Rankings Reaction: Have Spartans Taken Control or are Rivalry Clashes Just Beginning? Puck Drop

Your daily briefing on what's going on in college hockey, everything from the assists on the ice to the Zamboni, including how the latest rankings have the Spartans back at No. 1.

Michigan and Michigan State logos | Ford School/University of Michigan

Could Michigan and Michigan State in hockey be the equivalent of a four-act play this season?

That's not a false description. Most people are familiar with a traditional three-act play, which is often described as the setup, the confrontation and the resolution of a story, but a four-act structure is usually more balanced and splits the long second act into two parts.

That's one possibility, that the Spartans and Wolverines could go toe-to-toe twice over the next couple of months, with championships on the line. Another is that we've already reached the turning point and climax of this year's rivalry, which for the first time ever (in 351 all-time meetings) featured the top two teams in the college hockey rankings.

As we've chronicled all season, it's been the year of the Great Lakes State schools in the sport, with its three top programs all on pace to be a top-seeded team in the four NCAA Tournament regionals along with North Dakota.

They've earned that status. Minus one poll (Week 2 on Oct. 13) a Michigan school has been No. 1 in every ranking. It began with reigning national champion Western Michigan, which topped the polls in the preseason rankings and Week 1. After Boston University briefly held the spot for seven days, Michigan State subsequently took over for five weeks. Michigan had held No. 1 since Nov. 24.

That is until this week.

Granted, the rivals split their first weekend series back in early December, which was "just" a No. 1 vs. No. 3 meeting. Act one saw Michigan win the opener in East Lansing, 3-0, and Michigan State answer in Ann Arbor, 3-1.

On Friday night, Michigan took Game 1 again, but needed overtime to pull out the 4-3 victory at Yost Ice Arena. Then came the game that has fans wondering if there's been more than a changing of the guard with the Spartans controlling the "Duel in the D" at neutral-site Detroit, 5-2.

It was quite a second act, and with the win MSU put itself in position to finish atop the Big Ten and secure top seeding for the upcoming conference tournament, which means home-ice advantage as it'll be completely played on campus sites this year. That assumes the Spartans don't stumble and give up their lead over the Wolverines (who host third-place Penn State next weekend).

Of course, act three could happen in the conference title game in late March, and then possibly yet another matchup could happen in the NCAA Tournament, presumably in the Frozen Four at Las Vegas should they both advance.

So was Saturday's game at at Little Caesars Arena a topping point? Or was it just the second act of an epic drama that will see more twists and turns? Judging by this week's polls, the voters believe it's more of the former,

First, though the top 20 in the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index that will be used to select the teams and determine seeding for the national tournament.

National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index

1. Michigan State
2. Michigan
3. North Dakota
4. Western Michigan
5. Penn State
6. Providence
7. Dartmouth
8. Cornell
9. Quinnipiac
10.Minnesota Duluth
11. Denver
12. St. Thomas
13. Connecticut
14. Boston College
15. Wisconsin
16. Minnesota State
17. Augustana
18. Michigan Tech
19. Massachusetts
20. St. Cloud State

Made biggest jump: Michigan Tech, from No. 20 to No. 17. When it got blown out by Air Force during the Desert Hockey Classic 8-2 on Jan. 2, the team was 11-8-2. Since then, the Huskies are 9-2 and have clawed their way into the CCHA title mix. With last weekend's sweep of Augustana, Tech celebrated Winter Carnival by moving into second place, just two points behind St. Thomas.

Had biggest fall: Boston College won its Beanpot opener against Harvard last Monday, 5-1, but then dropped from No. 11 to 14 after losing a dud of Hockey East game against Vermont, 6-1. Of note, the voting for the polls took place before the Beanpot championship game, won by the Eagles. As long as they can avoid another lackluster showing this weekend against Merrimack they should bounce right back like it did in NPI after beating BU on Monday night, up to No. 12.

Most underrated ranked team per NPI: Dartmouth. The polls have the Big Green at No 12, but NPI has it at No. 7 despite being 52nd in strength of schedule out of 63 teams. It's next three games are against Yale (No. 54 NPI), Brown (58), and RPI (56). It has just one regular-season game against a top 25 team in NPI, hosting Quinnipiac on Feb. 27. Speaking of the Bobcats ...

