This Week's Polls, NPI Confirm Michigan, Michigan State will be No. 1 vs. 2 Showdown

There are three interesting developments with this week's college hockey rankings and the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index, which will be used to determine teams and seeding for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

First, a sort of balance has been achieved between the Eastern and Western-based schools, at least in terms of overall numbers. There are nine Eastern teams ranked in the polls, compared to 11 Western schools, and it's even if you count Penn State in the East (the Big Ten is considered a Western conference, thus the distinction). Granted, the top four are all in the West, but while Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth have dropped off some, Providence, Cornell and even Boston College have stepped up and all look like strong tournament contenders.

Second, the polls and the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index almost mirror each other. This is pretty normal, especially when factoring the annual late start by the Ivy League, but nine of the top 10 teams are the same. Why is the top 10 important? Because with six conferences getting automatic bids off their postseason tournaments, only the top 10 are essentially guaranteed spots spots in the 16-team NCAA tournament.

More on that when we do this week's bracketology. Here's the top 10 in NPI through the weekend, and before Monday's Beampot games in Boston:

National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index

1. Michigan
2. Michigan State
3. North Dakota
4. Penn State
5. Western Michigan
6. Providence
7. Cornell
8. Minnesota Duluth
9. Quinnipiac
10. Dartmouth

Finally, both the polls and NPI confirm what we've expected for months, that this week's two games between Michigan and Michigan State will be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, with the opener in Ann Arbor, and the finale at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. At stake could be the top ranking in both, the Big Ten regular-season title, top seeding in the Big Ten tournament, and maybe even the the No. 1-overall slot in the NCAA Tournament brackets.

Now that's a big series.

It's the first 1 vs. 2 meeting of the season on the men's side. When they split two games in early December, Michigan was No. 1, but Michigan State was No. 3 in the polls. In October, Boston University was No. 1 when it played No. 3 Michigan State, and Michigan was No. 3 when it split with No. 2 Western Michigan.

Made biggest jump: Denver, from No. 11 to No. 8. Voters obviously took the sweep over UMD as a sign that the Pioneers are back on track. It otherwise had a shaky January (albeit against tough competition) managing just a tie against Maine, was swept by Western Michigan, and split against North Dakota and St. Cloud State.

Had biggest fall: Wisconsin's free-fall continued after getting swept by Minnesota, dropping this week from No. 8 to No. 13. At this point, the Badgers are barely in the NCAA Tournament, but fans have to be getting extremely nervous in Madison.

Most underrated ranked team per NPI: Dartmouth. The voters have the Big Green at No. 14, but NPI lists it at No. 10 despite being 54th in strength of schedule. Remember, there's only 63 teams in Division I, and three of Dartmouth's final seven games are against teams listed at 54, 56 and 57.

Most overrated ranked team per NPI: Quinnipiac and Maine, both four spots. The Bobcats actually rose a spot after tying Clarkson, but it was more a reflection of the teams around it having a rough weekend (Penn State, UMD and Wisconsin). The Black Bears are actually getting close to lining up between the polls and and NPI, as they're voted No. 18 and are listed at No. 22. The next three games are make-or-break: at Boston University, and a home series against Connecticut.

USCHO Men's Poll

February 2, 2026

Rank	Team	Record	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Michigan	22-4	998 (48)	1
2	Michigan State	21-5	951 (2)	2
3	North Dakota	20-6	879	4
4	Western Michigan	19-7	845	3
5	Quinnipiac	20-5-3	738	6
6	Penn State	18-8	732	5
7	Providence	16-7-2	706	9
8	Denver	16-11-2	612	11
9	Cornell	16-5	608	10
10	Minnesota Duluth	17-11	584	7
11	Boston College	14-8-1	442	13
12	Connecticut	15-7-3	437	12
13	Wisconsin	15-9-2	436	8
14	Dartmouth	16-6-1	389	14
15	St. Thomas	17-8-3	286	15
16	Augustana	18-7-3	261	16
17	Minnesota State	15-8-5	154	18
18	Maine	14-10-2	126	17
19	Massachusetts	16-10	96	NR
20	Michigan Tech	18-10-2	76	19

Others receiving votes: Miami 50, Harvard 45, Bentley 16, Boston University 15, Bowling Green 9, Northeastern 4, Union 3, Colorado College 1, RIT 1

USA Hockey Men's Poll

February 2, 2026

Rank	Team	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Michigan	680 (34)	1
2	Michigan State	636	2
3	North Dakota	596	4
4	Western Michigan	575	3
5	Quinnipiac	501	6
6	Penn State	485	5
7	Providence	484	9
8	Cornell	440	10
9	Denver	416	11
10	Minnesota Duluth	409	8
11	Wisconsin	308	7
12	Connecticut	288	12
13	Boston College	284	14
14	Dartmouth	270	13
15	St. Thomas	185	15
16	Augustana	175	16
17	Minnesota State	112	18
18	Maine	79	17
19	Massachusetts	69	NR
20	Michigan Tech	48	20

Others Receiving Votes: Harvard, 37; Miami, 36; Northeastern, 6; Boston University, 4; Bowling Green, 4; Bentley, 3; RIT, 2.

USCHO Women's Poll

February 2, 2026

Rank	Team	Record	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Wisconsin	24-2-2	299 (19)	1
2	Ohio State	25-3	281 (1)	2
3	Minnesota	23-5	260	3
4	Penn State	26-4	240	4
5	Northeastern	21-6-1	210	6
6	Connecticut	19-7-2	184	7
7	Princeton	19-6-0	181	8
8	Quinnipiac	21-7-2	176	5
9	Yale	19-7	137	10
10	Minnesota Duluth	13-12-3	111	9
11	Clarkson	19-8-3	107	11
12	Cornell	14-10-2	82	12
13	Holy Cross	18-8-2	47	13
14	Mercyhurst	20-10-2	37	15
15	Minnesota State	12-14-2	22	14

Others receiving votes: Colgate 21, St. Cloud State 3, St. Thomas 2

USA Hockey Women's Poll

January 27, 2026 (Will be updated with new poll on Tuesday)

Rank	Team	Points (1st)	Prv.
1	Wisconsin	285 (19)	1
2	Ohio State	264	2
3	Minnesota	249	3
4	Penn State	226	4
5	Quinnipiac	199	6
6	Northeastern	189	8
7	Connecticut	165	5
8	Princeton	149	7
9	Minnesota Duluth	137	9
10	Yale	116	10
11	Clarkson	93	12
12	Cornell	83	11
13	Minnesota State	40	13
14	Holy Cross	39	RV
15	Mercyhurst	21	RV

Also receiving votes: St. Cloud State 13; Colgate 11; St. Thomas, 1.