SB Nation’s Women’s College Hockey Division I Poll: Holy Hawks!

This was a bad weekend for the top of the poll. The bottom, however, is where the real news is. We have a new team, again, in our top 10 as Saint Anselm makes an appearance. This is due to a few voters voting based on the PWR (which you can see here).

Before the season, the D-II schools came to an agreement to play each other the minimum amount of games they need to make themselves eligible for the combined D-I/II tournament, becoming what a few have called the “Rebel Alliance.” This was all detailed by BC Interruption here.

1. Wisconsin (16-0-0), 150 (15) — Last Week: 1

• Last Week: W 3-1 @ Cornell (11/10), W 2-1 @ Cornell (11/11)

• Coming Week: No Games

The games might have been tighter then the Badgers would have liked, but a pair of good non-conference wins should put Wisconsin easily into home ice in the PWR. They also are back to unanimous number one in our poll. They now have the week off before they travel to Washington D.C. to play in the Thanksgiving tournament.

2. Clarkson (11-2-1), 124 — Last Week: 2

• Last Week: L 2-3 @ Vermont (11/10), W 4-0 v Vermont (11/11)

• Coming Week: v Quinnipiac (11/17), v Princeton (11/18)

The road was not kind to the Golden Knights, but upon their return home they were able to exact revenge on a Vermont team that had many worried in the preseason. They get to host two of the teams that are respectable threats in the ECAC.

3. Boston College (9-1-1), 123 — Last Week: 3

• Last Week: L 1-2 @ St. Lawrence (11/10), W 6-3 @ St. Lawrence (11/11)

• Coming Week: v Connecticut (11/17), @ Connecticut (11/18)

Nothing like bouncing back with an offensive boom. The Eagles floundered in the first game, which could be attributed to weariness from the long bus ride. The next day they blew the Saints out. They now get to play Connecticut in a home-and-home.

4. Colgate (11-1-0), 107 — Last Week: 4

• Last Week: W 7-1 @ New Hampshire (11/10), W 2-1 @ New Hampshire (11/11)

• Coming Week: @ Yale (11/17), @ Brown (11/18)

As expected, they took care of business in Durham. They now have a pair of easy road games in ECAC play to stay in the race for first.

5. Ohio State (9-2-1), 79 — Last Week: 5

• Last Week: v W 2-1 Minnesota State (11/10), W 5-3 v Minnesota State (11/11)

• Coming Week: v Bemidji State (11/17, 11/18)

The Buckeyes won, and that’s about all you can say. They needed the wins and got them, but had to come from behind both nights. They now play host to a surging Bemidji team.

6. St. Lawrence (6-4-2), 67 — Last week: 8

• Last Week: W 2-1 v Boston College (11/10), L 3-6 v Boston College (11/11)

• Coming Week: v Princeton (11/17), v Quinnipiac (11/18)

The Saints were able to get the split, which will be good in PWR consideration down the road. They now have a pair of difficult ECAC games at home.

7. Minnesota (9-4-1), 62 — Last Week: 6

• Last Week: W 2-1 OT @ Mercyhurst (11/10), W 5-2 @ Mercyhurst (11/11)

• Coming Week: v St. Cloud State (11/17, 11/18)

Minnesota is lucky everyone else is struggling. They are likely only this high due to name recognition at this point. They had a rough sweep of a bad Mercyhurst team. Now they return home to take on the worst team in the WCHA, anything less then a dominant sweep will be a bitter disappointment.

7. Cornell (3-3-0), 52 — Last Week: 7

• Last Week: L 1-3 v Wisconsin (11/10), L 1-2 v Wisconsin (11/11)

• Coming Week: @ Brown (11/17), @ Yale (11/18)

Cornell was unlucky not to get any positive decisions against Wisconsin but that isn’t a bad result for them. They now go on the road for a pair of games against the cellar-dwellers of the ECAC.

9. Robert Morris (9-1-2), 20 —Last Week: 10

• Last Week: W 6-1 v RIT (11/10), W 5-2 v RIT (11/11)

• Coming Week: No Games

Two good conference wins push them ever closer to getting the CHA regular season crown. They now have a week off.

10. Saint Anselm (7-0-0), 12 — Last Week: ARV

• Last Week: W 10-0 @ Post (11/10), W 9-0 @ Post (11/11)

• Coming Week: v St. Michael’s (11/17, 11/18)

Welcome to the Party! Saint Anselm makes their top-10 debut after receiving their first votes last week, and are the Belles of the Ball this week. They are dominating the other D-II schools and with the current literal reading of the selection committee rules they are looking at a home-ice tournament bid. Again they are mostly receiving votes because they are top-8 in PWR but they are beating the only teams who will play them, which is all they can do.

Also Receiving Votes: Providence 10, Northeastern 7, New Hampshire 5, Bemidji State 4, Minnesota-Duluth 2, Vermont 1