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Latest Hockey Rankings Reflect how few NCAA Tournament Spots are up for Grabs: Puck Drop

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Christopher Walsh|
Union College is back up to No. 20 in the rankings, but Nate Hanley and the Garnet Chargers have a long way to go to make the NCAA Tournament.
Union College is back up to No. 20 in the rankings, but Nate Hanley and the Garnet Chargers have a long way to go to make the NCAA Tournament. | Mary Gettens/Union College Athletics

The polls and the rankings almost mirror each other, which is indicative of being near the end of a college hockey season, and nobody seems to have a handle on which team should be at the end of the men's poll at No. 20 — not that the team there going to be in stroing contention for and at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

One poll has it being Maine, which snapped a four-game winless streak (albeit one of the games was a tie against then-No. 11 Connecticut) and by sweeping Merrimack. So despite being 16-12-3 the reigning Hockey East champions got the nod in the USCHO poll.

Meanwhile, USA Hockey's poll has Union at No. 20, the same as the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index. The problem there isn't so much the 19-10-3 record, but being 56th in the nation in strength of schedule, out of 63 teams.

Union is 9-9 in ECAC play, sitting in sixth place, and has just two regular-season games remaining this weekend, at Yale and at Brown, which combined are 13-40-3 this season. The Garnet Chargers are 4-2-1 over the last seven games, including a win over Cornell and a tie against Dartmouth, and are 12-4-2 at home this season, so the team appears to be on an upswing.

As a host school for this year's NCAA Tournament, all Union has to do to play against at home again is win the ECAC Tournament that should include three ranked teams, with the semifinals and championship being played in nearly Lake Placid. It would then play a regional and be just two wins away from going to the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

It's not the most likely of scenarios, but it's doable, so we're going to give Union some love for being No. 20, especially when the Garnet Chargers may have a better chance to make the NCAA Tournament than No. 13 Wisconsin, and all of the ranked CCHA teams that don't win their conference tournament.

National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index

1. Michigan State
2. Michigan
3. North Dakota
4. Western Michigan
5. Penn State
6. Providence
7. Quinnipiac
8. Minnesota Duluth
9. Denver
10. Cornell
11. Dartmouth
12. Boston College
13. Wisconsin
14. Connecticut
15. St. Thomas
16. Minnesota State
17. Augustana
18. Michigan Tech
19. Massachusetts
20. Union

Now we turn our attention to the polls.

Made biggest jump: Augustana moved up three spots , from No. 18 to 15, after securing a win and a tie at No. 15 St. Thomas. Boston College was nearly the team for the second straight week, moving up two spots again after sweeping No. 10 Connecticut.

Had biggest fall: Connecticut dropped from No. 10 to No. 13 and is consequently firmly on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

Most underrated ranked team per NPI: Dartmouth, but it's pretty much been this way since December. NPI still has it at No. 11, but the voters only at No. 14.

Most overrated ranked team per NPI: The voters have Boston College, Augustana and Michigan Tech all two slots above, which maybe be because all three teams are hot and on the rise.

SEE ALSO: Last week's college hockey rankings

USCHO Men's Poll

February 23, 2026

Rank

Team

Record

Points (1st)

Prv.

1

Michigan State

24-6

999 (49)

1

2

Michigan

25-6-1

933 (1)

2

3

North Dakota

24-7-1

899

3

4

Western Michigan

23-8-1

852

4

5

Penn State

20-9-1

777

6

6

Providence

21-8-2

720

7

7

Quinnipiac

25-6-3

711

5

8

Denver

19-11-3

628

8

9

Minnesota Duluth

20-12

626

9

10

Boston College

19-10-1

512

12

11

Cornell

18-8-1

493

11

12

Wisconsin

19-11-2

433

13

13

Connecticut

17-9-4

413

10

14

Dartmouth

18-7-3

376

14

15

Augustana

20-10-4

229

18

16

Michigan Tech

21-10-3

211

16

17

St. Thomas

18-10-4

205

15

18

Minnesota State

17-9-6

197

17

19

Massachusetts

18-12

122

19

20

Maine

16-12-3

55

NR

Others receiving votes: Union 31, Bentley 27, Miami 17, Bowling Green 10, St. Cloud State 8, Boston University 5, Northeastern 5, Princeton 4, Sacred Heart 2

USA Hockey Men's Poll

February 23, 2026

Rank

Team

Points (1st)

Prv.

