News and Notes 2/26/13: NCAA Regional Ranks and National Polls

NCAA Regional Ranks
The NCAA has released its third installment of the regional ranking, used to determine Pool C "at-large" bids as well as seeding, for the NCAA Division III men's ice hockey tournament. This will be the final public rankings before the selection of the tournament field this Sunday, March 3rd. For more on important tournament dates and the history of the D-III men's hockey championship, here is the NCAA official tournament page.  The full regional rankings (includes the west) can be found here.

Norwich swaps spots with Utica to match the top ranking the Cadets have in the national polls. In the NESCAC, Bowdoin holds at 7, Williams slides back one spot to 8, Trinity holds at 9, Amherst plummets four spots to 14, and Middlebury drops a tick to 16. The Lord Jeffs significantly fall comes after their loss in the NESCAC Quarterfinals to the Panthers.

RANK/REGION	SCHOOL	IN-REGION RECORD	OVERALL RECORD
EAST
1.	Norwich	17-2-1	22-2-1
2.	Utica	20-5-1	20-5-1
3.	Oswego St.	21-4-0	22-4-0
4.	Bowdoin	20-3-2	20-3-2
5.	Babson	12-4-5	15-6-5
6.	Hobart	19-5-2	19-5-2
7.	Neumann	17-6-3	18-6-3
8.	Williams	15-5-3	16-6-3
9.	Trinity (Conn.)	13-6-3	15-6-3
10.	UMass-Boston	15-4-2	19-5-2
11.	Plattsburgh State	18-6-1	19-6-1
12.	Castleton	13-7-1	15-9-2
13.	Manhattanville	15-9-3	15-9-3
14.	Amherst	14-7-2	15-7-3
15.	Plymouth State	16-6-1	18-6-1
16.	Middlebury	13-10-2	13-10-2

National Polls 
Of less importance once the regional rankings come out, but still of note, are the national polls. In the USCHO poll,  Norwich clocks in at the top spot for the sixth straight week. Bowdoin drops a spot to fifth, as last week's Trinity loss wasn't factored in to the February 18th rankings. After their 2-1 NESCAC quarterfinal win over Colby, Williams stays at tenth for the second straight week.

Amherst, having lost at home to Middlebury in the quarterfinals of the 'Cac tournament, falls to 15th, the Lord Jeffs poorest showing of the season. Trinity and Middlebury both received votes, but could not crack the top 15. The Bantams made a brief two week appearance in the USCHO poll in December, coming in at 14th and 15th. The Panthers entered the polls in November and had a six week run, reaching as high as 11th.

February 25, 2013

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Norwich	(16)	22- 2-1	296	1
2	Wisconsin-Eau Claire	( 4)	20- 4-2	282	2
3	Oswego		22- 4-0	246	3
4	St. Norbert		22- 5-1	239	5
5	Bowdoin		20- 3-2	212	4
6	Adrian		21- 1-3	192	8
7	Plattsburgh		19- 6-1	167	9
8	Hobart		19- 5-2	154	6
9	Utica		20- 5-1	151	7
10	Williams		16- 6-3	114	10
11	Massachusetts-Boston		19- 5-2	97	12
12	Neumann		18- 6-3	84	13
13	Babson		15- 6-5	51	14
14	Manhattanville		15- 9-3	31	NR
15	Amherst		15- 7-3	30	11
Others receiving votes: Milwaukee School of Engineering 16, Gustavus Adolphus 12, St. John's 11, Trinity 6, Plymouth State 4, Middlebury 3, Castleton 1, Geneseo 1.

In the D3Hockey.com poll, Norwich also sits atop the poll for the sixth straight week. Bowdoin holds at seventh, while Williams falls a spot to 13th. Amherst drops out of the poll for the first time this season. Trinity, who spent one week at 13th back in December, received votes but did not make the cut. Middlebury didn't receive any votes, but did spend November and December in the poll, reaching as high as eighth.  Full rankings below. (and here)

February 25, 2013

D3hockey.com Men's Top 15: Feb. 25

#	School (1st votes)	Rec	Pts	Prev.
1	Norwich (18)	22-2-1	298	1
2	UW-Eau Claire (2)	20-4-2	280	3
3	St. Norbert	22-5-1	256	4
4	Utica	20-5-1	232	2
5	Oswego State	22-4-0	218	6
6	Adrian	21-1-3	179	8
7	Bowdoin	20-3-2	176	7
8	Hobart	19-5-2	165	5
9	Plattsburgh State	19-6-1	151	9
10	Neumann	18-6-3	133	10
11	Mass-Boston	19-5-2	95	11
12	Babson	15-6-5	79	13
13	Williams	16-6-3	72	12
14	Manhattanville	15-9-3	27	NR
15	Plymouth State	18-6-1	27	15

Others receiving votes: Trinity 7, Amherst 6, St. John's 6, Castleton 5, Gustavus Adolphus 2, Wentworth 1

Dropped out: Amherst