There are two major hockey polls, one conducted by U.S. College Hockey Online or uscho.com for short and the other by USA Today/USA Magazine.

Both polls look pretty much alike most weeks.

So Gophers coach Don Lucia got me thinking on Wednesday when he said: “We are either the firth or sixth team to be No. 1,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of improvements to do as a hockey team.”

Have their really been that many No. 1 teams already? Actually, the Gophers are the fourth No. 1 team in the uscho.com national ratings this season.

Minnesota has climbed in the uscho.com ratings for sixth consecutive weeks, which is hard to do, until reaching No. 1 this past Monday.

Here is a look at the No. 1 teams this season so far and the Gophers’ climb:

                                         No. 1 team                   Gophers 

Preseason ratings       

on Oct. 6                          Boston College            No. 10

Oct. 13                              Boston College            No. 9

Oct. 20                             Colorado College         No. 7

Oct. 27                              Colorado College         No. 5

Nov. 3                              Colorado College          No. 4

Nov. 10                            Boston  University      No. 2

Nov. 17                            Minnesota                     No. 1

How long do you think the Gophers can hold that No. 1 spot? They have some tough competition coming up. They play at No. 10 Denver this week. I expect a split there, maybe with a tie one night.

Then the U is home to play Michigan and Michigan State on Nov. 28 and 29 and, after a week off, home again to face CC on Dec. 13 and 14.

Hard to believe they can remain unbeaten through that stretch, especially if they keep playing with fire and going into overtime.

HOW USCHO.COM POLL WORKS

 There are 40 voting members to the poll, comprised of coaches, scouts and media members. Each conference is represented equitably on the poll. The names of the voting members are kept confidential out of respect for the privacy of the voters.

Lucia said he voted on one of the national polls once, but no longer does.

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