First Official USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll of 2009-10

by Chris Aliano

The first official USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll is out, released today and bringing with it, in my opinion, a fairer view of the college hockey world.  Here's how the voters saw it:

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Denver	(20)	23-12-5	873	4
2	Boston University	(17)	35- 6-4	814	1
3	Michigan	( 2)	29-12-0	787	3
4	Miami	( 5)	23-13-5	782	13
5	Notre Dame	( 2)	31- 6-3	750	2
6	North Dakota		24-15-4	615	7
7	Cornell		22-10-4	561	9
8	Yale		24- 8-2	512	5
9	Minnesota		17-13-7	509	19
10	Princeton		22-12-1	474	10
11	Mass.-Lowell		20-16-2	448	16
12	Boston College		18-14-5	402	20
13	Wisconsin		20-16-4	375	17
14	Vermont		22-12-5	291	11
15	St. Cloud State		18-17-3	289	NR
16	New Hampshire		20-13-5	236	12
17	Ohio State		23-15-4	211	14
18	Minnesota-Duluth		22-13-8	186	8
19	Air Force		28-11-2	154	18
20	Northeastern		25-12-4	106	6

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Michigan 72, Bemidji State 66, Harvard 35, Colorado College 25, St. Lawrence 23, Massachusetts 17, Minnesota State 11, Clarkson 10, RIT 10, Mercyhurst 6, Union 4, Alaska 1, Alaska-Anchorage 1, Dartmouth 1, Ferris State 1, Maine 1,
Quinnipiac 1

Initial thoughts: while it would've been nice to see BU enter the season as the top team based solely on principle, Denver leading the charge is fair.  Their offense is going to be downright dirty, reminiscent of last year's BU squad.  Meanwhile, Miami, #1 in the USA Today Poll, is fourth here.  This is based on Michigan being the preseason favorites to win the CCHA, so you can expect those two to flip-flop all season long.  Let's break it down by conference.


Hockey East (6) - The Terriers are the favorite, but not by much.  BU lost most of its scoring, a Hobey Baker winner, but return most of its defense and Kieran Millan.  Right behind them is UMass.-Lowell, ranked eleventh, but they can certainly compete with the top three ECAC teams and have always given the Terriers fits.  BC is right behind them at twelve, and Jerry York's young squad sure has the potential to rise back to national prominence.  Vermont (14), UNH (16) and Northeastern (20) round out the Hockey East ranked teams.  Vermont and UNH lost most of their scoring from last season, but have solid defenses and goalkeepers to propel them up the rankings.  Northeastern, on the other hand, will have to figure out who will replace Brad Thiessen in net, otherwise their stay in the Top 20 will be short-lived.

CCHA (4) - It's all right there at the top of the list, folks.  Miami, Michigan and Notre Dame.  Those three will dance around each other all season long, butting heads and swapping positions in the polls from October through March.  I like the Fighting Irish, who have to replenish some of the scoring they lost due to graduation, but should be fine otherwise.  It'll be interesting to see how Miami responds to the heartbreak in D.C., but they know they arrived a year earlier than they were supposed to, so the expectations are going to be big.  Ohio State, a very young team that ran into BU in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season, returns virtually every starter and should be a dark horse in the CCHA.

WCHA (6) - Denver's the favorite, as they very well should be.  They're going to put up big numbers all season long on offense, but it's defense (and more appropriately, deflected slap-shops from defensemen) that wins championships, so we'll see what the Pioneers can muster up.  Wisconsin and Minnesota will look to challenge North Dakota for second-best team in the conference.  The Badgers and Gophers both missed out on the NCAA's last season, a rarity for both of their storied programs.  North Dakota, on the other hand, was stunned by UNH in the first round and should be a force as they look to return to the Frozen Four after missing out last season for the first time since 2005.  Minnesota-Duluth caught fire at the end of last season, riding solid goal tending to the WCHA tournament championship before bowing out in the regional final.  Whether or not they can be a competitive squad throughout the season is yet to be seen.  St. Cloud State joins the party as well, and are always a tough team in the west.  

ECAC (3) - Cornell (7), Yale (8) and Princeton (10) are the only three representatives here.  Yale had one of the program's best seasons last year before running into a red-hot Vermont team in the postseason.  They're the early favorite according to the media, but Cornell will be right up there with them.  They've got one of the best goalies in the nation, and appeared to be on their way to the Frozen Four before falling victim to Bemidji State and their miraculous postseason run.

What do you think?  Agree, disagree?  Let us know.  Feel free to leave your comments here and stay tuned to wtbusports.com for our continuing coverage of everything BU Hockey.