Polls and NPI 2026

[ebilmes]

If Cornell had won at MSG in regulation, we'd be #4 in NPI, or #5 with an OT win.

[BearLover]

If Cornell had won at MSG in regulation, we'd be #4 in NPI, or #5 with an OT win.

Too bad Stanley's shot with two minutes to go rang off the crossbar.

[stereax]

If Cornell had won at MSG in regulation, we'd be #4 in NPI, or #5 with an OT win.

But we didn't.

We're still 9th, right? Or 10th? That's just fine. Still will get into the dance with that.

[chimpfood]

I cant complain about close losses after our last two games came down to the wire but we pulled out regulation wins. I think we've been pretty lucky this season, or maybe being clutch is real.

[Trotsky]

1. We have been as lucky as unlucky.

2. Clutch isn't real.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

2. Clutch isn't real.

But are birds?

[CU2007]

We are 9th, but closer to 4th than 11th.

[Trotsky]

2. Clutch isn't real.

But are birds?

They perch on powerlines because they are recharging.

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

2. Clutch isn't real.

But are birds?

They perch on powerlines because they are recharging.

Exactly!

[BearLover]

Following Q's loss to UConn, Cornell moves to 9th and Q falls to 10th in the NPI by a difference of one-hundredth of a point (55.93 vs 55.92). Still, I believe it would have been better for Cornell in the long run if Q had won.

[pjd8]

Wisconsin loses to Penn State and is now in 10th (55.58). Q at 8th (55.93) and Cornell in 9th (55.90)

[BearLover]

Barring a collapse, we should get a top 4 ECAC seed and first round bye. We are in the driver's seat for the 2-seed, which would allow us to avoid Q until the final.

In the NPI the teams are tightly packed together. Only 65 hundredths of a point separates Q in 8th place (55.89) from Denver in 13th place (55.24). Given that going forward we will mostly be playing lowly ranked teams, there's potential for us to drop to 13th or so with one loss and then outside the bubble with another loss. (Of course, we can offset this by stacking wins outside those losses.)

To my eye, this past weekend was by far the best we looked the whole year and the first time I felt we looked the part of an NCAA team. If we keep it up, we will be in the dance. But there are no guarantees in hockey. I just hope this weekend was our true selves and not the breakout-challenged/turnover-prone team that preceded it.

[KGR11]

In the NPI the teams are tightly packed together. Only 65 hundredths of a point separates Q in 8th place (55.89) from Denver in 13th place (55.24). Given that going forward we will mostly be playing lowly ranked teams, there's potential for us to drop to 13th or so with one loss and then outside the bubble with another loss. (Of course, we can offset this by stacking wins outside those losses.)

You're right that the low ranking of our future opponents puts us at NPI risk. I feel like we run into this every year with the ECAC.

An upside from an NPI perspective that is unique to this year, as I believe you have mentioned elsewhere, is that 70% of our regular season games going forward are on the road (that feels absurd to say on January 25). Road wins count 50% more than road losses (excluding neutral sites). From a location perspective, there was a concentration of "NPI risk" the past four weekends that we got through in good shape.

Doesn't mean there isn't ANY potential for bad losses at Lynah this year (looking at you, St. Lawrence), but I'd speculate we've gotten through more than typical at this point in the season (2x Alaska, 2x UNO, Brown, Yale, Union, RPI)

[Robb]

Barring a collapse, we should get a top 4 ECAC seed and first round bye. We are in the driver's seat for the 2-seed, which would allow us to play the winner of the Pecknold Cup in the final.

FYP.

[Trotsky]

As we wait in joyful hope, note we have not been top 10 since November 18, 2024.

We have not been top 10 during the regular season as late as January 26 since COVID.