Mavs Begin Season 14th in First Polls
Sep 26, 2011 | General, Hockey
USA Today/USA Hockey Poll
USCHO.com Poll
OMAHA, Neb. - The UNO hockey team begins the new season in the same spot it finished the last, ranked 14th in the first rankings of Division I teams by both USA Today/USA Hockey and the web site USCHO.com. The preseason polls were released today.
The Mavericks garnered 89 points in the voting for the USA Today poll and are one of five WCHA teams in the top 15 teams ranked. The poll includes votes from 34 coaches and journalists representing all five NCAA Divison I conferences as well as votes from officers of the American Hockey Coaches Association and USA Hockey Magazine.
UNO received 288 points in the USCHO.com poll which ranks the top 20 teams.
The polls were split on who is the top team in the country. Miami was chosen as the team to beat this season by the USA Today/USA Hockey voters, earning the top spot with 15 first-place votes and 453 points total. Notre Dame, which was second in the USA Today poll with four first-place votes and 427 points, was chosen first in the USCHO.com poll with 11 first-place votes and 740 points. Miami was second in the latter poll with a poll-leading 12 first-place votes and 722 points.
North Dakota, Denver and Boston College were ranked three-four-five in both polls..
Defending national champion Minnesota Duluth was second to Miami with six first-place votes in the USA Today poll and ranked third with 10 first-place votes in the USCHO.com poll. The Bulldogs were 10th in the USA Today poll and eighth in the USCHO.com poll.
The other WCHA teams in the polls are Colorado College at seven in both rankings and Wisconsin and Minnesota which were 17th and 19th respectively in the USCHO.com poll.
Last season, the Mavericks achieved the highest ranking in school history, spending four weeks at #4 in November. Overall, UNO was ranked for 22 weeks in the top 15 and 13 weeks in the top 10.
The Mavericks begin the 2011-12 season with an exhibition game against the University of British Columbia on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:07 p.m. at the CenturyLink Center. The regular season begins with UNO's annual Mutual of Omaha Stampede on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7 and 8 when the Mavs host Mercyhurst, Colgate and Robert Morris.
