Sometimes a drop in the rankings is a good thing.
Two weeks ago, when the ACHA Division I rankings were released for the second time in the season, the Penn State Icers found themselves in an unfamiliar position -- sixth.
Penn State had dropped from third to what Paul Daley said is the lowest position the Icers have been in since coach Scott Balboni took over the team.
After those rankings, Penn State won four in a row, and the Icers believe that at some level, the rankings served as a motivator.
Following that win streak, it was time for another set of rankings and Penn State saw no change in its standing.
With that in their minds, the Icers went out and swept Navy last weekend, as those rankings will continue to motivate as they head to Rhode Island this weekend.
In fact, it has created somewhat of an underdog mentality on the team, something Tim O'Brien sees as a good thing.
"I don't think being the top dog all the time is something that our team wants to be," O'Brien said. "I think we want to play with a little chip on our shoulder and that's going to be beneficial."
While, Penn State isn't necessarily happy it didn't rise in the rankings, it does have a couple of ideas as to why it didn't rise.
Firstly, the teams that sit above Penn State -- Lindenwood, Illinois, Liberty, Ohio and Iowa State -- all won with the Icers and when they did lose, they were to highly ranked opponents.
The lack of such opponents is another main reason why Penn State held steady at six.
"Right now, we're just starting to get into the meat of our schedule," Balboni said. "I think our schedule has been easier at the beginning of this year than it has in the past and that's why we are where we are in the rankings."
Over the next few weeks, Penn State plays No. 7 Rhode Island, Delaware and a pair of NCAA schools. Balboni said these will be bigger tests for the Icers adding they are matchups that will help move the Icers in the rankings, for better or for worse.
But while the rankings are in Penn State's mind to some degree, the players try not to keep their mind on them.
For now, while the Icers feel slightly underrated by the rankings, they aren't going to read into them too much.
"It's not like we're saying we deserve to be a higher team," Teddy Hume said. "It's not we feel like this is the BCS system and we're getting screwed over. It's understandable but we just need to work hard and get back up to where we were.
