Poll 12/20/04 Cornell still No. 9

Almost no change this week in the polls. Cornell still #9. In fact the only change is that Harvard moved up one spot past Ohio State to be #10. ECAC schools at 9, 10, 12, 14.

[www.uscho.com]

December 20, 2004

   Team        (First Place)    Record  Pts   Last Week
 1 Minnesota            (33)    13-4-0  591     1
 2 Colorado College      (7)    15-3-0  557     2
 3 Michigan                     13-4-1  506     3
 4 Wisconsin                    13-5-0  474     4
 5 Boston College                7-3-3  424     5
 6 New Hampshire                11-3-2  380     6
 7 Denver                       11-5-1  375     7
 8 North Dakota                 13-7-2  272     8
 9 Cornell                       7-2-2  251     9
10 Harvard                       9-3-1  206    11
11 Ohio State                   11-5-2  205    10
12 Colgate                      12-4-0  149    12
13 Boston University            10-6-0  144    13
14 Vermont                      10-5-3  137    14
15 Maine                        10-7-2   80    15

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Michigan 40,
Minnesota-Duluth 3, Nebraska-Omaha 3, Michigan State 2, 
Minnesota State 1

What? Almost no movement in the polls in a week when hardly any games were played? Shocking! You'd almost think the pollsters were rational...

Before you start getting silly and suggesting logic and reason amongst the pollsters, don't forget to notice that Cornell went from 210 to 251 points this past off-week.

[q]Before you start getting silly and suggesting logic and reason amongst the pollsters, don't forget to notice that Cornell went from 210 to 251 points this past off-week.[/q]But din't you hear? The team did very well in finals this week.

Yes, I chuckled but come on...the ECACHL can't gain respect as voting members get some time off and take a closer look at results? How many people voting in the polls have seen Cornell or the rest of the ECACHL play? How many people reacted to seeing four ECACHL teams in the top 15? I'm not claiming to know what went on in the voters heads but from voting in weekly polls myself I know that underrated leagues get a closer look during off weeks and you overvalue wins and draws over unknown teams when unknown teams show up in the previous weeks polls. It's been pretty obvious to me that Cornell has ridden the success of, 1. the 2003 team, and 2. our consistently top ranked defense, in polls from 2004 and this season--ie our ranking stays steady and doesn't oscillate violently.

Edit: To articulate a little bit more clearly, our standing in the hockey world has been established but the ECACHL has gained respect this year, especially in the past two weeks when we placed four teams in the poll. I'm a Cornell trained electrical engineer, not a Cornell trained english major.