Why College Hockey Could be on Verge of Another No. 1 vs. 2 Showdown: Puck Drop

College hockey fans were spoiled at the beginning of the season when they saw a early-season No. 1 vs. No. 2 weekend series on Oct. 16-17 when Michigan traveled to Denver to face the reigning national champions in a Frozen Four semifinal rematch, and left with both a sweep and the top ranking, 4-1 and 4-3.

Don't look now, but we could soon have another 1 vs. 2, and considering this week's college hockey rankings there are two possibilities.

As most fans expected, four teams received first-place votes in the latest polls, with Wisconsin (6-0) displacing Michigan at the top after the Wolverines (8-1) had a rough weekend at Ohio State — losing the first game and needing overtime to pull out the second.

While the Badgers reached the national championship game last season, they haven't been atop the polls since Nov. 13, 2023. Specifically, UW landed 37 of 50 first-place votes to earn 979 points and move up one spot from No. 2 after routing Notre Dame over the weekend, 7-1, 9-1. Michigan landed nine first-place votes, while three voters opted for Michigan State, and one for Western Michigan.

If Wisconsin can get through this upcoming rivalry weekend, when it plays its only games away from home this month, it could potentially stay at the top for a bit (although the other teams in the Big Ten will obviously have something to say about it). Check out who the top five teams have coming up in November:

No. 1 Wisconsin: at No. 18 Minnesota (2); Ohio State (2); Penn State (2); Canisius (2).

No. 2 Michigan: off this weekend, Penn State (2), home-and-home No. 3 Michigan State, Ferris State (2).

No. 3 Michigan State: No. 13 Boston University (2); at Notre Dame (2); home-and-home No. 2 Michigan, off for Thanksgiving

No. 4 Denver: at Arizona State (2); Lindenwood (2); St. Thomas (2); at No. 13 Boston University

No. 5 Western Michigan: at No. 10 North Dakota (2); No. 11 Colorado College (2); at Omaha (2); off for Thanksgiving

If Wisconsin stumbles, we could be looking at possible No. 1 vs. 2 showdown between Michigan and Michigan State in a couple of weeks. If not, we could still see one during the first weekend in December, when Wisconsin is at Michigan.

Moved up the most: Congratulations to Union for cracking the top 20 at No. 17, but one has to wonder if the Garnet Chargers can stay in the top 20 (see below).

Moved down the most: Providence was probably over-ranked at No. 5, but dropped four spots after taking its first loss, 5-1 at No. 10 Quinnipiac. The Friars have a big November coming up with a home-and-home with No. 20 UConn, another against No. 15 Merrimack, two games at UMass, and then a trip across the Atlantic to open the Friendship Four in Belfast against No. 6 UMD.

Most underrated per NPI: It’s still Union for another week. The team 5-2, but lost to the only ranked opponent that it faced, 3-2 in OT to Providence in mid-October. Union is No. 2 nationally in the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index, which will be used to determine the at-large field and seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and eighth in strength in schedule. The Garnet Chargers can only go down in that regard as they won’t face any teams currently ranked until December.

Most overrated per NPI: We have a new frontrunner, No. 16 Cornell, which opened the season with a split against Sacred Heart. This weekend it faces No. 6 Quinnipiac and Princeton. so we'll soon have a better feel for what the Big Red can do this season.

USCHO.com Poll: Week 6

Rank	School		Votes (First)	Prev.
1	Wisconsin	6-0	979 (37)	2
2	Michigan	8-1	922 (9)	1
3	Michigan State	5-1	897 (3)	4
4	Denver	5-2-1	830	3
5	Western Michigan	6-1	785 (1)	6
T6	Minnesota Duluth	6-2-2	681	7
T6	Quinnipiac	5-2	681	10
8	Augustana	7-0-1	600	11
9	Providence	5-1	596	5
10	North Dakota	4-3	542	8
11	Colorado College	6-2	537	9
12	Dartmouth	2-0	477	12
13	Boston University	6-2	405	14
14	Michigan Tech	6-2	355	13
15	Merrimack	5-1-2	310	16
16	Cornell	1-1	181	15
17	Union	5-2	126	NR
18	Minnesota	3-3-2	121	18
19	Army	5-1	117	NR
20	Connecticut	3-4-1	92	17

Others receiving votes: Miami 67, Northeastern 46, Massachusetts 31, Maine 23, Ohio State 23, Boston College 13, Bowling Green 12, Arizona State 10, New Hampshire 10, Sacred Heart 9, Princeton 7, Vermont 5, Harvard 3, Niagara 3, RPI 3, St. Cloud State 1

USA Hockey Poll: Week 6

Rank	School	Votes (First)	Prev.
1	Wisconsin	673 (29)	2
2	Michigan	629 (4)	1
3	Michigan State	593 (1)	4
4	Denver	590	3
5	Western Michigan	549	5
6	Quinnipiac	475	9
7	Minnesota Duluth	459	7
8	Providence	418	6
9	Augustana	381	11
10	North Dakota	378	8
11	Colorado College	363	10
12	Dartmouth	342	12
13	Boston University	290	T13
14	Merrimack	218	16
15	Michigan Tech	200	15
16	Cornell	161	T13
17	Minnesota	119	18
18	Union	74	NR
19	Massachusetts	50	19
20	Connecticut	45	17

Others Receiving Votes: Army 39; Miami 25; Harvard 18; Northeastern 17; Boston College 10; Bowling Green 9; Ohio State 6; Arizona State 5; Minnesota State 4.