Most overrated ranked team per NPI: Quinnipiac got at least one first-place vote in both major polls, resulting in a consensus No. 5 ranking, but is only No. 9 in NPI. Why? The guess here is that voters are enamored with the scores of its last three wins, 7-0, 9-1 and 8-0. However, the opponents were St, Lawrence, Brown and Yale, with a tie against Clarkson (No. 44 NPI) in the mix. Quinnipiac (22-5-3) has a home-and-home with Princeton this weekend and will face Cornell, Dartmouth and Harvard over its final four games, so one way or another there should be a sort of meeting of the minds soon.

USCHO Men's Poll

February 9, 2026

Rank	Team	Record	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Michigan State	22-6	978 (30)	2
2	Michigan	23-5	967 (18)	1
3	North Dakota	21-7	877	3
4	Western Michigan	20-8	815	4
5	Quinnipiac	22-5-3	788 (2)	5
6	Penn State	18-8	733	6
7	Providence	18-7-2	725	7
8	Denver	17-11-3	610	8
9	Cornell	17-6	575	9
10	Minnesota Duluth	18-1	556	10
11	Connecticut	16-7-3	490	12
12	Dartmouth	17-6-1	439	14
13	Wisconsin	17-9-2	415	13
14	Boston College	15-9-1	406	11
15	St. Thomas	18-9-3	278	15
16	Minnesota State	15-8-5	201	17
17	Michigan Tech	20-10-2	177	20
18	Augustana	18-9-3	144	16
19	Massachusetts	17-11	103	19
20	Miami	17-9-2	84	NR

Others receiving votes: Maine 77, St. Cloud State 22, Boston University 15, Bentley 14, Bowling Green 9, Harvard 1, Vermont 1

USA Hockey Men's Poll

February 9, 2026

Rank	Team	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Michigan State	662 (18)	2
2	Michigan	660 (15)	1
3	North Dakota	595	3
4	Western Michigan	555	4
5	Quinnipiac	539 (1)	5
6	Providence	512	7
7	Penn State	494	6
8	Denver	415	9
9	Minnesota Duluth	399	10
10	Cornell	370	8
11	Connecticut	314	12
12	Wisconsin	305	11
13	Dartmouth	303	14
14	Boston College	263	13
15	St. Thomas	201	15
16	Minnesota State	158	17
17	Michigan Tech	135	20
18	Augustana	99	16
19	Massachusetts	62	19
20	Miami	43	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Maine 34; Bowling Green 12; St. Cloud State 6; Boston University 3; Harvard.

USCHO Women's Poll

February 9, 2026

Rank	Team	Record	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Wisconsin	25-3-2	299 (19)	1
2	Ohio State	26-4	281 (1)	2
3	Minnesota	24-5-1	259	3
4	Penn State	28-4	241	4
5	Northeastern	23-6-1	214	5
6	Connecticut	21-7-2	197	6
7	Quinnipiac	22-7-3	170	8
8	Princeton	20-7	163	5
9	Yale	21-7	151	9
10	Minnesota Duluth	15-12-3	119	10
11	Cornell	16-10-2	97	12
12	Clarkson	19-10-3	79	11
13	Mercyhurst	20-10-2	49	14
14	Holy Cross	18-10-2	31	13
15	Colgate	17-13-1	26	NR

Others receiving votes: Minnesota State 14, St. Thomas 4, Brown 3, St. Cloud State 3

USA Hockey Women's Poll

February 3, 2026 (Will be updated with release of new rankings Tuesday)

Rank	Team	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Wisconsin	283 (17)	1
2	Ohio State	267 (2)	2
3	Minnesota	248	3
4	Penn State	226	4
5	Northeastern	200	6
T6	Princeton	167	8
T6	Quinnipiac	167	5
8	Connecticut	162	7
9	Yake	129	10
10	Minnesota Duluth	122	9
11	Clarkson	102	11
12	Cornell	7583	12
13	Holy Cross	42	14
14	Mercyhurst	33	15
15	Minnesota State	26	13

Also receiving votes: Colgate 11; St. Thomas 11; St. Cloud State 6; Brown 3.

