The USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll was released Monday, and like the USCHO.com poll last week, North Dakota is the clear favorite entering 2020-21.
The Fighting Hawks, who return six of the top seven scorers from the team that went 26-5-4 last year, earned 22 of the 35 first-place votes in the poll of coaches and journalists. UND also returns both goaltenders who saw action last season and boasts a freshman class led by No. 5 overall NHL draft pick Jake Sanderson.
The top 10 from the end of 2019-20 make up the preseason top 10, albeit in a different order. Boston College, Minnesota Duluth, Denver and Minnesota State round out the top five.
Cornell, which finished last season at No. 1, stands sixth in the preseason poll.
The 15-team poll includes one team – No. 13 Minnesota – that did not finish in the top 15 last season. More than half of the 61 teams in Division I – 31 to be exact – earned at least one vote in the poll.
| USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Preseason Poll November 2, 2020 |
||||
| Rank | Team (First Place) | Final 2019-20 Ranking |
2019-20 Record |
Weeks in Top 15 |
| 1. | University of North Dakota, 494 (22) | 2 | 26-5-4 | 1 |
| 2. | Boston College, 418 (3) | 4 | 24-8-2 | 1 |
| 3. | University of Minnesota Duluth, 385 (3) | 5 | 22-10-2 | 1 |
| 4. | University of Denver, 370 (1) | 6 | 21-9-6 | 1 |
| 5. | Minnesota State University, 369 (3) | 3 | 31-5-2 | 1 |
| 6. | Cornell University, 368 (3) | 1 | 23-2-4 | 1 |
| 7. | University of Massachusetts, 277 | 9 | 21-11-2 | 1 |
| 8. | Clarkson University, 255 | 8 | 23-8-3 | 1 |
| 9. | Penn State University, 238 | 7 | 20-10-4 | 1 |
| 10. | Ohio State University, 197 | 10 | 20-11-5 | 1 |
| 11. | University of Massachusetts Lowell, 158 | 12 | 18-10-6 | 1 |
| 12. | University of Michigan, 145 | 15 | 18-14-4 | 1 |
| 13. | University of Minnesota, 111 | NR | 16-14-7 | 1 |
| 14. | Quinnipiac University, 96 | 14 | 21-11-2 | 1 |
| 15. | Bemidji State University, 42 | 11 | 22-10-5 | 1 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Providence, 38; Arizona State, 33; Boston University, 18; Northeastern, 13; Notre Dame, 13; Bowling Green, 8; Harvard, 6; Michigan Tech, 5; Western Michigan, 5; Maine, 4; Northern Michigan, 4; UConn, 3; Wisconsin, 3; Air Force, 2; AIC, 1; St.Cloud State, 1. | ||||