The No. 2 Penn State ACHA Division I Icers had a chance to author the final standings themselves this past weekend. If they would have beaten No. 3 Ohio twice, Penn State would have had a stranglehold on the ACHA's final No. 1 ranking, and therefore the No. 1 seed in the ACHA tournament.

The Icers didn't get the sweep, but with Saturday's win against the Bobcats -- good for a series split -- did just enough to earn the top spot.

Now it's up to the ACHA coaches, who will vote today on the last set of rankings before the national tournament, to realize that, too.

Penn State head coach Scott Balboni believes his team has earned the distinction of being the ACHA's best, but anyone could have seen this coming. The Icers have a much more impressive backing from Ohio coach Dan Morris, whose Bobcats swept current No. 1 Illinois two weeks ago to cause this whole mess.

Balboni said he talked to Morris before the two teams played this weekend. Both agreed that the Icers should be on top if they walked away from the Bird Arena with at least one win, and that's exactly what they did.

With the split, the Icers secured a winning record (3-1) against Ohio for the season.

Since Illinois played a relatively weak schedule, the Bobcats were Penn State's only reasonable competition for the No. 1 ranking. When the coaches fill out their ballots today, the record in the season series should be the glaring statistic that puts the Icers in front.

Nothing is a guarantee, though. At least the ACHA has a tournament format, which means Penn State will get its chance at a national championship regardless of its seed.

Icers forward Lukas DeLorenzo said that the team doesn't worry about the rankings too much, but feelings are mixed in the locker room about how important the No. 1 designation actually is for the squad's final goal.

Being assured premier ice times at the national tournament and only having to pack home uniforms can be a big edge for a team that has to win four games in as many days to take the ACHA crown.

"If we come out No. 2 or 3, we still come out playing hard at nationals," defenseman Keith Jordan said.

But that's not really the point. I have a hard time believing that the Icers' players aren't going to feel snubbed after amassing as many big wins as they have. Penn State is 7-2 against the ACHA's top five teams.

Whether it's No. 1 or No. 16, Penn State will still have to perform its best during the national tournament beginning in March. When the rankings are unveiled on Friday, though, the Icers should be atop the heap, at least for now.