DRURY UNIVERSITY NO. 1 IN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION MEN’S DIVISION I FOR FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Ranking System Moves to Computer-based Poll
UNION LAKE, Mich. – (November 4, 2026) – Drury University (10-1-0), takes over the top spot of 2026-2027 ACHA Men’s Division I Ranking #5, as the ranking system switches from a coaches poll to a computer poll. The Panthers, whose previous high was No. 4 on January 21 last season, take over the top spot in only their third season of competition at the Men’s Division I level. The Panthers traveled to Maysa Arena in Minot, N.D., and swept Minot State University (5-4 OT, 2-1) by never trailing the entire weekend. Friday night, the Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the game before a pair of Beaver goals tied it at the 3:01 mark of the third period. The Panthers led twice more in the third period, 3-2 and 4-3, but Walker Jerome tied it both times for the Beavers, the final time with only 0:44 remaining in regulation. Joe Davidson responded in overtime with his second goal of the season for the 5-4 Panther victory. Brett Sweet got the win in goal making 31 saves while counterpart Will Dyke took the loss making 27 saves. Saturday evening, Anmol Garcha sniped his 8th goal of the season in the first period to put the Panthers up 1-0. After a scoreless second period, the Beavers power play struck back to tie the game as Colby Joseph recorded his 8th goal of the season 8:47 into the third period. Panther Jeff Patola got the game winner with 5:16 left to play in the third period and goaltender Sweet slammed the door the rest of the way making 32 saves for the win.
Prior to being swept by Drury University, No. 2 Minot State University (9-1-3) had defeated University of Mary 6-1 on Wednesday night. After a scoreless first period, the Beavers scored three times in the second period and three more times in the third period, with five of the six goals being scored with the man advantage. Marauders goaltender Caleb Cross took the loss but still managed to turn aside 33 shots.
No. 3 Ohio University (9-3-0) dropped out of the top spot after being swept on the road at Dwyer Arena by Niagara University (8-2-1). Carson Durnin scored in the first period while Peter Spameni and Adam Sojka tallied goals in the third period for the 3-0 victory. Purple Eagles goaltender Jacob Dubinsky stopped 23 shots for the shutout victory. Saturday evening, the Purple Eagles raced out to a 3-1 lead after one period of play on a pair of goals from Alex Little and Owen Witt’s first collegiate goal. Two quick goals in the first 5:00 of the second period from Mathieu Ovaert (5th) and Noah Holt (7th) tied it at 3 heading into the third period. With the Purple Eagles starting the third period on the power play, defenseman Cullen McCormick notched his fourth goal of the season for the game winner just 0:19 into the period. Dubinsky was perfect the rest of the way finishing with 29 saves in the Purple Eagles 4-3 win.
No. 4 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (10-0-0) swept a pair of conference home games over University of Utah (3-1, 4-0) at City National Arena. Thursday night, the Rebels did all their damage on the power play, converting three times in seven attempts. Defenseman Mario Dimaggio scored his first goal of the season while Charles Masek popped in the other two goals to go along with an assist. Deven Nagra and Shaun Rios each had a pair of assists. Despite taking the loss, Utes goaltender Garrett Fuller was yeomanlike in making 37 saves. Friday night, the Rebels power play cashed in two more times as goaltender Liam Choquette stopped all 28 shots for the 4-0 shutout victory. Rios and Luke Backel had power play tallies while Luke Baker and Hayden Siegel scored at even strength. Fuller made 35 saves in defeat while the Rebels power play finished 5-10 (50%) in the series.
Rounding out the Top 5 this week is the aforementioned No. 5 Niagara University (8-2-1).
Moving into the polls this week is No. 18 Arizona State University, No. 19 Colorado State University, and No. 22 Illinois State University.
Dropping out of the Top 25 are Grand Canyon University, John Carroll University, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
The Great Lakes 6 Hockey Conference (GL6) leads the way with five (of 7) of its member teams ranked, while Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL) has six (of 10) of its member teams ranked, Midwest College Hockey (MCH) has three (of 5) of its member teams ranked, Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League (ACCHL) has two (of 6) of its member teams ranked, South East Conference Hockey League (SECHL) has one (of 6) of its member teams ranked, Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL) has one (of 8) of its member teams ranked, and Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association (ECHA) has one (of 11) of its member teams ranked.
With the ACHA switching to a computer-based ranking from a coaches poll, the ACHA will use the two computer rankings generated by USHSHO.com, Ranking A (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 7) and Ranking B (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 1), and come up with an average of the two rankings. The ACHA will then use the list generated from the average for its weekly ranking. Ties will be broken using the higher ranked team from Ranking B until the Top 25 teams are listed. All games that go to overtime will be scored as ties in the computer ranking.
