How the College Hockey Polls and NPI Rankings Agree and Differ: Puck Drop
There was little movement in either major college hockey poll released Monday, which made sense as there were very few games played since the last rankings a couple of weeks ago. Michigan tightened its hold atop the polls by adding a couple of first-place votes in both the USCHO and the USA Hockey rankings, and the top seven are now in sync.
But that's where things start to diverge, and on the bottom end of the rankings there's essentially no agreement among the bottom six. For example, Maine is No. 15 in one poll and No. 18 in another as, understandingly, a lot of people are trying to get a get a good handle on the Black Bears — the reigning Hockey East champions.
It goes to another level when factoring in the National Percentage Index that will be used to determine the teams and seedings for the national tournament. Maine is No. 36, nowhere near where it needs to be to qualify. Granted, the NPI is still somewhat askew due to the Ivy League's late start (and helps explain why voters believe Dartmouth is overrated in NPI at No. 4), but the Black Bears are going to need to make a major push over the next two months while playing the toughest part of their schedule.
Hockey East doesn't have a top-10 team in either poll, or the rankings, but leads the nation with seven teams in the polls (five in the NPI, which is still more teams than any other conference). The other league team that's listed in the polls, but down in NPI is Boston University at No. 26.
Here's a look at at the NPI top 10 as of Monday:
Top 10 Men's National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index
1. Michigan
2. Wisconsin
3. North Dakota
4. Dartmouth
5. Michigan State
6. Minnesota Duluth
7. Denver
8. Penn State
9. Western Michigan
10. Minnesota State
It's obviously dominated by four Big Ten teams, and four NCHC teams. However, the next 10 look almost nothing like the polls:
11-20 NPI Index
11. Harvard
12. Quinnipiac
13. Providence
14. Augustana
15. Cornell
16. Northeastern
17. Connecticut
18. Boston College
19. St. Thomas
20. New Hampshire
These are the programs that have the inside track on trying to nail down the final at-large NCAA tournament spots in couple of months, although they have to get through conference play first — which will expose a lot of teams as pretenders. Even so, that all have to be considered bubble teams for the 16-team field, especially when all the automatic bids go to the conference tournament champions. If there's a surprise winner, which is plausible every season but especially so during this one of parity, only the top 10 NPI spots are locks.
It was a wild first half to the season. The second half figures to be even crazier.
Back to work #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/L1MwoJd2Jj
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) December 29, 2025
USCHO Men's Poll
December 29, 2025
Rank | Team | Record | Points (1st) | Prv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michigan | 16-4 | 983 (38) | 1 |
2 | Wisconsin | 13-2-2 | 949 (12) | 2 |
3 | Michigan State | 13-4 | 882 | 3 |
4 | North Dakota | 14-4 | 836 | 4 |
5 | Minnesota Duluth | 14-6 | 758 | 5 |
6 | Denver | 12-6-1 | 745 | 6 |
7 | Western Michigan | 11-6 | 703 | 7 |
8 | Penn State | 11-5 | 612 | 9 |
9 | Dartmouth | 12-2 | 596 | 8 |
10 | Quinnipiac | 12-4-2 | 546 | 10 |
11 | Connecticut | 9-5-3 | 467 | 11 |
12 | Northeastern | 10-6 | 410 | 13 |
13 | Boston College | 10-6-1 | 371 | 12 |
14 | Minensota State | 11-4-5 | 349 | 15 |
15 | Maine | 11-7-1 | 308 | 14 |
16 | Providence | 8-6-2 | 245 | 16 |
17 | Cornell | 7-4-0 | 222 | 17 |
18 | Harvard | 7-3-1 | 145 | 18 |
19 | Boston University | 9-8-1 | 99 | 19 |
20 | Union | 12-5-2 | 76 | 20 |
Others receiving votes: Augustana 57, New Hampshire 57, Colorado College 26, Holy Cross 20, Arizona State 8, Michigan Tech 8, Massachusetts 6, Bemidji State 4, Princeton 4, St. Cloud State 3, St. Thomas 3, Miami 2
USA Hockey Men's Poll
December 29, 2025
Rank | Team | Points (1st) | Prv. |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Michigan | 676 (30) | 1 |
2 | Wisconsin | 645 (4) | 2 |
3 | Michigan State | 637 | 3 |
4 | North Dakota | 589 | 4 |
5 | Minnesota Duluth | 556 | 5 |
6 | Denver | 537 | 6 |
7 | Western Michigan | 505 | 8 |
8 | Dartmouth | 439 | 7 |
9 | Penn State | 425 | 9 |
10 | Quinnipiac | 402 | 10 |
11 | Connecticut | 313 | 11 |
12 | Northeastern | 270 | 13 |
13 | Boston College | 254 | 12 |
14 | Minnesota State | 229 | 14 |
15 | Providence | 193 | T16 |
16 | Harvard | 177 | 18 |
17 | Cornell | 155 | T16 |
18 | Maine | 129 | 15 |
