Between the Badgers, Broncos, Spartans and Wolverines, Who Should be No. 1? Puck Drop

What team should be No. 1 heading into the first college hockey polls of November? There are actually at least four good options, and one could make a good arguments for each:

Michigan is 8-1, with the lone loss at underrated Ohio State on Saturday. It has three wins against ranked teams, including a sweep at then-No. 1 Denver, and the .1-second win against then-No.5 Western Michigan, 3-2. The Wolverines have outscored opponents 46-23.

Coming off blowout wins against Notre Dame by a combined scored of 16-2, Wisconsin is 6-0. It had a sweep at then-19 Minnesota State, and also defeated then-No. 5 Western Michigan 4-0 in an exhibition. The Badgers, who reached the national title game last season, have outscored opponents 29-5. The 0.8 goals allowed per game is the best in the nation among all teams outside of the Ivy League (which just opened its regular season).

Michigan State is 5-1, with the lone loss at New Hampshire, 1-0. The Spartans have two wins against ranked teams at the time, then-No. 12 Boston College, and No. 8 North Dakota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Austin, Texas. They’ve outscored opponents 23-9.

Western Michigan. Exhibitions don’t count, right? The lone loss was the stunning .1-second defeat to No. 1 Michigan, and then the Broncos lost the next day in the exhibition to Wisconsin. They’ve outscored opponents 40-11.

Reigning national champion Denver gets a mention here at 5-2-1, with the two losses to then-No. 2 Michigan, and the tie was to then-No. 18 Boston College. But the Pioneers were home for all of those after opening the season at Alaska Anchorage, so consider this sort of an honorable mention along with Providence (5-1), Augustana (7-0-1) and dare we say Army (5-1).

For now, we’re going with stingy Wisconsin, but barely, and take note that we're only a month away from the first UM-UW series of the sseason in Ann Arbor.

Regardless, look for a big-time split in both polls Monday after the Wolverines received all but one first-place vote in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey top-20 rankings last week.

College Hockey On SI Power Rankings

Men
1. Wisconsin
2. Michigan
3. Denver
4. Michigan State
5. Western Michigan
6. Quinnipiac
7. Providence
8. Augustana
9. Minnesota Duluth
10. Boston University

On Deck: North Dakota, Colorado College, Ohio State, Dartmouth, Michigan Tech

Women
1. Ohio State
2. Minnesota
3. Wisconsin
4. Northeastern
5. Penn State
6. Princeton
7. Quinnipiac
8. Colgate
9. Clarkson
10. Boston College

NCAA Percentage Index (NPI) Top 10

The NPI is used to determine the field and seedings for the NCAA Tournament.

It takes a while for some parts of the NPI formula to take a form hold, like strength of schedule, due to all teams starting with the same baseline — like the Ivy League, which just opened play. The more games played, the more weight they’ll have.

Men
1. Michigan
2. Union
3. Wisconsin
4. Quinnipiac
5. Dartmouth
6. Augustana
7. Army
8. Michigan State
9. Minnesota Duluth
10. Colorado college

The Next 5: Princeton, Western Michigan, Yale, Providence, Boston University

Women
1. Ohio State
2. Princeton
3. Minnesota
4. Wisconsin
5. Colgate
6. Northeastern
7. Penn State
8. St. Cloud State
9. Yale
10. Clarkson

The Next 5: Quinnipiac, Cornell, Boston College, Connecticut, Minnesota Duluth

Puck Drop: Monday, November 2, 2026

The Nashville Predators traded 21-year-old forward Matthew Wood (Minnesota/Connecticut) to the Seattle Kraken for two-way center Shane Wright, the fourth-overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft. Wood was Nashville’s 15th selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. For More on the trade, check out Nashville Predators On SI.

Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) had a hat trick to lead a 6-3 win for Anaheim against the Ottawa Senators at Honda Center. After falling behind in the first period by three goals the Ducks scored unanswered the rest of the game. Former North Dakota right wing Judd Caulfield had two goals and an assist.

Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler (Boston College) was named the NHL's "Rookie of the Month" for October. He went 7-1-0 with two shutouts and had a seven-game win streak.

