3/15/2010 - MEN'S ICE HOCKEY Bemidji State slips to No. 10 in national polls

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BEMIDJI, Minn. -- The Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team remained among the nation’s top 10 in the newest version of the NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey national polls. The Beavers cling to No. 10 in both the USAToday/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CBS College Sports polls, marking a run of eight straight weeks in the top 10.

The Beavers, who are 23-9-4 overall and recently claimed their third consecutive College Hockey America (CHA) regular-season championship with a 14-3-1 record in league play, failed to post in a victory in last weekend’s CHA Tournament, falling to Niagara University, 5-4, the semifinals before skating to a 3-3 tie versus Robert Morris University in the league’s third-pace game.

This week’s No. 10 billing stands as the lowest the Beavers have been positioned in the national publications since they garnered No. 14 in both polls for the week of Jan. 18 and is well under the team’s high-water mark of No. 4 set Dec. 7.  The BSU men now been ranked among the nation’s top 15 men’s ice hockey teams for a school record 22 weeks.

University of Denver reclaimed the top spot from Miami University (Ohio), marking the third time in the last four weeks that the Pioneers have owned a No. 1 ranking.

The “State of Hockey” is again well represented as St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota Duluth join BSU in the top 15 with the Huskies occupying No. 6 in both weekly polls, while the Bulldogs own the No. 11 spot.

The Beavers have made an appearance in every poll of the 2009-10 season and remain the CHA’s only program to appear in either publication.

The USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country. The poll, published weekly by the Associated Press, is a joint production of USCHO.com, which provides in-depth coverage of college sports, including hockey, lacrosse, soccer and others, and CBS College Sports Networks, Inc., the only digital media company dedicated solely to college sports. CBS College Sports operates a 24-hour college sports cable network, also available via DISH and DirecTV satellite.

The USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll, now in its 15th year, is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey Magazine, the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.

The Beavers now await their postseason fate.  Without a CHA Tournament championship or the automatic bid that goes along with it, BSU is forced to wait for the March 21 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Section Show to find out if it is among the 16 teams that will continue the 2009-10 season in the NCAA Tournament.  The selection show will be televised on ESPN2.
--bsu--