As the midway point of the 2024-2025 college hockey season passes, playoff tensions are rising.
The start of the season in the Pairwise rankings was all Denver, with the Crimson and Gold holding the No. 1 spot for six straight weeks, starting the season with a 12-0 start of the season.
That was until week seven, when the 2024 National Championship runner-up, Boston College, took the No. 1 spot with a 9-3 record. The Eagles were led by the leading goal scorer Ryan Leonard, scoring 22 goals in 24 games.
In the following weeks, it was a fight for first between BC and Michigan State, which are heavy favorites for the national title. Junior forward Isaac Howard, sophomore goaltender Trey Augustine and senior forward Red Savage have led the Spartans to six weeks as the top team in the country.
Week 10 saw a new face in the top spot. The University of Minnesota topped the rankings, going 17-3 in the first 20 games. The Gophers, like many of the top teams, are loaded with NHL prospects and superstars, including the current top points scorer in college hockey: junior forward Jimmy Sunggerud. The 2023 St. Louis Blues first-rounder has 20 goals, 21 assists, and 41 points in 30 games, a dominant stat line to lead the charge for Minnesota.
A current surprise in the college hockey rankings is Arizona State University, ranked 13th in Pairwise rankings. After a slow start of the season for the Sun Devils, they’ve picked it up drastically and currently have a 16-9-1 record.
They had one of the biggest upsets of the season so far, coming to Denver and sweeping what was the No. 1 team in the country. A team with three of their top scorers being transfers, the Sun Devils have surprised the college hockey world with consistent wins in the past month and a half. This includes being tied for first in what is arguably the hardest conference, the NCHC.
Currently ranked fourth in the country, which is a surprise by many, the University of Maine Black Bears holds a 17-5-3 record. Maine has struggled the past couple of seasons in the Hockey East conference but has gotten a surge from stellar goaltending from sophomore goaltender Albin Boija, posting a .929 save percentage and a jaw-dropping 1.62 goals-against average.
The points have come in large from senior forward Harrison Scott, scoring 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points in 25 games. The other big name is senior forward Taylor Makar — yes, that Makar. Cale’s younger brother Taylor, who’s also a Colorado Avalanche draft pick, has posted ten goals and ten assists for 20 points in 25 games.
On the contrary, Boston University has had a challenging first half of the year. BU is currently ranked ninth with a 14-9-1 record when last season, BU only lost 10 games total during the season.
This has been largely due to losing key players such as the 2024 San Jose Sharks first-overall pick, Macklin Celebrini and current Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson. But this season, Hutson’s younger brother, junior defenseman Quinn Hutson, has dominated the country with 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points in 22 games as a defenseman.
The University of Denver is also a heavy favorite for a repeat. The Crimson and Gold haven’t repeated since the 2004 and 2005 National Championships.
Denver had a phenomenal start to the season, winning 13 straight games, setting a new school record and being the number-one team in the country for six straight weeks. But as conference play hit, they started to take some losses, including the sweep to ASU and the series split to Maine in early January.
Currently, Denver is ranked No. 8 after their series split with Omaha and has set their eyes on putting their best game towards the end of the year. DU is led by their leading scorer, senior forward Jack Devine, who’s fifth in the nation in scoring with six goals and 29 assists for 37 points in 26 games. Two spots down, junior forward Aidan Thompson is tied for seventh in the nation with 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points in 26 games.
As the second half of the season rolls upon us, and there is still a good chunk of hockey to play before the playoffs, there are the clear favorites for the National Championship, like BC, Denver, Michigan State and Maine.
