Women's College Hockey Preseason Rankings, Predicted Order of Finish

So who's suppsoed to be good in women's college hockey this season?

Some of the early scores have already been telling, but he thought it important to provide a benchmark that can serve as sort of a quick-reference guide as the season progresses. With some teams you'll be, "Yep, just like we thought," but it'll work the other way as well: "Weren't they supposed to be pretty good?"

That's the thing about expectations, they almost never play out like everyone thinks.

Included are the preseason polls and and the results of each conference's coaches poll of predicted order of finish:

USCHO Women's Preseason Poll

Rnk Team (First Place) Record Points Last Poll
1         Wisconsin    (20)    300    1
2         Ohio State                277    2
3         Minnesota                252    4
4         Cornell                      224    3
5         Colgate                      221    5
6         Minn, Duluth              201    6
7         Clarkson                   163    9
8         Penn State                153    8
9         St. Lawrence             125    7
10       Quinnipiac               118    10
11       Boston U.              95      11
12       Connecticut             93      13
13       St. Cloud St.             66      12
14       Princeton                 44      14
15       Northeastern          38      15

Others receiving votes: Boston College 18, Yale 6, Providence 3, Mercyhurst 2, St. Thomas 1

USA Hockey Women's Hockey Preseason Poll

Rank    Team, Votes, (First Place)
1. Wisconsin 285 (19)
2. Ohio State 261
3. Minnesota, 236
4. Cornell 235
5. Minnesota Duluth 199
6. Colgate 196
7. Clarkson 171
8. Penn State 139
9. St. Lawrence 123
10. Quinnipiac 116
11. Boston U 85
12. Connecticut, 70
13. St. Cloud State 63
14. Northeastern 47
15. Princeton, 34

Others Receiving Votes: Boston College, 8; University of St. Thomas, 6; Yale University, 4; Minnesota State University, 1; Providence College, 1.

* USA Hockey had an updated poll Sept. 23. The only changes in the order were St. Cloud State moved ahead of UConn to No. 12, while Northeastern and Princeton moved into a tie at No. 14.

Predicted Order of Finish in Each Conference

Atlantic Hockey America (AHA)

Team (First Place Votes)
1. Penn State (6)
2. Mercyhurst (1)
3. RIT
4. Syracuse
5. Robert Morris
6. Lindenwood
7. Delaware

Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC)

Team, Points (First Place Votes)
1. Cornell 129 points (8)
2. Colgate 119 (2)
3. Clarkson 117 (2)
T4. St. Lawrence 88
T4. Quinnipiac 88
6. Princeton 87
7. Yale 75
8. Brown 59
9. Union 56
10. Harvard 42
11. Dartmouth 31
12. RPI 29

Hockey East

Team, Points (First Place Votes)
1. UConn 86 (5 first-place votes)
2. Boston University 82 (5)
3. Northeastern 76
4. Boston College 64
5. Providence 61
6. New Hampshire 44
7t. Maine 41
7t. Vermont 41
9. Holy Cross 27
10. Merrimack 18

New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA)

Team, Points (First Place Votes)
1. Sacred Heart  47 (5)
2. LIU  44 (3)
3. Stonehill  37
4. Franklin Pierce 27
5. Saint Anselm 23
6. Assumption   22
7. Post  16
8. Saint Michael's 8

Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA)

Team, Points (First Place Votes)
Team, Points (First Place Votes)
1. Wisconsin (7) 49
T2. Minnesota (1)            40
T2. Ohio State                  40
4. Minnesota Duluth       31
5. St. Cloud State            24
6. St. Thomas                   17
7. Minnesota State         16
8. Bemidji State 7