DENVER – The Denver Pioneers hockey team is ranked No. 6 nationally in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls that were released on Monday.
 
DU dropped one spot after previously being at No. 5 entering the Holiday Break two weeks ago.
 
The Pioneers' last regular-season games were Dec. 13-14 with a home-and-home set against then-No. 10 Colorado College to begin this year's Gold Pan series. Denver lost 5-4 in the opener in Colorado Springs before winning 2-1 at home in their last game before the Holiday Break.
 
The DU players returned to campus from the mid-season break with a practice last Friday and played UNLV to a 6-6 tie in an exhibition on Saturday at Magness Arena.
 
The top three teams in each poll remained the same with Michigan State at No. 1, Boston College at No. 2 and Minnesota at No. 3. Fellow NCHC-member Western Michigan entered the top five for the first time at No. 4 while Providence also joined the Broncos at No. 5. Denver received one first-place vote in the USCHO.com poll and joined Maine, which was previously at No. 4, in dropping out of the top five
 
The NCHC continues to lead all conferences with six programs ranked in the USCHO.com poll and is ranked second with five in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live rankings. After Western Michigan at No. 4/4 and Denver at No. 6/6, Colorado College comes in at No. 8/8, St. Cloud State is at No. 11/11 and North Dakota is No. 14/15.  Arizona State is 19th in the USCHO.com poll and received the most votes among programs not ranked on the USA Hockey list.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers resume the regular season this weekend with a top-10 non-conference series at No. 7 Maine in Orono. Friday's game begins at 4 p.m. MT and will be nationally-televised on ESPNU, while Saturday's start time is at 4:30 p.m. MT. Both contests will also be available on ESPN+.
 
About the USCHO.com: The Division I men's ice hockey poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. 
 
About the USA Hockey/The Rink Live Poll: The 30th annual USA Hockey/The Rink Live Men's College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey.


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