Denver’s Ryan Miller had a goal, an assist and 15 penalty minutes against Omaha on Saturday. The Pioneers’ social media team is wondering if that’s the college version of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick?

Goaltender Emmett Corteau capped No. 12 Dartmouth’s opening weekend with two shutouts against Alaska Fairbanks.

After being limited to an assist between them the night before, Michael Hage had a goal and four assists and Jayden Perron added three assists as No. 1 Michigan pulled out a 5-4 overtime win at Ohio State. Adam Valentini had first career overtime game-winning goal. Coming off his third career five-point game, Gage leads the nation with 20 points, with Perron second with 19 and no one else with more than 14. Perron still tops the nation with 10 goals.

Here are the replays of Adam Valentini's OT game-winner 〽️ pic.twitter.com/r8vBnTWyMh
— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) November 2, 2026

College Hockey Scores

MEN
Big Ten

No. 1 Michigan 5, Ohio State 4 (OT)

Non-Conference
No. 12 Dartmouth 4, Alaska 0

Today’s College Hockey Schedule

No games scheduled

This Date in Hockey History

November 2, 1921: Hall of Fame right wing Bil Mosienko, who notched the fastest hat trick in NHL history at 21 seconds, was born in Winnipeg.

November 2, 1953: Boston University center Rick Meagher was born in Belleville, Ontario.

November 2, 1969: Gordie Howe scored the 19th, and final hat trick of his career during a 4-3 victory for the Detroit Red Wings against Pittsburgh. He was 41.

November 2, 1976: Former St. Cloud State center Matt Cullen, who played in 1,516 NHL games over 21 seasons, was born in Virginia, Minn.

November 2, 1978: Former Colorado College goaltender Eddie Mio was one of three players traded by the Indianapolis Racers to the Edmonton Oilers (which was still in the WHA) in exchange for $700,000. The other two were Peter Driscoll and some 17-year-old guy named Wayne Gretzky.

November 2, 1980: Norwich University center Kurtis McLean was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.

November 2, 1988: Ohio State goaltender Cal Heeter was born in St. Louis.

November 2, 1998: Cullen recorded his first NHL point in his birthday, with an assist for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in a 4-3 loss to Detroit.

November 2, 2001: Harvard center Sean Farrell was born in Milford, Mass.

November 2, 2001: Former North Dakota goaltender Ed Belfour notched his 27th shutout with the Dallas Stars, setting a franchise record during a 3-0 victory against the Nashville Predators.

November 2, 2013: Former Wisconsin center Derek Stepan scored his second career NHL hat trick as the host New York Rangers defeated Carolina 5-1.

November 2, 2017: Cullen played in his 1,500th NHL game on his 41st birthday. He had a goal and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 6-3 victory over Montreal.

November 2, 2012: Former Harvard defenseman Adam Fox scored his 100th point in his 135th game during a 3-2 overtime loss to Vancouver.

November 2, 2023: Former U.S. National Development Team center Jack Hughes became the first player in New Jersey Devils franchise history (including the Rockies and Scouts years) to tally 19 points before this 10th game in a season.

November 2, 2023: Former North Dakota forward Nick Schmalz scored his first career penalty-shot goal.

November 2, 2017: Auston Matthews, out of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, became just the fourth player in league history to be awarded two penalty shots in the same game. He scored on the first, but not the second, as the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Los Angeles Kings 5-3. The other three were Mud Bruneteau (1938), former Clarkson left wing Erik Cole (2005), and former Michigan left wing Max Pacioretty (2014).

Hockey Quote of the Day

"He'll give you a spin-o-rama, he'll look you off the puck, he's got great one-on-one moves Makes you wonder why [North America] can't produce more such creative players."
Dave King on Brian Leetch (BC)

We'll Leave You With This ...

We've seen many Storm Surges before, but none are cuter than this! ❤️

The @Canes capped off Kids Day by bringing their children out onto the ice to celebrate today's victory! pic.twitter.com/5hPGcaUAC6
— NHL (@NHL) November 1, 2026

— The views expressed in Christopher Walsh’s opinion part of Puck Drop are his own and do not necessarily reflect ON SI, Sports Illustrated or digital partner Minute.

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