USCHO has Bowdoin and Williams in Preseason top 15

First D3Hockey.com came out with their poll, in which Bowdoin came in seventh and Middlebury snuck in at number 15. Now USCHO has their poll out, and the Polar Bears come in at eighth (118 points), while the Panthers don't make the poll. Replacing Middlebury as the second NESCAC school is Williams, who makes the list at 15 (31 points). Middlebury was the first off of the poll with 27 points and Amherst, who received votes in the D3H poll, received 23 points from USCHO voters.  

October 28, 2013

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Wisconsin-Eau Claire	(12)	0- 0-0	206	NR
2	St. Norbert	( 2)	0- 0-0	194	NR
3	Norwich		0- 0-0	171	NR
4	Oswego		0- 0-0	151	NR
5	Plattsburgh		0- 0-0	145	NR
6	Utica	( 1)	0- 0-0	144	NR
7	Adrian		0- 0-0	132	NR
8	Bowdoin		0- 0-0	118	NR
9	Hobart		0- 0-0	72	NR
10	Babson		0- 0-0	70	NR
11	St. John's		0- 0-0	59	NR
12	Massachusetts-Boston		0- 0-0	50	NR
13	Wisconsin-Stevens Point		0- 0-0	47	NR
14	Neumann		0- 0-0	46	NR
15	Williams		0- 0-0	31	NR
Others receiving votes: Middlebury 27, Gustavus Adolphus 24, Amherst 23, Milwaukee School of Engineering 18, St. Thomas 14, Manhattanville 11, Castleton 10, Wisconsin-River Falls 10, Geneseo 9, St. Scholastica 7, Buffalo State 4, Wentworth 3, Massachusetts-Dartmouth 2, New England College 1, Wisconsin-Superior 1.

Read more: http://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-iii-mens-poll/#ixzz2j96mOtxh

These polls can be fun, but we must always take them with a grain of salt, especially in preseason. The 20 D3H voters had seven different schools, including Bowdoin, receiving first place votes, while USCHO had 12 of their 15 first place votes go to defending national champion Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  The Blugolds finished as the top team in the USCHO poll but only fourth in the D3H rankings.

Other slightly notable differences in the rankings include upstate New York foes Oswego (4th in USCHO, 8th in D3H) and Utica (6th in USCHO, 3rd in D3H). The only school that is identical in both polls is Wisconsin-Stevens Point (13th).