Troy, Mich. (February 2, 2023): The American Collegiate Hockey Association released its latest Men’s Division 2 Rankings today. These rankings are released on a weekly basis until Mid-December and then resume in early January, concluding with the Final Ranking the week of February 12th. The Top 20 for each region are listed below and full rankings can be found at M2 Ranking Page.
Northeast: Final “Locked” Regional Spot Continues to be up for Grabs
With only two leagues in the Northeast, the #12 seed is the goal to lock in a spot for the regionals. For teams like RPI, University of Vermont, and Bridgewater State, currently #12-#14 in the latest ranking, the last two weekends will decide if their seasons will continue or end in 10 days. Sitting just outside the potential bids are Connecticut College and Clarkson University, both less than a half of a point from being in the Top 14.
RPI has two games vs. higher ranked teams, a road contest at #9 Sacred Heart and home vs. #6 Boston University. Vermont has a two game homestand against the UMass teams, Amherst on Friday and Lowell on Saturday. Bridgewater has two ranked matchups as well, taking on #10 Merrimack and #6 Boston University.
For information purposes, here are the Northeast Region leagues that have a regional auto bid:
Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA)
Super East Collegiate Hockey League (SECHL)
Central: Lions and Tommies Closing in the Auto Bids with Two Rankings Left.
Lindenwood is 10 days from going wire-to-wire at the top of the Central Region. With over a half point lead on Saint Thomas and almost a full point lead for a National invitation, the Lions will look to complete their regular season run with games against #4 (SE) Miami University and #1 (W) University of Mary.
On the other side of the race, UW-Eau Claire finds itself in the #14 spot and trying to get to the finish line with a chance to head to St. Louis. The Blugolds have a two game set with a team chasing them, in #17 Marquette University. Also chasing a regional spot, is University of Jamestown who takes on #7 (W) Dakota College for two games, and Sault College, who hosts #9 Michigan State for two games.
For information purposes, here are the Central Region leagues that have a regional auto bid:
Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA)
Northern Collegiate Hockey League (NCHL)
Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association (WCCHA)
Southeast: The Flames Move Past FGCU for the #1 Spot
The Flames find themselves 10 days from being the top seed of the Region, moving past FGCU for the first time this season. The race for the spot is the closest of the four regions with LU holding a .15 lead. The final outcome seems to be still very fluid as FGCU finishes their regular season with two games in Florida vs. #2(NE) Northeastern University. Liberty will have their final home games against #4(NE) Bentley University in Lynchburg. LU will then hit the road the final weekend to New England to take on RPI, UMass, and Keene State.
With four league auto bids in the Southeast, only teams in the top 10 of the region are safe in their invites. For the second week in row, that last slot was been filled by the University of Michigan. The Wolverines are trying to hold off Maryland, North Carolina, and North Carolina State, all of whom are less than a third of point away.
UM can solidify its position with two home games vs. #3 Kentucky, while Maryland will take on #20 Rider and University of Delaware. UNC and NCSU square off in a home and home that will most likely break their “tie” as North Carolina is ahead of NC State by .001.
For information purposes, here are the Southeast Region leagues that have a regional auto bid:
Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL)
Colonial States Collegiate Hockey Conference (CSCHC)
Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey (MACH)
Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League (TSCHL)
West: University of Northern Colorado Moving Back Up the rankings.
A week ago, UNC was moving in the wrong direction, falling from #8 to #11, and out of a guaranteed regional invite. After a California swing vs. UCLB, UCLA, and LMU, the Bears jumped back up into the top 10. Northern Colorado will finish off their regular season this weekend with a game vs. Colorado State and await their seeding for the BHMC Tournament.
For teams looking to put themselves in position for a Wild Card spot, the distance between #11 and #15 is continuing to shrink. Williston State, sitting one place out of a possible Regional spot, is only .04 behind Loyola Marymount for #14 and .36 from the #11 seed.
The Tetons will have a chance to make a move when they welcome in #5 UM-Crookston for two games. LMU will wrap up their regular season with a game against #11 UCLA. In between the Bruins and Loyola, #13 MSU-Denver takes on #4 Denver and the University of Colorado, while #12 Cal-Berkeley is off this weekend.
For information purposes, here are the West Region leagues that have a regional auto bid:
Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League (MWCHL)
Pac Hockey (PAC)
Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference (TCHC)
Western Collegiate Hockey Conference (WCHC)
Men’s Division 2 postseason is broken into the two levels. The top two teams in each region receive an automatic bid to the National Tournament, making up half of the field. The other half of the field is determined in Regional Tournaments with 12 teams competing for the two remaining spots from each region. Those eight winners will then join the eight autobids in the ACHA National Championship Tournament presented by FloHockey, in Marlborough, MA on March 17-21, 2023.
