TROY, MICH. (January 25, 2024)- The Men's Division 2 Regional Rankings for all games through January 28th have been released. This is the 9th of nine (9) Regional Rankings that will culminate with the Final Ranking on Tuesday, February 13th.
Central Rankings
After spending most of the fall semester at #2 before giving up the spot temporarily to Concordia and Iowa, Saint Thomas is able to grab the second Nationals Auto Bid on the strength of winning the WCCHA Playoffs, beating #5 UM-Crookston in the Finals. While the University of Iowa was not able to get the Auto Bid, the Hawkeyes still finished their season with the highest Central Ranking ever as a program and will enter the Regionals as the top seed. Drury secured their first ever Regional Bid, finishing at #13 and will take #8 Sault College in the first round. The University of Minnesota, which did not have a good start to their league playoffs, losing to UM-Crookston in the first round, got two wins vs. Saint Cloud State and North Dakota to help the final Regional spot and a matchup with Adrian College.
League Champions
MACHA (Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association)- University of Iowa
NCHL (Northern Collegiate Hockey League)- Concordia University of Wisconsin
WCCHA (Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association)- University of Saint Thomas
Dropped out of Top 20
None
Rankings Breakdown by League
Independent: 7
WCCHA: 6
NCHL: 4
MACHA: 3
Northeast Rankings
Keene State, RPI, and New Hampshire all entered the final weekend with a chance to get the #2 spot in the Northeast and head directly to Saint Louis. All were playing top teams, and a loss would most likely lock the team into the Regionals. When the dust settled, Keene was on top of the pile, winning both games of their weekend, vs. #2(SE) Liberty and #15 Boston College. For RPI and UNH, they will have to regroup and prepare for the Regionals, which has the SECHL champion at #5, the defending National Champion at #6, and several teams with Regional and Nationals success. Siena College returns to the Regionals after a long absence, securing the #12 seed and will take on #9 Boston University. Connecticut College had a huge second half of the season and was able to get to #14 and will head to Keene, NH to take on Bentley.
League Champions
SECHL (SuperEast Collegiate Hockey League)- Army
NECHA American (Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association)-This upcoming weekend
NECHA Patriot (Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association)-This upcoming weekend
Dropped out of Top 20
Merrimack College
Rankings Breakdown by League
NECHA- 15
SECHL- 4
Independent-1
Southeast Rankings
All eyes were on the ACCHL and TSCHL playoffs this weekend. Between the two leagues they make up all but three spots in the Top 20. Regional seeding and even spots were up for grabs all weekend. In Winston Salem, both Rowan University and University of NC-Wilmington upset higher ranked teams on the first two days to set up a Championship Final with the #6 and #7 seed. Rowan prevailed and guaranteed a trip to Athens for the Regionals. In the TSCHL, Michigan went on a run, before falling to Miami in the TSCHL Finals. With UPenn getting an Regional Auto bid by winning the CSCHC over Millersville, teams had to wait to see if they would be ranked high enough to avoid getting bumped. UNCW finished .16 ahead of Michigan and got the final Wild Card bid, and will take on ACCHL rival Penn State in the first round.
League Champions
ACCHL Premier: (Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League)- Rowan University
ACCHL Elite: (Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League)- Playoffs this upcoming weekend
CSCHC: (Colonial State Collegiate Hockey Conference)- University of Pennsylvania
TSCHL: (Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League)- Miami University
Dropped out of Top 20:
None
Rankings Breakdown by League
TSCHL- 9
ACCHL- 8
Independent-2
CSCHC- 1
West Rankings
For eight straight rankings, the West has seen teams move massively up and down each week. For the final ranking, that movement, for the first time, was much more subdued. Boise State jumped three spots to #8 and a matchup with #13 Dakota College. UCLA was able to back into a wild card spot at #13, after making the WCHC Final before losing to #7 Northern Arizona in double OT . The University of Utah won the PAC Championship and got the final spot in the Regionals in Logan, UT. Weber State held onto the #2 Seed, beating out University of Providence and MSU-Denver, both of which had held the slot multiple times throughout the season. SMU continued to have a huge year, winning the TCHC over TCU, finishing #9 in the West, and now will head to their first Regional in program history.
League Champions
BMHC: (Big Mountain Hockey Conference)- Colorado State University
MWCHL: (Mountain West Collegiate Hockey League): Utah State University
PAC: (Pacific Athletic Conference): University of Utah
TCHC: (Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference): Southern Methodist University
WCHC: (Western Collegiate Hockey Conference)- Northern Arizona University
Dropped out of Top 20:
Texas A&M
Rankings Breakdown by League
MWCHL-6
WCHC- 5
TCHC-4
BMHC-2
PAC-2
Independent-1
The rankings will be released weekly on Thursdays at 6pm EST through December 12th. They will resume on a weekly basis on January 25th and will continue until the final ranking are released on February 13th. The top two teams in each region will receive an automatic invitation to the 2024 ACHA Men's Division 2 National Championships. Teams ranked #3-#10 will receive an automatic invitation to the 2024 Men's Division 2 Regional Tournaments. Finally, four (4) teams will earn a spot in the Regional Tournaments either through a League Auto bid or as a wild card if the league does not use their respective auto bid. The 2024 Regional Tournaments will be on February 23-25th. The 2024 National Championships for Men's Division 2 will be March 11th-15th, in Saint Louis, Missouri.
