Pioneers open season against No. 3 Notre Dame Oct. 11

COLORADO SPRINGS - The University of Denver Pioneers have been selected No. 6 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Preseason Poll released today. Following its win at the NCAA Championships, Boston College will enter the 2008-09 season with the preseason No. 1 ranking. The Eagles collected 490 points and 27 of 34 first-place votes to top the chart.
The University of Michigan, which won 33 games last year, collected 432 points and four first place votes and is No. 2 in the poll. Last year’s national runner-up, Notre Dame, sits in the No. 3 spot, while the University of North Dakota and Colorado College round out the top five.

The 2008-09 season begins on Thursday (Sept. 25), as the University of Alaska Anchorage hosts the U.S. National Under-18 Team for an exhibition game. The Pioneers open their regular season with six consecutive home games, beginning with No. 3 Notre Dame in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game Oct. 11.

NOTES: The Western Collegiate Hockey Association leads all conferences with six teams on the poll. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association has five teams ranked, while Hockey East has three teams and ECAC Hockey claims one team on the poll … A total of 26 teams received votes … This marks the fifth time Boston College has been ranked No. 1 (1998-99, 1999-2000, 2004-05 and 2006-07) on the first USA Today/USA Hockey MagazineMen's College Hockey Poll of the season.

ABOUT THE POLL: The 14th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey Magazine, the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.

Rank   School, Points (1st Place Votes)
1.       Boston College, 490 (27)
2.       Michigan, 432 (4)
3.       Notre Dame, 376
4.       North Dakota, 371 (1)
5.       Colorado College, 355 (2)
6.       Denver, 299
7.       New Hampshire, 287
8.       Miami (Ohio), 263
9.       Minnesota, 223
10.     Boston University, 203
11.     Clarkson, 173
12.     Michigan State, 159
13.     Wisconsin, 103
14.     Northern Michigan, 75
15.     St. Cloud State, 69

Others receiving votes: Princeton University, 51; Cornell University, 30; Harvard University, 30; Minnesota State University Mankato, 28; U.S. Air Force Academy, 24; University of Massachusetts, 9; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 9; Niagara University, 9; University of Vermont, 6; University of Maine, 3; Northeastern University, 3.