ACHA Tournament poll to be released next week

By KEVIN BRICKER
Collegian Staff Writer

Let the scrambling begin.

Teams in the American Collegiate Hockey Association will have a last chance to boost their stock this weekend. Although the ACHA Tournament is more than a month away, the next-to-last poll will be released next Friday.

The poll will determine the seedings for the tournament to be played at Delaware. The top 10 teams in next week's poll will receive an invitation to Newark. Because of budget restraints on the club-level teams, traveling arrangements must be made in advance. Thus, the final poll released Feb. 19 is basically insignificant.

While it appears most of the top 10 is determined, teams will look to improve their rankings in hopes of earning a better seed in the postseason dance. With last weekend's upset of No. 1 Penn State (19-2-0), No. 2 Iowa State (23-4-2) made a strong case for the top spot.

But the Cyclones have two factors working against them. First, Penn State was a unanimous selection for No. 1, so Iowa State must steal most of the Icers' top votes. Secondly, and most important, are this weekend's games.

Iowa State travels to No. 6 Illinois (15-9-0). Earlier in the season the Fighting Illini stole two games at the Cyclones' home arena. Iowa State must demonstrate that its win in Happy Valley was no fluke.

Meanwhile, the Icers must bounce back to have a chance of retaining the No. 1 ranking. They'll put their undefeated road record on the line as they look to overcome the "Michigan jinx." Penn State has not won a game in the state since 1996.

The Icers play at No. 3 Michigan-Dearborn (20-6-0) tomorrow. The Wolves have won four of the last six meetings between the rivals and handed Penn State its first loss of the season on Nov. 21. Saturday, the Icers play at No. 10 Eastern Michigan (13-13-1), a team looking to secure a bid to Newark.

It appears the top three teams -- Penn State, Iowa State and Michigan-Dearborn -- each have a shot at the No. 1 ranking. But how they'll be ranked remains a mystery.

"You got a real wrench in how you rank the top three," Michigan-Dearborn coach Joe Aho said. "Earlier in the season Iowa State lost two games at home and didn't drop. I think sometimes people just don't know how to flat out vote."

It appears as though only one spot is up for grabs. Eleventh-ranked West Virginia is on the outside looking in. This weekend, the Mountaineers play the same teams as Penn State, but in reverse order.

"It's kind of their last chance," Aho said. "West Virginia is the only team that could change things. If they lose, I think we got our 10 teams."

Perhaps the hottest team earning the least respect is Ohio. The No. 9 Bobcats have not lost since Nov. 6 and are riding a 13-game unbeaten streak.

According to Ohio coach Craig McCarthy, his team's dreadful 0-8 start has overshadowed its recent rampage.

"We have played 15 of 19 games against the (ACHA's) top-10 teams," McCarthy said. "So our win-loss margin isn't that great. If you look at the front end of our schedule, I think most teams would come out 0-6."

According to McCarthy, who plugged 10 new players into his lineup at the start of the season, his team has improved because of its formidable schedule.

"As a young team it's really matured them," he said. "We knew it was going to take time. It doesn't help if you play soft teams."