Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Leagues Tab Preseason Favorites

Coaches, media project their top teams by conference for 2018-19.

Returning All-American Matt Galajda and Cornell are the preseason favorites in ECAC Hockey (Photo by Riley Joslin).

As the Oct. 6 puck drop for the 2018-19 season rapidly approaches, conferences are releasing preseason coaches’ and media polls projecting the favorites entering the campaign.

National Polls

NCAA Tournament teams from last season top the preseason polls in five of the six conferences, while Boston College edged Providence in the Hockey East poll after narrowly missing the tournament a year ago.

Boston College, Cornell and Minnesota State are 2017-18 regular-season champions predicted to repeat, while defending NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth is the preseason pick in the NCHC.

Only one of the six preseason favorites in 2017-18 went on to win its conference (Minnesota State in the WCHA).

Atlantic Hockey Coaches’ Poll

1.	Air Force (7)	97 points
2.	Canisius (4)	92
3.	Robert Morris	66
4.	Mercyhurst	65
5.	AIC	60
6.	Army West Point	55
7.	RIT	49
8.	Holy Cross	40
9.	Bentley	31
10.	Sacred Heart	29
11.	Niagara	21

Big Ten Coaches’ Poll

1.	Ohio State
2.	Michigan
3.	Notre Dame
4.	Minnesota
5.	Penn State
6.	Wisconsin
7.	Michigan State

ECAC Hockey Coaches’ Poll

1.	Cornell (8)	117 points
2.	Princeton (4)	106
3.	Union	97
4.	Clarkson	92
5.	Harvard	89
5.	Yale	64
7.	Quinnipiac	63
8.	Dartmouth	54
9.	Colgate	36
10.	Rensselaer	28
	St. Lawrence	28
12.	Brown	18

ECAC Hockey Media Poll

1.	Cornell (16)	246 points
2.	Princeton (4)	217
3.	Clarkson	200
4.	Union	193
5.	Harvard (1)	180
6.	Dartmouth	126
7.	Yale	124
8.	Quinnipiac	119
9.	Colgate	92
10.	Rensselaer	56
11.	Brown	47
12.	St. Lawrence	40

Hockey East Coaches’ Poll

1.	Boston College (5)	93 points
2.	Providence (4)	92
3.	Boston University (1)	84
4.	Northeastern (1)	66
5.	Maine	61
6.	Massachusetts	56
7.	UMass Lowell	52
8.	Connecticut	41
9.	New Hampshire	26
10.	Vermont	19
11.	Merrimack	15

Hockey East Media Poll

1.	Providence (9)
2.	Boston College (8)
3.	Boston University (2)
4.	Northeastern (1)
5.	Maine
6.	UMass Lowell
7.	Massachusetts
8.	Connecticut
9.	Vermont
10.	New Hampshire
11.	Merrimack

NCHC Media Poll

1.	Minnesota Duluth (20)	209 points
2.	St. Cloud State (6)	182
3.	North Dakota	150
4.	Western Michigan	121
5.	Denver (1)	115
6.	Colorado College	98
7.	Omaha	61
8.	Miami	36

WCHA Coaches’ Poll

1.	Minnesota State (7)	88 points
2.	Northern Michigan (2)	80
3.	Bowling Green	76
4.	Michigan Tech (1)	64
5.	Bemidji State	54
6.	Ferris State	49
7.	Lake Superior State	40
8.	Alaska	36
9.	Alabama Huntsville	35
10.	Alaska Anchorage	18

WCHA Media Poll

1.	Minnesota State (13)	182
2.	Bowling Green (1)	159
3.	Northern Michigan (5)	150
4.	Michigan Tech	133
5.	Bemidji State	110
6.	Ferris State	102
7.	Alabama Huntsville	69
8.	Lake Superior State	57
9.	Alaska	47
10.	Alaska Anchorage	28