No. 1 Falls; How Many Teams Projected To Win Conferences are Leading Their Leagues? Puck Drop

Does it seem like the standings have been almost upside down compared to what was expected in college hockey this season? You’re not imagining things.

None of the teams picked to finish atop their leagues this season are currently in first place of their respected confeerences. Granted, a couple have games in hand and can still move atop their leagues, but only if they win them.

Here’s a quick look by conference, through Saturday's games:

AHA: At 7-1 in league play, No. 18 Army had firm control of first place with 21 points. Only one other team has more than nine points, Bentley (15). Preseason pick: Bentley had more first-place votes (five) in the coaches' preseason poll, but Sacred Heart (3) had more points to finish first.

Big Ten: No. 1 Wisconsin has 14 points through six games, with Notre Dame second with nine. No. 2 Michigan is third with eight points, and only four league games so far. No. 4 Michigan State is last, but has only played two Big Ten games and has a home-and-home with Michigan next week. Preseason pick: The predicted order was Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin.

CCHA: No. 9 Augustana has yet to lose in regulation, but only has a one-point lead over Bowling Green, 13 and 12 respectively, through six games. No. 14 Michigan Tech and Minnesota State are right behind the Falcons at 10 points. Preseason pick: Michigan Tech had four of the eight first-place votes to edge Bowling Green.

ECAC: No. 11 Dartmouth has an early cushion with a perfect 12 points in four league games, with No. 5 Quinnipiac and Yale tied for second with eight. The Big Green beat the Bobcats 5-2 (with two empty-net goals) on their home ice Friday to establish itself as the team to beat in the conference. Preseason pick: Quinnipiac had 10-first place votes, while Dartmouth landed two.

Hockey East: No. 20 Vermont, which was picked to finish last, is one point ahead of No. 10 Providence, 16 points to 15, and played two more league games. No. 13 Boston University and Boston College have moved to within striking distance with 11 and 10 points, respecively. Preseason pick: Providence received eight first-place votes, while UMass got one and BU two.

NCHC: No. 7 UMD has 12 points after six league games, while No. 3 Denver has 11 after four games, and No. 8 North Dakota has 10 points after four conference games. No. 6 Western Michigan has sevn points on just four league games. Preseason pick: Reigning champion Denver received 14 of 33 first-place votes in the media poll, while North Dakota landed 12 to place second.

Now for the women’s leagues, where the exact opposite has happened.

AHA: Even though No. 7 Penn State took its first conference loss on Saturday, the Nittany Lions are already way out in front at 8-1 and with one OT loss in league games for 25 points. Mercyhurst is second with 18 and having played two fewer games, and might return to the rankings this week. Preseason pick: Penn State was a unanimous selection.

ECAC: It’s shaping up to be a three-team race. Through six league games No. 4 Princeton has 16 points, while No. 10 Clarkson and No. 6 Quinnipiac both have 15. Preseason pick: Quinnipiac had six of the 12 first-place votes, Princeton received three.

Hockey East: No. 5 Northeastern is 7-0 in league play with an overtime loss, for 22 points in eight league games. No. 11 Connecticut is 5-0 with an OT win for 17 points in six games. Preseason pick: Northeastern had eight of 10 first-place votes

NEWHA: Three teams have separated themselves, each having played 10 conference games. Franklin Pierce has 27 points, Assumption has 23 and Long Island has 23. Preseason pick: Assumption landed four first-place votes, with the other four scattered among three teams.

WCHA: At 9-1 in the toughest conference, No. 1 Ohio State has 27 points in 10 games, while No. 2 Minnesota has 20 points in eight games. Preseason pick: Ohio State landed six first-place votes, compared to Wisconsin’s two. Despite that, the preseason polls had the reigning national champion Badgers at No. 1 to start the season.

Ohio State Topples No. 1 Again

For the second time in three weeks, and second straight series, Ohio State knocked off the No. 1 team in the nation, upsetting visiting Wisconsin 2-1. Similar to the previous time, 5-4 in overtime against Michigan on Oct. 31, it’ll probably lead to a change in the rankings as the Wolverines improved to 10-1 with an 8-3 home thrashing of Penn State. The Badgers are 8-1-1 (4-1-1 in the Big Ten). Freshman goaltender Jakub Milota got the win after making 27 saves in the contest, as for just the second time this season the Buckeyes (4-6, 2-2 Big Ten) were outshot, 28-19. Thomas Weis scored in the first period just 14 seconds after exiting the penalty box, and Felix Caron had the game-winner in the second period.

