Wisconsin women's hockey steals No. 1 ranking from rival Gophers

The Badgers have the top-ranked women's hockey team in the country after outscoring their opponent 20-1 to begin the season.

Wisconsin's Casey O'Brien jumps into a group hug from her teammates after assisting Kirsten Simms on a first-period goal during a NCAA women's hockey national semifinal at Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire on Friday March 22, 2024. / Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

We are only one week into the women's college hockey season and Wisconsin has already been bumped up to No. 1 in the country, overtaking rival Minnesota.

A 🆕 No. 1 📈#NCAAHockey x @BadgerWHockey pic.twitter.com/xrXnjAXWFr

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) September 30, 2024

The Badgers outscored Lindenwood 20-1 in their first two games of the season. Minnesota needed overtime in their second win over UConn. The difference in scoring margin prompted move up for the Badgers in the newest USCHO poll.

Wisconsin received 17 first-place votes compared to just two for Minnesota. Ohio State, despite being swept by Minnesota-Duluth and then sweeping Bemidji State, garnered one first-place vote but wound up No. 4 in the poll.

Wisconsin's first big test against a ranked opponent will be Oct. 12-13 when they host No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth. The following weekend, they travel to Minnesota to take on the No. 2 Gophers. Clearly, we're going to find out a lot about the top teams in the country very early on this season.