1

Michigan State

676 (30)

1

2

Michigan

630 (4)

2

3

North Dakota

623

3

4

Western Michigan

577

4

5

Penn State

541

6

6

Providence

497

7

7

Quinnipiac

472

5

8

Denver

439

8

9

Minnesota Duluth

421

9

10

Cornell

356

10

11

Boston College

336

13

12

Dartmouth

292

12

13

Wisconsin

274

14

14

Connecticut

270

11

15

Augustana

152

18

16

St. Thomas

147

15

17

Michigan Tech

146

16

18

Minnesota State

141

17

19

Massachusetts

62

19

20

Union

30

NR

Others Receiving Votes: Maine, 26; Bentley 10; Princeton 9; Miami 6; St. Cloud State 4; Bowling Green 2.

USCHO Women's Poll

February 23, 2026

Rank

Team

Record

Points (1st)

Prv.

1

Wisconsin

29-3-2

299 (19)

1

2

Ohio State

30-4

281 (1)

2

3

Penn State

29-5-0

256

4

4

Minnesota

24-9-1

240

3

5

Northeastern

26-7-1

220

5

6

Connecticut

24-8-2

192

6

7

Quinnipiac

24-7-3

177

7

8

Yale

22-8

161

8

9

Minnesota Duluth

19-12-3

144

10

10

Princeton

21-8-0

129

9

11

Cornell

18-10-2

100

11

12

Mercyhurst

21-10-3

73

13

13

Colgate

19-14-1

57

14

14

Minnesota State

15-17-2

32

15

15

Clarkson

20-12-3

28

12

Others receiving votes: Holy Cross 13, St. Thomas 6, St. Cloud State 5, Brown 1

USA Hockey Women's Poll

February 17, 2026 (Will be updated with release of new rankings Tuesday)

Rank

Team

Points (1st)

Prv.

1

Wisconsin

284 (18)

1

2

Ohio State

267 (1)

2

3

Minnesota

247

3

4

Penn State

221

4

5

Northeastern

196

5

6

Connecticut

181

6

7

Quinnipiac

169

7

8

Yale

149

9

9

Princeton

147

8

10

Minnesota Duluth

124

10

11

Cornell

93

11

12

Clarkson

82

12

13

Mercyhurst

44

13

14

Colgate

31

14

15

Minnesota State

19

NR

Also receiving votes: Holy Cross 11; St. Thomas 5; Brown 4; Harvard 3; St. Cloud State 3.

SEE ALSO: Last Week's College Hockey Rankings

Puck Drop: Tuesday, February 24, 2026

• Team USA returned back from Italy, but due to a winter storm hitting the Northeast, it diverted to Miami to celebrate one more night at a local nightclub. NHL games are set to resume on Wednesday with an eight-game slate. For more, check out Break Away On SI.

• An important couple of dates to note, the NHL roster freeze was lifted on Monday with the conclusion of the Olympics. The trade deadline is coming up fast on March 6.

• Brown named Massachusetts assistant coach Tom Upton as its new head coach. "Tom's track record as a skillful and proven leader, a respected builder of programs and culture, and a strong connector made him the ideal choice to lead the next chapter of our men's hockey program," Vice President for Athletics and Recreation M. Grace Calhoun said in a release. "We are thrilled to welcome him to College Hill and excited to see his continued success here." Upton is the 16th head coach in program history. Upton will continue at UMass until the 2025-26 season concludes for the No. 19 Minutemen.

• Check out this quick note about how some of the greastest hockey photos from the Olympics were taken:

Monday's College Hockey Scores

No Games Scheduled

Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times are local to where the game is being played.

Tuesday's College Hockey Schedule

No Games Scheduled

Hockey Quote of the Day

"Lester Patrick, who played for the Montreal Wanderers in 1905 and '06, when they won the Stanley Cup, and managed the New York Rangers two decades later, said Hobey was the only amateur he ever saw who could have played professional hockey and been a star in his first game."
SI’s Ron Fimrite on Hobey Baker

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Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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