Felix Caron doubles the @OhioStateMHKY lead over No. 1 Wisconsin 👊

The Buckeyes hold a 2-0 advantage heading the third period in Madison 👀 pic.twitter.com/0gsMsJvyCV
— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) November 15, 2026

College Hockey One-Timers

Senior Jayden Perron had a hat trick to lead the Wolverines and tops the nation with 13 goals this season. Augustana sophomore Leonid Bulgakov is second with 11. Michael Hage had a goal and two assists, giving 21 on the season and leads the nation in points with 26.

Senior Jack Stark made 24 saves and freshman Kyle O'Leary had the game-winning goal as Yale upset No. 16 Cornell, 3-1. “Any time you beat them, it's a good night," Yale coach Jeff Hamilton said in a release.

Check out: Has Boston College Men's Hockey Turned a Corner After Sweeping UMass?

Jonathan Fauchon had two goals and Jack Parsons made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season as Providence College completed the sweep against No. 15 Merrimack 5-0.

Denver freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph scored for the fifth straight game.

Junior defenseman Joona Väisänen scored on the power play with 3.4 seconds remaining in overtime as No. 6 Western Michigan swept No. 12 Colorado College with a 5-4 victory. Sophomore Quentin Miller made 19 saves for his 20th career win.

Watch Joona beat the clock in OT to earn the weekend sweep.#BroncosReign pic.twitter.com/BDVZIvblNc
— WMU Hockey (@WMUHockey) November 15, 2026

Puck Drop: Sunday, November 15, 2026

For the second time this month Kyle Connor (Michigan) helped Winnipeg come back from a four-goal deficit as the Jets won their sixth straight with a 5-4 shootout victory at Chicago. Connor had a goal and an assist while Mark Scheifele had a goal and three assists to became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 933 points (Dale Hawerchuk 929). Winnipeg rallied from 4-0 down to win 5-4 in overtime at Montreal on Nov. 3. The Jets are the second team in NHL history to record multiple four-goal comeback wins over a 12-day span (Florida Panthers did in twice, in 1019 and 2022).

Devon Levi (Northeastern) made 19 saves to notch his first career shutout at as Edmonton topped Toronto 1-0.

Boston College’s Katie Crowley became the first head coach in Hockey East women’s hockey history to reach 300 conference wins.

Recruiting update: Defenseman Max Fransen from Owen Sound (OHL) has committed to Western Michigan for 2029, and defenseman Brady Murnane out of Oshawa (OHL) will play for RPI in 2027.

UMD goaltender Carl Axelsson didn’t give up a goal all weekend at St. Cloud State, as the Bulldogs completed the sweep 4-0.

Former UNH captain and defensemen Alex Gagne made his NHL debut tonight with the Colorado Avalanche at Montreal.

Gagne takes a lap for his NHL debut! pic.twitter.com/rwOqNTj665
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 14, 2026

College Hockey Scores

MEN
AHA
Canisius 5, RIT 4
Niagara 4, Holy Cross 2
No. 18 Army 3, Sacred Heart 1

Big Ten
No. 2 Michigan 8, Penn State 3
Ohio State 2, No. 1 Wisconsin 1

CCHA
No. 14 Michigan Tech 5, Lake Superior 2
Northern Michigan 5, Bowling Green 3
No. 9 Augustana 4, Ferris State 1
Minnesota State 4, Bemidji State 4 (SO, Minnesota State wins SO 1-0)

ECAC
Brown 3, Colgate 1
No. 11 Dartmouth 5, Princeton 2
No. 5 Quinnipiac 5, Harvard 0
Yale 3, No. 16 Cornell 1

Hockey East
No. 19 Northeastern 4, Connecticut 3 (OT)
Maine 3, No. 20 Vermont 1
No. 10 Providence 5, No. 15 Merrimack 0
Boston College 4, Massachusetts 2