19 | Boston University | 66 | 19 |
20 | New Hampshire | 39 | T20 |
Others Receiving Votes: Augustana, 32; Union, 32; Arizona State, 10; Massachusetts, 10; Colorado College, 7; Holy Cross, 6; Princeton, 5; Michigan Tech, 3; Miami, 1
USCHO Women's Poll
December 8, 2025 (no poll this week)
Rank | Team | Record | Points (1st) | Prv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wisconsin | 18-1-1 | 230 (20) | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | 15-3 | 279 (5) | 2 |
3 | Minnesota | 14-4 | 258 | 3 |
4 | Penn State | 17-1 | 237 | 4 |
5 | Minnesota Duluth | 12-6 | 217 | 6 |
6 | Connecticut | 13-3-2 | 186 | 7 |
7 | Northeastern | 15-4 | 185 | 8 |
8 | Quinnipiac | 14-5-1 | 151 | 5 |
9 | Princeton | 11-4 | 139 | 9 |
10 | Cornell | 10-5-1 | 119 | 10 |
11 | Clarkson | 11-6-2 | 101 | 13 |
12 | Minnesota State | 11-8-1 | 76 | 15 |
13 | St. Cloud State | 7-12-1 | 66 | 14 |
14 | Colgate | 9-10-1 | 36 | 12 |
15 | Yale | 9-7 | 20 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Holy Cross 12, Brown 9, Boston College 4, Mercyhurst 4, New Hampshire 1
USA Hockey Women's Poll
December 16, 2025
Rank | Team | Points (1st) | Prv. |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wisconsin | 285 (19) | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | 266 | 2 |
3 | Minnesota | 243 | 3 |
4 | Penn State | 225 | 4 |
5 | Minnesota Duluth | 210 | 5 |
6 | Northeastern | 175 | 6 |
7 | Connecticut | 174 | 7 |
8 | Quinnipiac | 152 | 8 |
9 | Princeton | 131 | 9 |
10 | Cornell | 115 | 11 |
11 | Clarkson | 95 | 10 |
12 | Minnesota State | 68 | 12 |
13 | St. Cloud State | 54 | 13 |
14 | Yale | 36 | 14 |
15 | Brown | 21 | 15 |
Others receiving votes: Colgate, 13; Mercyhurst, 7; St. Thomas, 7; Holy Cross, 3.
U.S. Comes Back to Top Slovakia at World Juniors
After sporting Slovakia a two-goal lead, the U.S. National Junior Team stormed back with four in the second period and went to win 6-5 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Monday night. Boston College center James Haggens led the comeback with two goals, while North Dakota forward Will Zellers notched his third straight game-winning goal.
AJ Spellacy poked a centering pass from Denver's Brendan McMorrow for the team's first goal, and McMorrow got the second one after Spellacy forced a turnover in the Slovakia zone. Ryker Lee's short-side wrist shot brought the Americans back even at 3-3, and after falling behind again Hagens' goals, with 45 seconds to play in the second period and 18 seconds into the third turned the momentum for good.
"We knew we had to have each other's backs," Hagens said.
The Minnesota connection of Brodie Ziemer (Gophers) and Zellers (who grew up in a St. Paul suburb), made it 6-4 before Slovakia got a final goal after pulling its goalie.
“We found a way and I give our guys credit,” U.S. National Junior Team head coach Bob Motzko (Minnesota) said. "We’ll look to continue to grow and get better, and now turn our attention to Sweden on New Year’s Eve.”
Both the U.S. and Sweden are undefeated in Group A at 3-0. The U.S. outshot Slovakia 41-31, as goaltender Caleb Heil got the win. ... Tomas Chrenko had two goals and an assist for Slovakia, while Andreas Straka and Luka Radivojevic (Boston College) both had two assists. ... Team USA changed things up on the power play and went 2-for-5. ... Hagens was named U.S. Player of the Game.
Lee's game-tying goal 😤#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/ji0GnQI2nv
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 30, 2025
2026 World Junior Championship Schedule
At Minneapolis, St. Paul., Minn.
Monday's Scores
Sweden 8, Germany 1
Czechia 2, Finland 1 (OT)
United States 6, Slovakia 5
Canada 9, Denmark 1
Dec. 30
Switzerland vs. Germany; 2 p.m., NHLN, TSN
Latvia vs. Denmark; 4:30 p.m., NHLN, TSN
ADAM JIRICEK GOES BETWEEN HIS LEGS FOR THE OVERTIME WINNER 😱🚨
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 29, 2025
CZECHIA WINS A THRILLER IN STYLE 🇨🇿 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/s7mH67VwQR
Puck Drop: Tuesday, December 30, 2025
• The semifinals are set at the 9th Spengler Cup in Switzerland, where the U.S. Collegiate Selects advanced on a bye after being the surprise of the tournament and winning their group. It'll face Sparta Prague, one of the oldest clubs in the world, which eliminated Team Canada on Monday, 5-1. The Czech-pro team and college all-stars will play at 9:10 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Meanwhile, host HC Davos advanced with a 3-0 victory over IFK Helsinki. It'll play reigning champion Fribourg-Gottéron in a major all-Swiss showdown. later Tuesday.
