UNION LAKE, Mich. – (November 8, 2023) – Minot State University (11-1-0), the defending Men's Division I National Champions of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, lost its first game of the season but remains atop the 2023-2024 ACHA Men's Division I Ranking #5. The Beavers started off the week with a Wednesday night road game against University of Mary and came away with a 4-2 victory, scoring two power-play goals and outshooting the Marauders 43-23. On Friday night, University of Jamestown handed the Beavers its first loss of the season, 2-1, as Nathan Driver scored a tie-breaking power play goal with only 6:30 remaining in the third period at the Maysa Arena. Saturday, the Beavers got redemption, jumping out to a four-goal lead at home and defeating the Jimmies 4-1. No. 2 University of Central Oklahoma (11-1-0) swept Maryville University at home (6-2, 3-1), while University of Mary (6-3-1) inched up a spot to No. 3 this week. No. 4 University of Nevada-Las Vegas (11-1-0) swept a pair of home games at City National Arena over San Diego State University (6-1, 8-1) as Alec Johnson (1 goal, 6 assists), Caleb Strong (2 goals, 3 assists), Max Johnson (3 goals, 1 assist), Luke Burke (2 goals, 2 assists), and Cole Wyatt (4 assists) paced the Rebels attack. Rounding out the Top 5 is Adrian College (10-2-0), as the Bulldogs swept a pair of home-and-home games against University of Toledo. Thursday night at Arrington Ice Arena, Nash Hatcher, Matteo DiGiulio, and Sebastian Smith each notched a pair of goals in an 11-2 thrashing, with Smith crossing the 100 career point plateau. On Saturday at the Team Toledo Ice House, Noah Decottignies turned aside 21 shots for the 5-0 shutout victory over the Rockets.
Moving into the polls this week is No. 18 Davenport University, No. 19 Colorado State University, No. 20 Purdue University Northwest, and No. 22 Illinois State University.
Dropping out of the Top 25 are University of Oklahoma, Lehigh University, Stony Brook University, and University of Rhode Island.
The Western Collegiate Hockey League leads the way with seven (of 10) of its member teams ranked, while Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League has five (of 10) of its member teams ranked, Midwest College Hockey has three (of 7) of its member teams ranked, Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League has three (of 8) of its member teams ranked, and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference has two (of 7) of its member teams ranked.
The ACHA uses 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), to 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 20 seasons, 12 different schools have won the ACHA Men's Division I National Championship: Lindenwood University (4), Minot State University (3), Adrian College (2), University of Central Oklahoma (2), University of Illinois (2), Arizona State University, Davenport University, University of Delaware, Oakland University, Ohio University, Penn State University, and University of Rhode Island.
Now in its 33rd season of action, there have been a total of 14 schools that have won the ACHA Men's Division I National Championship:
- Penn State University (5 times)
- Lindenwood University (4)
- Ohio University (4)
- Minot State University (3)
- Adrian College (2)
- North Dakota State University (2)
- University Central Oklahoma (2)
- University of Illinois (2)
- Arizona State University
- Davenport University
- Iowa State University
- Oakland University
- University of Delaware
- University of Rhode Island
A total of 72 teams will compete in Men’s Division I this season, including University of Mary, which moves up from Men’s Division II after winning back-to-back National Championships in 2021 and 2022.
The computer ranking will for the tenth time determine the 24 teams that qualify for the 2024 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships, which will include the following eight auto bids:
- (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
- (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
- (ESCHL) Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League
- (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 15, 2023.
The 2024 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships presented by FloHockey will be hosted March 7-12 for the second time at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo. This will be the first year of the 24-team format.
| 2022-2023 ACHA Men's Division I Ranking #5 | ||||
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Conference |
| 1 | Minot State | 11-1-0 | 1 | INDEP |
| 2 | Central Oklahoma | 11-1-0 | 2 | WCHL |
| 3 | Mary | 6-3-1 | 4 | MCH |
| 4 | Nevada-Las Vegas | 11-1-0 | 3 | WCHL |
| 5 | Adrian | 10-2-0 | 6 | GLCHL |
| 6 | Jamestown | 8-3-0 | 8 | MCH |
| 7 | Niagara | 10-2-0 | 5 | ESCHL |
| 8 | Grand Valley State | 8-1-2 | 7 | GLCHL |
| 9 | Indiana Tech | 11-2-0 | 10 | WHAC |
| 10 | Liberty | 7-6-1 | 15 | INDEP |
| 11 | Arizona | 5-3-1 | 11 | WCHL |
| 12 | Ohio | 7-4-1 | 14 | INDEP |
| 13 | Maryville | 7-6-1 | 12 | INDEP |
| 14 | Iowa State | 4-0-0 | 9 | INDEP |
| 15 | Missouri State | 7-5-1 | 20 | WCHL |
| 16 | Calvin | 10-3-1 | 19 | GLCHL |
| 17 | Michigan-Dearborn | 11-0-0 | 13 | WHAC |
| 18 | Davenport | 9-2-0 | NR | GLCHL |
| 19 | Colorado State | 8-3-1 | NR | WCHL |
| 20 | Purdue Northwest | 8-5-0 | NR | GLCHL |
| 21 | Utah | 5-5-1 | 21 | WCHL |
| 22 | Illinois State | 9-7-0 | NR | MCH |
| 23 | New York | 5-1-2 | 17 | ESCHL |
| 24 | Arizona State | 6-4-1 | 16 | WCHL |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 9-5-1 | 25 | ESCHL |
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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 460 colleges and university-affiliated teams representing 48 states provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes the sport of Hockey nationwide. With approximately 13,000 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 33rd season in September 2023. For more information, visit achahockey.org.
