ACHA 2nd Ranking Preview #2

Thanksgiving is here and that means the 2nd ACHA Rankings are due out by Friday. The rankings this time around should be intriguing as almost everybody has had big wins along with bad losses. Here’s my prediction for what we’ll see in ranking number two.

The number in parenthesis is from the 1st ACHA ranking

1. (1) Utah State Aggies (12-1, 4-1 this ranking period)
Key Wins: Weber State, San Jose St
Key Losses: Utah

USU remains number one despite losing to Utah early in the ranking period. The matter of fact is they’ve destroyed everybody else they’ve played so far.

2. (3) Northern Arizona Icejacks (13-1, 7-0 this ranking period)
Key Wins: SDSU, Long Beach St
Key Losses:

NAU has a big case for the top spot as well after going 7-0 during this ranking period. USU has higher quality wins though which puts NAU at number two.

3. (4) Arizona State Sun Devils (10-3-2, 6-0 this ranking period)
Key Wins: SDSU, Colorado
Key losses:

ASU continues to be strong and should move up a spot after going 7-0 during the month of November. The Sun Devils can move up with wins against NAU in the next month.

Okay, here’s where it gets tricky. After these top three, the West is a complete mess. Utah, San Jose State, Weber State, and Colorado State all can make a case for the next four spots. Any team could go in any spot. Here’s what I think will happen.

4. (9) Weber State Wildcats (14-4-2, 4-1-1 this ranking period)
Key Wins: Colorado State, San Jose State, Denver
Key Losses: Blowout to Utah State

OK before all the Ute fans yell at me for this Weber is probably the most realistic for this spot. Weber beat Colorado State and San Jose State while only losing to Utah State this month. As of right now they deserve the spot because they’ve beaten everyone that’s in that four team pool.

5. (5) San Jose State Spartans (11-4-1, 4-2-1 this ranking period)
Key Wins: Utah
Key Losses: Utah State, Loyola Marymount

San Jose stays where they are because they beat Utah but lost to Weber. Other than that they really haven’t done much to move them up or down.

6. (7) Utah Utes (12-4, 5-1 this ranking period)
Key Wins: Utah State
Key Losses: San Jose State

I know Utah fans want the Utah State win to matter more than it does, but that just isn’t how things work in this league. One game doesn’t matter as much as it does in other sports. The win is still huge, and should be a confidence boost when Utah plays the rest of the top teams here on out.

7. (2) Colorado State Rams (7-6-1, 2-1-1 this ranking period)
Key Wins: Colorado
Key Losses: Weber State

The number two team in the last ranking will fall, the only question is how far. The 2-1-1 record this month is not pretty and the highest ranked team they’ve beaten is Colorado, who is down below. CSU should be either six or seven in this poll.

8. (6) Colorado Buffaloes (2-8, 0-5 this ranking period)
Key Wins:
Key Losses: Missouri

November has not been pretty for the Buffaloes as they move to 2-8 on the season. If they do not right the ship soon, their season may be in jeopardy.

9. (8) San Diego State Aztecs (5-8-1, 0-4 this ranking period)
Key Wins:
Key Losses:

SDSU has only played four games this month, and have lost all four to ASU and NAU. They’re in the same boat as Colorado in if they don’t pick it up they could be snubbed come playoff time.

10. (12) Loyola Marymount Lions (8-3-1, 3-1 this ranking period)
Key Wins: San Jose State
Key Losses:

Loyola has played some great hockey so far and should be in the top ten for the first time. They’ve beaten San Jose, San Diego, and Long Beach multiple times so they definitely deserve the spot.

Best of the Rest

11. Cal State Long Beach (7-7-1)
12. Denver (5-6-1)
13. Texas A&M (17-5-1)
14. Dallas Baptist (16-1-1)
15. UNLV (2-5-1)