Men’s Division 2 First Rankings Released

Logan, UT.- The American Collegiate Hockey Association has released the first Men’s Division 2 Regional Rankings. These rankings will be 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 is listed below and full rankings can be found at the M2 Ranking Page

Northeast Region: Boston College flies to the top of the first Northeast Ranking

Boston College finds itself out front on the strength of a 7-1-0 record. The Eagles are joined at the top by last year’s top NE team, the University of Massachusetts. The only undefeated team in the region, Bridgewater State, sees their 8-0-0 record place them at the #7 spot.

 

Southeast Region: Florida Gulf Coast starts season in a familiar place.

FGCU is used to being near the top of the standings in the Southeast. They have made the Nationals as an autobid every year they have been in Men’s Division 2 except for one year. They also see themselves with the biggest lead between #1 and #2 in any of the four regions. The TSCHL made the biggest statement of the first ranking putting eight teams in the top 20, including 6 of the top 10.

 

Central Region: Trine stakes a claim to a Central Region autobid early.

In the past few years there always seem to be two names in the Central region: Lindenwood University and Iowa State. With the Cyclones not competing this season, several teams are hoping to take that open autobid slot. The Thunder of Trine have made the opening move to go to Boston starting out in the #2 spot. The biggest surprise of the region is the #3 spot, University of Minnesota-Crookston, only a few years old, the program has been in the lower part of the Top 20, but now make a statement as not only a potential regional team, but a shot at take an autobid spot.

 

West Region: Montana State starts year with second best rating in Nation.

The Bobcats of MSU would have a healthy lead in Rating if they were in any of the other three regions. However, they still find themselves behind back-to-back National Champion, University of Mary. Both Montana State and Mary will pursue their ticket to Boston with sizable leads over the rest of the West. Utah State returns to a Top 5 spot for the first time in several years, due to having the highest Strength of Schedule in the nation (tied with Montana State and Weber State).

 

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.