USCHO.com Women's Poll: Week 8

Rank	Team	Record	Points (First)	Prev.
1	Ohio State	11-1	300 (20)	1
2	Minnesota	9-1	276	2
3	Wisconsin	8-2	263	3
4	Northeastern	7-1-1	232	4
5	Princeton	6-0	210	6
6	Quinnipiac	8-2-1	183	5
7	Penn State	9-3	163	7
8	Colgate	8-2	163	8
9	Clarkson	10-2	129	10
10	St. Cloud State	8-4	117	9
11	Yale	2-1-1	116	14
12	Minnesota Duluth	6-4	89	13
13	Connecticut	4-4-2	76	11
14	Cornell	4-2	54	12
15	Boston College	6-3	28	15

Others receiving votes: Syracuse 3, Vermont 3, Mercyhurst 2, Minnesota State 2, St. Thomas 1

Puck Drop: Tuesday, November 3, 2026

The Big Ten issued one-game suspensions to three Notre Dame players following their conduct during Saturday’s 9-1 loss. Junior defensemen Jaedon Kerr won’t play the first game of the Penn State series this weekend, but junior defensemen Leo Gruba and sophomore forward David Klee will both miss the entire series due to landed game disqualifications by the officials (which result in an automatic one-game suspension).

NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Oversight Committee added three new names including Holy Cross coach William Riga, Denver Vice Chancellor of Athletics Josh Berlo and Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf as a non-voting member. The committee, which adopts legislation and oversees championships, had to get arrival to add a league commissioner to make it a 12-person committee.

Maxmilian Mares, a 6-6 forward (Rimouski QMJHL) who is projected to be a mid-first round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft, committed to Penn State.

Saturday’s Boston University at Michigan State hockey game has been moved up to 4:30 p.m. to accommodate the Michigan State at Michigan football game at 7:30 p.m.

The New York Islanders have signed D Ben Hutton (Maine) to a professional tryout agreement.

Both Chicago’s Roman Kantserov and Boston’s James Hagens scored Monday and share the goals lead among NHL rookies with six.

Former Denver left wing Carter Mazur scored his first NHL goal Detroit held off Florida 5-3.

FIRST NHL GOAL ALERT! 🚨

Congratulations, Carter Mazur! 🎉

Rookie Firsts presented by @DrinkBODYARMOR pic.twitter.com/s83apU0lHo
— NHL (@NHL) November 3, 2026

College Hockey Scores

No Games Scheduled

Today’s College Hockey Schedule

WOMEN
ECAC
Union at Rensselaer, 6 p.m. ET

This Date in Hockey History

November 3, 1908: Michigan defenseman Ike Klingbeil was born in Hancock, Mich.

November 3, 1937: The Howie Morenz Memorial Game was played in Montreal Forum after the legendary center died shortly after suffering a broken leg in a game. The NHL All-Stars beat Montreal All Stars, 6-5.

November 3, 1948: Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings played in his first of 23 All-Star Games. The NHL All-Stars beat the reigning Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs in Chicago.

November 3, 1952: Colorado College center Doug Palazzari was born in Eveleth, Minn.

November 3, 1967: Northeastern defenseman Rob Cowie was born in Toronto.

November 3, 1967: Yale goaltender Mike O’Neill was born in LaSalle, Quebec.

November 3, 1970: Minnesota defenseman Doug Zmolek was born in Rochester, Minn.

November 3, 1986: Former Bemidji State center Joel Otto scored his first NHL hat trick as Calgary defeated Los Angeles, 4-2.

November 3, 1987: Former Minnesota center Neil Broten notched his 500th career point as the Minnesota North Stars tied Detroit, 2-2

November 3, 1990: Hall of Fame coach Bob Johnson notched win No. 200 as the Pittsburgh Penguins skated past the New York Rangers 3-1.

November 3, 1993: Otto notched his scored his second career hat trick to lead the Flames to a 6-3 win at Hartford.

November 3, 2002: Former Maine left winger Paul Kariya became the first player for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to notch 600 points with an assist during a 4-3 loss to San Jose.

November 3, 2003: The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Grant Fuhr, Pat LaFontaine, Mike Illitch and Brian Kilrea.

November 3, 2007: Hall of Fame coach Al Arbour came out of retirement for one game, No. 1,500 for the New York Islanders. They beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2, giving win No. 740. Arbour is the only coach in NHL history to coach 1,500 games for the same team.

Hockey Quote of the Day

“In order to be successful, you need to experience failure.”
Keith Duncan’s father Dave

We'll Leave You With This ...

Yeah, it’s a money grab, but they also look good:

🚨 All 32 NHL Hometown Remix jerseys, front and back: pic.twitter.com/XLPBkFYdGx
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) November 2, 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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