Illin No. 12 in ACHA Ranking #1
The University of Central Oklahoma received 26 out of 33 first-places votes to start the season in the top spot
Wednesday, September 20, 2017 / 3:43PM
Credit: ACHA


The University of Central Oklahoma, the defending ACHA Men's Division 1 National Champions, received 26 out of 33 first-places votes to start the season in the top spot in the 2017-2018 ACHA Men's Division 1 Ranking #1.  The Bronchos will start their title defense this weekend as they take on Texas A&M at home.  Minot State jumped up to the #2 spot after sweeping the University of Oklahoma (3-0, 6-1) in Minot, ND, and received 5 first-place votes.  Ohio University, Adrian College and Iowa State roundedout the Top 5, respectively, with Ohio University and Adrian College each receiving one first-place vote.

The Central States Collegiate Hockey League leads the way with all five of its member teams ranked, while the Western Collegiate Hockey League has six (of 8) of its member teams ranked, the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League has six (of 9) of its member teams ranked and the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League has four (of 8) of its member teams ranked.

Entering its 27th season of action, there have been a total of 13 schools that have won the ACHA Men's Division 1 National Championship:

 

  • Penn State (5 times)
  • Ohio (4)
  • Lindenwood (3)
  • Central Oklahoma (2)
  • Illinois (2)
  • North Dakota State (2)
  • Arizona State
  • Davenport
  • Delaware
  • Iowa State
  • Minot State
  • Oakland
  • Rhode Island

A total of 60 teams will compete in Men’s Division 1 this season, including three new teams: Calvin College, New York University and University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The two teams departing Men’s Division 1 include Binghamton University and Indiana Tech.

The computer ranking, which will not commence until late October, will for the fifth time determine the 20 teams that qualify for the 2018 ACHA Men's Division 1 National Championships, which will include the following six autobids:

  • (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
  • (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
  • (ESCHL) Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League
  • (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League
  • (NECHL) Northeast Collegiate Hockey League
  • (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League

The second ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, September 27, 2017.

The 2018 ACHA Men's Division 1 National Championships will be hosted March 8-13 for the second consecutive season by the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, Columbus Blue Jackets, and OhioHealth Chiller Ice Rinks at the OhioHealth Ice Haus, in Columbus, OH. This will be the seventh year of the 20-team format.

2017-2018 ACHA Men's Division 1 Ranking #1

Rank

School Name

1st Votes

M1 Record

Pts

Previous

1

Central Oklahoma

26

0-0-0

718

1

2

Minot State

5

2-0-0

683

3

3

Ohio

1

0-0-0

678

2

4

Adrian

1

0-0-0

640

4

5

Iowa State

 

0-0-0

604

5

6

Davenport

 

0-0-0

581

6

7

Michigan-Dearborn

 

0-0-0

553

7

8

Lindenwood

 

0-0-0

516

8

9

Stony Brook

 

0-0-0

492

9

10

Robert Morris Illinois

 

2-0-0

475

10

11

Colorado

 

0-0-0

425

12

12

Illinois

 

0-0-0

386

13

13

Arizona State

 

0-2-0

329

11

14

Jamestown

 

0-0-0

309

17

15

Liberty

 

1-1-0

303

15

16

Oklahoma

 

0-2-0

295

14

17

Colorado State

 

0-0-0

265

18

18

Midland

 

0-2-0

222

16

19

Arizona

 

0-0-0

202

20

20

Delaware

 

1-1-0

167

19

21

Nevada-Las Vegas

 

2-0-0

141

NR

22

Kent State

 

2-0-0

119

22

23

Rochester College

 

0-0-0

108

21

24

Rhode Island

 

0-0-0

82

23

25

Western Michigan

 

0-0-0

41

24

 

Others receiving votes: Syracuse, Alabama, Missouri State, and West Chester.