• No. 3 Michigan State won the Great Lakes Invitational for the second straight year, and it was the first back-to-back titles since 1999-2000, defeating Michigan Tech 4–1 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Although the Spartans were missing some key players, goaltenders Trey Augustine made 32 saves. Senior Charlie Stramel had two goals for the second straight night and was named tournament MVP.
• No. 13 Boston College Men's Hockey Takes Third Place at Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off
• No. 7 Western Michigan demonstrated that it's still good at winning tournaments as the reigning national champions defeated No. 2 Wisconsin 4-1. in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee. Junior Zaccharya Wisdom, freshman Zach Nehring, junior William Whitelaw and sophomore Grant Slukynsky provided the offense, while freshman Hampton Slukynsky made 22 saves
Think we'll see this on top plays this week, @TheNCHC?
— WMU Hockey (@WMUHockey) December 30, 2025
📺: B1G+#BroncosReign pic.twitter.com/DpHDO9RVz6
Monday's College Hockey Scores
MEN
Hockey East
Merrimack 5, Vermont 4
Great Lakes Invitational (at Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Third-Place Game: Miami 4, Ferris State 2
Championship: No. 3 Michigan State 4, Michigan Tech 1
Holiday Face-Off (at Milwaukee, Wis.)
Third-Place Game: No. 12 Boston College 4, Lake Superior 3
Championship: No. 2 Wisconsin 4, No. 7 Western Michigan 1
Non-Conference
Clarkson 3, RIT 2
Exhibition
Bowling Green 6, US Under-18 1
Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.
College Hockey Schedule
Tuesday's Games
MEN
AHA
Robert Morris at Sacred Heart, 4 p.m. ET
Wednesday's Games
Non-Conference
Long Island at No. 11 UConn, 2 p.m. ET
Exhibition
Guelph at Niagara, 2 p.m. ET
WOMEN
Tuesday's Games
Non-Conference
Brown vs. Maine. 5 p.m. ET (Portland, Maine)
No. 10 Cornell at No. 4 Penn State, 6 p.m. ET
This Date in Hockey History:
December 30, 1883: Hall of Fame defenseman and coach Lester Patrick was born in Drummondville, Quebec.
December 30, 1963: Northern Michigan center Gary Emmons was born in Winnipeg.
December 30, 1967: The Los Angeles Kings played their first game in the Forum, but lost 2-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers.
December 30, 1968: Bowling Green defense Kevin Dahl was born in Regina, Saskatchewan.
December 30, 1972: Kent State and Michigan State right wing Dean Sylvester was born in Hanson, Mass.
December 30, 1974: The St. Louis Blues re-acquired former Michigan center Red Berenson from the Detroit Red Wings for Phil Roberto and a third-round pick in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft.
December 30, 1976: Maine defenseman David Cullen was born in St. Catharines, Ontario.
December 30, 1978: Boston College defenseman Rob Scuderi was born in Syosset, N.Y.
December 30, 1981: Former Wisconsin right wing Dean Talafous decided to retire after the New York Rangers traded him along with Jere Gillis to Quebec for Robbie Ftorek. The Rangers subsequently sent Pat Hickey to the Nordiques as compensation.
December 30, 1981: Wayne Gretzky set an NHL record that may never be broken, by scoring five goals against the Flyers during a 7-5 victory for Edmonton, he reached 50 goals in just 39 games. The previous record had been 50 goals in 50 games (Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy). Gretzky finished the season with an NHL record 92 goals.
December 30, 1989: Former UMD left wing Brett Hull began his Blues-record 20-game point streak with the game-winning goal and an assist during a 3-2 victory against the North Stars.
December 30, 2010: Minnesota Duluth’s new home, Amsoil Arena, opened, but North Dakota won 5-0. UMD was ranked No. 2, and UND was No. 2 at the time.
December 30, 2014: Former Minnesota center Nick Bjugstad signed a 6-year $24.6-million contract extension with the Florida Panthers.
Hockey Quote of the Day
“For a guy like Eddie [Belfour], goaltending isn't work anyway. It's fun."Mike Keenan
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We'll Leave You With This ...
So what did the U.S Collegiate Selects due with their day off after securing a bye into the semifinals of the Spengler Cup in Switzerland?
Took our skates outside and made some memories!#USCS x #ThePeakOfHockey pic.twitter.com/PoQqs3dyHQ
— U.S. Collegiate Selects (@USCollegeSelect) December 29, 2025
Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.
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