Over the past 23 seasons, 13 different schools have won the ACHA Men’s Division I National Championship: Lindenwood (4), Adrian (3), Minot State (3), Central Oklahoma (2), Illinois (2), Ohio (2) Arizona State, Davenport, Delaware, Nevada-Las Vegas, Oakland, Penn State, and Rhode Island.
Now in its 36th season of action, there have been a total of 15 schools that have won the ACHA Men’s Division I National Championship:
- Ohio University (5 times – 2026, 2004, 1997, 1996, 1995)
- Penn State University (5 – 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1998)
- Lindenwood University (4 – 2022, 2016, 2010, 2009)
- Adrian College (3 – 2024, 2021, 2018)
- Minot State University (3 – 2023, 2019, 2013)
- University Central Oklahoma (2 – 2017, 2015)
- University of Illinois (2 – 2008, 2005)
- North Dakota State University (2 – 1994, 1993)
- University of Nevada-Las Vegas (2025)
- Arizona State University (2014)
- University of Delaware (2012)
- Davenport University (2011)
- Oakland University (2007)
- University of Rhode Island (2006)
- Iowa State University (1992)
A total of 81 teams will compete in Men’s Division I this season, including former Men’s Division II members Farmingdale State College and Sacred Heart University. The University at Buffalo program will compete in Men’s Division II this season while the Men’s Division I team at George Mason University team has folded.
The computer ranking, which will not commence until November 4, will for the thirteenth time determine the 24 teams that qualify for the 2027 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships, which will include the following nine (9) auto bids:
- (ACCHL) Atlantic Coast College Hockey League
- (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
- (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
- (GL6) Great Lakes Six Hockey Conference
- (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League
- (MCH) Midwest College Hockey
- (NECHL) Northeast Collegiate Hockey League
- (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
The sixth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.
The 2027 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships presented by FloHockey will be hosted March 11-16 for the fifth time at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo. This will be the fourth year of the 24-team format.
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Trend | Conference |
| 1 | Drury | 10-1-0 | 5 | ↑4 | INDEP |
| 2 | Minot State | 9-1-3 | 4 | ↑2 | INDEP |
| 3 | Ohio | 9-3-0 | 1 | ↓2 | INDEP |
| 4 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 10-0-0 | 2 | ↓2 | WCHL |
| 5 | Niagara | 8-2-1 | 7 | ↑2 | ACCHL |
| 6 | Liberty | 7-3-0 | 6 | ― | INDEP |
| 7 | Mary | 6-3-0 | 10 | ↑3 | MCH |
| 8 | Jamestown | 5-2-1 | 8 | ― | MCH |
| 9 | Maryville | 7-3-0 | 13 | ↑4 | INDEP |
| 10 | Adrian | 9-3-0 | 3 | ↓7 | GL6 |
| 11 | Kentucky | 10-2-0 | 19 T | ↑8 | SECHL |
| 12 | Midland | 4-3-1 | 24 | ↑12 | MCH |
| 13 | Utah | 6-3-0 | 11 | ↓2 | WCHL |
| 14 | West Chester | 11-1-0 | 14 | ― | ECHA |
| 15 | Calvin | 8-1-0 | 9 | ↓6 | GL6 |
| 16 | Purdue Northwest | 7-1-0 | 12 | ↓4 | GL6 |
| 17 | Davenport | 10-1-2 | 15 | ↓2 | GL6 |
| 18 | Arizona State | 6-6-0 | NR | ↑8 | WCHL |
| 19 | Northwood | 10-3-1 | 16 | ↓3 | GLCHL |
| 20 | Colorado State | 5-1-0 | NR | ↑6 | WCHL |
| 21 | Missouri State | 8-5-0 | 22 | ↑1 | WCHL |
| 22 | Illinois State | 9-6-0 | NR | ↑4 | INDEP |
| 23 | Hope | 6-5-1 | 18 | ↓5 | GL6 |
| 24 | Pittsburgh | 7-4-1 | 25 | ↑1 | ACCHL |
| 25 | Arizona | 2-3-2 | 23 | ↓2 | WCHL |
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About American Collegiate Hockey Association
The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) was founded in 1991 and is the national association for Non-NCAA Collegiate Hockey throughout the United States. Our organization of more than 560 colleges and university-affiliated teams representing 48 states provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes the sport of Hockey nationwide. With approximately 16,000 players and coaches as well as countless volunteers and game officials, the ACHA has experienced tremendous growth over the past decade and continues to be a viable option for college-bound student-athletes to continue playing competitive hockey nationwide. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, the ACHA’s primary mission is to support the growth of Collegiate Hockey while emphasizing academic performance, personal development, and opportunities for regional, national, and international competition. The ACHA identifies standards which serve to unite and regulate teams at the collegiate level and entered its 36th season in September 2026. For more information, visit achahockey.org.
