First Place Votes) |
Record |
Pts. |
Last |
| 1. Michigan (46) |
16-4-0 |
995 |
1 |
| 2. Michigan State (2) |
14-4-0 |
908 |
3 |
| 3. Wisconsin (1) |
13-3-2 |
866 |
2 |
| 4. North Dakota |
16-4-0 |
854 |
4 |
| 5. Minnesota Duluth |
14-6-0 |
784 |
5 |
| 6. Western Michigan (1) |
14-6-0 |
776 |
7 |
| 7. Denver |
12-7-2 |
662 |
6 |
| 8. Quinnipiac |
14-4-2 |
648 |
10 |
| 9. Penn State |
12-6-0 |
578 |
8 |
| 10. Connecticut |
11-5-3 |
517 |
11 |
| 11. Dartmouth |
12-4-0 |
463 |
9 |
| 12. Maine |
12-7-2 |
411 |
15 |
| 13. Boston College |
11-6-1 |
410 |
13 |
| 14. Cornell |
9-4-0 |
328 |
17 |
| 15. Minnesota State |
12-5-5 |
298 |
14 |
| 16. Northeastern |
10-7-0 |
231 |
12 |
| 17. Augustana |
12-6-3 |
173 |
NR |
| 18. Providence |
9-7-2 |
157 |
16 |
| 19. Boston University |
9-8-1 |
101 |
19 |
| 20. Princeton |
10-4-0 |
83 |
NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Union 76, Harvard 38, New Hampshire 24, Arizona State 19, Michigan Tech 19, St. Cloud State 16, Bentley 15, St. Thomas 14, Massachusetts 13, Bemidji State 6, Bowling Green 5, Holy Cross 5, Miami 5, Colorado College 1, RIT 1
USA Hockey/The Rink Live Division I Men's Ice Hockey Poll (Jan. 5, 2026)
| Rank/Team (First Place Votes) |
Last Week |
Record |
Weeks in Top 20 |
| 1. Michigan (34) |
1 |
16-4-0 |
14 |
| 2. Michigan State |
3 |
14-4-0 |
14 |
| 3. Wisconsin |
2 |
13-3-2 |
14 |
| 4. North Dakota |
4 |
16-4-0 |
14 |
| 5. Minnesota Duluth |
5 |
14-6-0 |
11 |
| 6. Western Michigan |
7 |
14-6-0 |
14 |
| 7. Denver |
6 |
12-7-2 |
14 |
| 8. Quinnipiac |
10 |
14-4-2 |
14 |
| 9. Penn State |
9 |
12-6-0 |
14 |
| 10. Dartmouth |
8 |
12-4-0 |
8 |
| 11. Connecticut |
11 |
10-5-3 |
14 |
| 12. Cornell |
17 |
9-4-0 |
14 |
| 13. Boston College |
13 |
11-6-1 |
14 |
| 14. Maine |
18 |
12-7-2 |
14 |
| T-15. Minnesota State |
14 |
12-5-5 |
14 |
| T-15. Northeastern |
12 |
10-7-0 |
9 |
| 17. Providence |
15 |
9-7-2 |
14 |
| 18. Augustana |
RV |
12-6-3 |
2 |
| 19. Princeton |
RV |
10-4-0 |
1 |
| 20. Harvard |
16 |
7-5-1 |
6 |
Others receiving votes: Boston University, 33; Union College, 29;
St. Cloud State University, 23; Arizona State University, 22;
University of Massachusetts, 12; Bentley University, 6;
Bemidji State University, 4; St Thomas University, 4;
University of New Hampshire, 2; Rochester Institute of Technology, 2;
Miami University, 1.