NCHC
No. 7 Minnesota Duluth 4, St. Cloud State 0
No. 6 Western Michigan 5, No. 12 Colorado College 4
No. 8 North Dakota 6, St. Thomas 2
No. 17 Miami 2, Omaha 1

Non-Conference
UMass Lowell 3, RPI 1
No. 3 Denver 7, Lindenwood 1
Minnesota 4, Alaska-Anchorage 3
Union 4, New Hampshire 1

Take a look at the Michael Hage goal that gave @umichhockey a 5-0 lead over Penn State in the second period 🎬

Michigan leads Penn State 6-1 with one period to go 💥 pic.twitter.com/DN2dUbO58g
— Big Ten Hockey (@B1GHockey) November 15, 2026

Women's College Hockey Scores

WOMEN
AHA
Mercyhurst 3, No. 7 Penn State 0
RIT 5, Lindenwood 1

ECAC
No. 10 Clarkson 5, Brown 3
No. 8 Colgate 2, Harvard 1
No. 14 Cornell 2, Dartmouth 1
No. 13 Yale 3, St. Lawrence 3 (SO, Yale wins SO 2-1)

Hockey East
No. 5 Northeastern 3, Merrimack 2
No. 11 Connecticut 3, Providence 0
No. 5 Boston College 5, Boston University 3
Maine 3, Holy Cross 0

NEWHA
Post 8, Saint Michael's 1
Long Island 7, Stonehill 2
Sacred Heart 3, Saint Anselm 0
Assumption 3, Franklin Pierce 1

WCHA
No. 2 Minnesota 5, No. 9 St. Cloud State 2
No. 1 Ohio State 3, No. 11 Minnesota Duluth 2
No. 3 Wisconsin 9, St. Thomas 2
Bemidji State 1, Minnesota State 0

Non-Conference
Rensselaer 2, Syracuse 1 (OT)

Today’s College Hockey Schedule

WOMEN
WCHA
St. Thomas at No. 3 Wisconsin, 1 p.m., CT

This Date in Hockey History

November 15, 1945: Denver left wing Jim Shires was born in Edmonton.

November 15, 1964: Providence goaltender Chris Terreri was born in Providence, R.I.

November 15, 1983: Alaska Fairbanks left wing Kyle Greentree was born in Victoria, British Columbia.

November 15, 1987: Vermont defenseman Kevan Miller was born in Los Angeles.

November 15, 1994: New Hampshire defenseman Brett Pesce was born in Tarrytown, N.Y.

November 15, 1996: Former Michigan Tech goaltender Damian Rhodes became the Ottawa Senators leader in career victories with a 4-3 win over Chicago. However, it was just his 15th win with the young franchise.

November 15, 1998: Minnesota forward Ben Meyers was born in Delano, Minn.

November 15, 2000: Former Northern Arizona left wing Greg Adams played in his 1,000th NHL game and scored goal No. 345 in helping the Florida Panthers defeat the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 4-1.

November 15, 2000: Former Michigan State right wing Anson Carter was traded by the Boston Bruins along with first- and second-round draft pick to Edmonton for former Boston College right wing Bill Guerin. The draft picks were later used on Ales Hemsky and Doug Lynch.

November 15, 2002: Michigan right wing Mackie Samoskevich was born in Newtown, Conn.

November 15, 2014: The St. Louis Blues traded former Minnesota defenseman Jordan Leopold to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fifth-round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft.

November 15, 2021: The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Doug Wilson, Kim St-Pierre, Kevin Lowe, Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa and Ken Holland.

November 15, 2022: The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Daniel Alfredsson, Herb Carnegie,

Roberto Luongo, Riikka Sallinen, and Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

Hockey Quote of the Day

"He recognizes what he does best. He doesn't gamble. He plays very safe. He'll go back and make the pass to the same winger time after time if the guy's open, and he's so strong that even when he's being leaned on he can get the puck to his man. He never gets in trouble in his own end."
Bryan Murray on Rod Langway (UNH)

We'll Leave You With This ...

Bulldogs Against Cancer 💜#ThisIsYale pic.twitter.com/6xhzlos8ov
— Yale Men's Hockey (@YaleMHockey) November 14, 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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