SEE ALSO: Last week's college hockey rankings

Puck Drop: Tuesday, February 10 2026

• Penn State freshman GavinMcKenna's preliminary hearing was pushed back a month to March11, which is the opening day of the Big Ten tournament, and also during the school's spring break. McKenna still faces charges of a misdemeanor simple assault, harassment, and disorderly. He's no longer facing a felony assault charge.

• Junior Matthew Morden, freshman first-year Chase Stefanek freshman Richard Gallant and senior Philip Tresca all scored as Harvard helped its NCAA Tournament hopes with a 4-1 victory over Northeastern in the Beanpot third-place game. The Crimson put 40 shots on net at TD Garden.

• No. 14 Boston College Men's Hockey Cruises Past BU to Earn 21st Beanpot Trophy

• Instant Analysis: No. 14 Boston College 6, Boston University 2

Men's College Hockey Monday Scores

Beanpot (at TD Garden, Boston, Mass.)
Third-Place Game: Harvard 4, Northeastern 1
Championship: No. 14 Boston College 6, Boston University 2

Women's College Hockey Monday Scores

No Games Scheduled

Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.

Men's College Hockey Tuesday Schedule

AHA
Army at Bentley, 7 p.m. ET
Niagara at RIT, 7 p.m. ET

Women's College Hockey Tuesday Schedule

No Games Scheduled

Olympic Hockey Update

• Joy Dunne (Ohio State ) and Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin) both had a goal and two assists as the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team won its final preliminary game before facing Canada, 5-0 over Switzerland at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena., defeated Switzerland, 5-0, in the preliminary round of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Gwyneth Philips made 20 saves in the shutout, while the 3-0 U.S. put 50 shots on net. Alex Carpenter scored her third goal of the tournament, while Haley Winn, Hannah Bilka also scored for the Americans. For more, check out SI.com.

Three points tonight for Caroline Harvey! #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/sUCxO7TDNu

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) February 9, 2026

• Group B of the women's tournament saw a major upset with Italy defeating Japan 3-2, making it likely the hosts will advance to the next round, and guaranteeing that Sweden will advance to the quarterfinals. Matilde Fantin had two goals and goalie Gabriella Durante stopped 27 of 29 shots. The playoff format is a little different with the five teams from Group A and the top three from Group B advancing to the quarterfinals. The pairings will be A1 vs B3, A2 vs B2, A3 vs B1 and A4 vs A5. Teams are re-seeded after the quarterfinals.

• The U.S. men's team had its second practice as it prepares to face Latvia on Thursday to open preliminary round play. after 'Photo Day," reporters got a glimpse at the lines used for 45 minutes of drills. For more, check out: Team USA Reveals Practice Lines With Tkachuk Brothers on Top Unit

This is what @Sportsnetkyle saw at Team USA practice

Tkachuk/Eichel/Tkachuk
Guentzel/Matthews/Boldy
Connor/Larkin/Thompson
Miller/Nelson/Hughes
Trocheck some rotating with Nelson
Keller

Hughes/McAvoy
Slavin/Faber
Sanderson/Werenski
LaCombe/Hanifin

Hellebuyck in own net pic.twitter.com/zv2kj9ZJlT

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 9, 2026

Women's Olympic Hockey Monday Scores
Group A
United States 5, Switzerland 0
Canada 5, Czechia 1
Group B
Italy 3, Japan 2
Germany 2, France 1

Women's Olympic Hockey Tuesday Schedule
Group A
Canada vs, United States, PalaItalia Santa Giulia, Milan, 2:10 p.m. ET
Finland vs. Switzerland, Fiera Milano, Milan, 3:10 p.m.

Group B
Japan vs. Sweden, Fiera Milano, Milan, 6:10 a.m.
Italy vs. Germany, Fiera Milano, Milan, 10:40 a.m.

Women's Olympic Hockey Thursday Schedule
Group A
Finland vs. Canada, 8:30 p.m. (rescheduled from Feb. 5)
Women's preliminary round concludes

Hockey Quote of the Day

[ On Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Natalie Darwitz] “The two of them, they really did help put girls hockey on the map and get more exposure, get more attention. To me, they are the women’s hockey Mount Rushmore, in Minnesota, in the country, and now in the world.”

Laura Halldorson

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