The final American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men’s Division 1 rankings before the Thanksgiving break has been released, with YOUR Skatin’ Utes moving up 5 spots to #12 in the nation.
During the first month of the season, the ACHA relies on an informal coaches ranking until sufficient game data is present for the computerized rankings. This is the third computer ranking of the 2025-26 season and eight overall.
The Utah M1 schedule has been an around the country endeavor for the Utes thus far, as well as a blitzkrieg of tough opponents with just under half of the games being against the very best of Men’s Division 1.
The Utes are currently 8-8-1 with only 6 of 17 games being played in their own barn. After a pair of wins (7-1 and 1-0) against Missouri State to start the season the Utes spent the entire month of October on the road. Opponents included a loss and tie against #8 Liberty (8-2, 3-2), a pair tight games against #4 UNLV (3-1, 3-1 ), weekend split against #15 Arizona (6-2, 6-3), and two wins against WCHL Rival San Diego State (8-1, 8-2).
This last weekend, the Utes had a strong showing at the ACHA Chicago Classic Showcase where the took on #11 University of Mary, #7 University of Jamestown, and #2 Minot State University.
Utah M1 secured a 3-2 win over Mary on November 21st, but fell 4-2 to Minot State University in a hard fought battle with an empty net goal.
In the final game of the weekend, the Utes bounced back and entered the third period tied 1-1 against #7 Jamestown. The final was 4-1 but despite the two losses Utah proved it could play ACHA Men’s Division top ten hockey.
Utah Sophomore Gion Coray leads the team in the points column with 20 total points (9G, 11A) with with rookie Paul Waldhauser close behind at 19 points (10G, 9A). Utah Assistant Captain is next Brady Schwab with 18 points (6G, 12A).
Rounding out the top 10 slots amongst forwards is Trevor Kruczek with 16 points (5G, 11A), Zach Laurila with 8 points (4G, 4A), Jacob Slater with 7 points (2G, 5A), and Gavin Barr with 6 points (2G, 4A).
The defensive core is being led by Assistant Captain Matthew Delany with 18 points (6G, 12A), Coltin Johnson with 7 points (2G, 5A), and Ripley Garden with 6 points (3G, 3A).
Between the pipes, Utah is excellent shape with Juniors Joseph Greilich and Garrett Fuller sharing the workload. Greilich is currently 2-3-1 with a 2.65 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Fuller is 6-5-0 with a 3.20 GAA and a .895 save percentage.
The Western Collegiate Hockey League, of which Utah M1 is a member, had a strong performance with six (of 11) of its member teams ranked. The Great Lakes 6 Hockey Conference leads the way with five (of 7) of its member teams ranked, while Midwest College Hockey has four (of 7) of its member teams ranked, Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference has two (of 6) of its member teams ranked, and College Hockey Mid-America has two (of 7) its member teams ranked, and Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League has two (of 10) of its member teams ranked.
With the ACHA switching to a computer-based ranking from a coaches poll, the ACHA will use the 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), and 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.
Now in its 35th season of action, there have been a total of 15 schools that have won the ACHA Men’s Division 1 National Championship. Over the past 19 seasons, 12 different schools have won the ACHA Men’s Division I National Championship: Penn State (5), Lindenwood (4), Ohio (4), Adrian (3), Minot State (3), Central Oklahoma (2), Illinois (2), Arizona State, Davenport, Iowa State, Oakland, Delaware, Rhode Island, and UNLV.
A total of 81 teams will compete in Men’s Division I this season, including former Men’s Division II members Central Michigan University, North Carolina State University, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and University of North Carolina, along with former Men’s Division III members Hope College, the reigning ACHA Men’s Division III National Champions, and University of Michigan-Flint. The Concordia University Ann Arbor program, which made the announcement to relocate to Siena Heights University back in April, folded in July before getting to play a game as the Saints.
The computer ranking will for the twelfth time determine the 24 teams that qualify for the 2026 ACHA Men’s Division I National Championships, which will include the following six auto bids:
- (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
- (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
- (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League
- (MCH) Midwest College Hockey
- (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League
- (WHAC) Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference
2025-2026 ACHA MEN’S DIVISION 1 RANKING #8
| Rank | School Name | M1 Record | Previous | Conference |
| 1 | Niagara | 14-0-0 | 1 | INDEP |
| 2 | Minot State | 12-1-1 | 3 | MCH |
| 3 | Ohio | 16-3-0 | 2 | INDEP |
| 4 | UNLV | 11-3-0 | 8 | WCHL |
| 5 | Drury | 16-1-0 | 7 | INDEP |
| 6 | Adrian | 13-3-1 | 5 | GL6 |
| 7 | Jamestown | 11-7-0 | 9 | MCH |
| 8 | Liberty | 14-4-0 | 4 | INDEP |
| 9 | Maryville | 8-6-0 | 10 | INDEP |
| 10 | Calvin | 7-3-2 | 6 | GL6 |
| 11 | Mary | 10-6-1 | 11 | MCH |
| 12 | Utah | 8-8-1 | 17 | WCHL |
| 13 | Grand Canyon | 11-4-0 | 15 | WCHL |
| 14 | Hope | 15-3-0 | 12 | GL6 |
| 15 | Arizona | 6-7-1 | NR | WCHL |
| 16 | Purdue Northwest | 10-7-1 | 14 | GL6 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh | 8-5-3 | 18 | ACCHL |
| 18 | Stony Brook | 7-6-2 | 13 | ACCHL |
| 19 | Cleary | 13-1-0 | 20 | WHAC |
| 20 | Indiana Pennsylvania | 16-2-2 | 19 | CHMA |
| 21 | Missouri State | 9-3-4 | NR | WCHL |
| 22 | Indiana Tech | 6-3-4 | 16 | WHAC |
| 23 | Grand Valley State | 8-5-2 | 23 | ECHA |
| 24 | Midland | 6-9-3 | NR | MCH |
| 25 | Arizona State | 5-8-3 | NR | GL6 |
