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Coach, media preseason polls released as 2017-18 season nears.

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Led by junior defenseman Daniel Brickley, Minnesota State is the preseason favorite in the WCHA.

The six NCAA conferences have released preseason coaches’ and/or media polls, pegging the favorites to claim conference titles in 2017-18.

Defending regular-season champions are favored in four conferences: the Big Ten (Minnesota), ECAC Hockey (Harvard), Hockey East (Boston University) and the NCHC (Denver). Atlantic Hockey coaches tabbed defending tournament champion Air Force as the favorite, while Minnesota State was favored by coaches and media in the WCHA.

Defending NCAA champion Denver was the lone unanimous choice as favorite among the conferences that released voting totals (the Big Ten did not).

The closest race in the polls came in Hockey East, where the 11 first-place votes were divided among five schools. UMass Lowell, picked second in the poll, had five first-place votes to lead all teams.

Scroll down for each conference’s preseason poll:


Atlantic Hockey

Coaches’ Poll
1. Air Force (8) 97 pts.
2. Robert Morris (2) 87
3. Army West Point 76
4. RIT 70
5. Canisius (1) 65
6. Holy Cross 58
7. Mercyhurst 52
8. Bentley 38
9. AIC 27
10. Sacred Heart 20
11. Niagara 15

Big Ten

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

ECAC Hockey

Coaches’ Poll
1. Harvard (9) 119 pts.
2. Quinnipiac (1) 106
3. Cornell (1) 95
4. Clarkson (1) 91
5. Princeton 80
6. Union 72
7. St. Lawrence 69
8. Yale 54
9. Dartmouth 33
10. Rensselaer 32
11. Colgate 23
12. Brown 18

Media Poll
1. Harvard (25) 342 pts.
2. Quinnipiac (3) 324
3. Cornell (1) 272
4. Princeton 246
5. Clarkson 231
6. Union (1) 195
  Yale 195
8. St. Lawrence 188
9. Dartmouth 110
10. Rensselaer 82
11. Brown 76
12. Colgate 68

Hockey East

Coaches’ Poll
1. Boston University (2) 90 pts.
2. UMass Lowell (5) 88
3. Providence (2) 83
4. Boston College (1) 75
5. Northeastern (1) 72
6. Vermont 54
7. Connecticut 39
8. New Hampshire 37
9. Merrimack 29
t-10. Maine 19
t-10. Massachusetts 19

NCHC

Media Poll
1. Denver (30) 240 pts.
2. St. Cloud State 187
3. North Dakota 172
4. Minnesota Duluth 160
5. Miami 104
6. Western Michigan 102
7. Omaha 83
8. Colorado College 32

WCHA

Coaches’ Poll
1. Minnesota State (8) 90 pts.
2. Bemidji State (1) 81
3. Michigan Tech 70
4. Bowling Green 67
5. Ferris State 59
6. Lake Superior State 51
7. Northern Michigan 40
8. Alaska 35
9. Alabama Huntsville 29
10. Alaska Anchorage 18

Media Poll
1. Minnesota State (12) 137 pts.
2. Bemidji State 115
3. Michigan Tech (1) 110
4. Bowling Green (1) 108
5. Ferris State 81
6. Lake Superior State 62
7. Northern Michigan 59
8. Alaska 43
9. Alabama Huntsville 36
10. Alaska Anchorage 19