The men’s college hockey season is in full swing. With conference play heating up in late October, let’s take a look at which teams are poised to compete for conference titles after the first few weeks of the season.
HOCKEY RANKINGS: 📊 See the latest USCHO rankings
Big Ten – Michigan
No. 3 Michigan has seen its biggest rise in rankings since the start of the season to No. 12. The Wolves are 6-0 for the first time since 1979, and their offense is on fire, outscoring opponents 40-7 over six games and scoring 40 goals, the most in the nation13.
The Wolverines went on a warm-up to start the season, beating No. 7 Providence in two games and beating Robert Morris 10-2. The underclassmen have been a key factor in Michigan’s young season of success. Sophomore Michael Hage leads the team with 11 points (5G, 6A), while Cole McKinney and Malcolm Spence are tied for the most points from NCAA first-years with 7 (3G, 4A).
Malcolm Spence’s shorthanded goal! pic.twitter.com/W0bGt0l2Z7
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) October 11, 2025
But perhaps the best Wolverine on ice was in blue paint. Freshman goaltender Jack Ivankovic has a .942 SV% and 1.17 GAA, the best of any goalie with at least four starts. The Wolverines face No. 2 Western Michigan on Oct. 23 and 24 before opening their conference meet Oct. 31 at Notre Dame.
Other Big Ten competitors
With so much hockey played, it’s clear the Wolverines aren’t a lock for the Big Ten title. Rival Michigan State is currently ranked No. 1 in the USCHO rankings, and for good reason. The Spartans won 4-2, 4-3 (OT) in a wild series against top-seeded Boston U. last weekend. The Spartans are loaded on paper, and their series against BU showed that they are one of the most complete teams in the country.
The Spartans will play another star-studded team on Nov. 7 in No. 5 Penn State. The Nittany Lions are off to a 5-1 start to the season, but they haven’t been playing the cleanest hockey yet. They struggled at home against Long Island, surviving a 5-4 OT thriller in the series opener, but fell behind 3-0 in the second game. JJ Wiebusch and Charlie Cerrato have scored most of the team’s goals, but it’s only a matter of time before highly touted freshman Gavin McKenna leaves. If the Nittany Lions can get things clicking, they could cause trouble in the Big Ten.
READ MORE: Gavin McKenna makes NCAA debut
NCHC – Western Michigan
Western Michigan opened the season with a 3-2 home loss to Ferris State, but the Broncos have won three straight against the Bulldogs and UMass-Lowell to start the season 3-1. WMU lost key players Tim Washe and Alex Bump to the NHL, but Michigan transfer William Whitelaw has four goals and an assist in four games.
Tyler McKenzie and William Whitelaw’s second goal of the night, first career points! pic.twitter.com/HQlK22I6Yo
— WMU Hockey (@WMUHockey) October 19, 2025
Sophomore Juona Veisenen leads the team with six points, but the Broncos’ offensive strength comes from their depth in scoring, as 11 different players found the back of the net. Like Michigan, WMU is backed by one of the top goalies in the country, Hampton Slukinski. His numbers are down to start the season with an .890 SV% and 2.02 GAA in four starts, but we know what he’s capable of when he gets hot, as evidenced by his impressive freshman season last year.
The Broncos open conference play at St. Cloud State on Oct. 31 before hosting Denver the following weekend.
ECAC – Quinnipiac
No. 6 Quinnipiac has made another big jump since starting the season at No. 13 in the USCHO rankings. The Bobcats have impressive resumes with wins over No. 6 Boston College and No. 7 Maine. Their first loss came against Fairbanks, Alaska in the Ice Breaker Tournament, but they bounced back with a 7-2 win over Notre Dame in the Ice Breaker consolation game.
Quinnipiac ranks eighth in the nation in goals scored with four goals per game, led by freshman Ethan Wittenbach and senior Jeremy Wilmer with four each. Wittenbach is off to a great start to his collegiate career, as he is the only freshman in the nation to score in his first six games.
Baby is on 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Wittenbach scored in four games in a row!#BobcatNation x #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/kstvb9Nb0H
— Quinnipiac Men’s Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) October 19, 2025
Quinnipiac opens conference play at Yale on Nov. 7, at Brown on Nov. 8, and hosts No. 2 Boston University on Nov. 15.
READ MORE: Quinnipiac takes third place in men’s icebreaker competition.
Hockey East – Boston University
Unlike other conferences, the Hockey East doesn’t have a team out of the gate, but if there’s a team that’s best suited for conference play, it’s No. 3 Boston University.
BU has had a mediocre start to the season, going 2-2-1 in its first five games. Still, the Terriers are still the top dogs in the Hockey East, boasting the NHL’s most recent draft pick (19) and one of the top goaltenders in Cole Eiserman (5G). A tough two-game sweep against Michigan State showed that BU can go toe-to-toe with the nation’s top contenders, but with Michigan State sweeping the series, the Terriers need to find the next gear to finish the game.
One of the bright spots in the Terriers’ young season has been sophomore goaltender Mikhail Egorov, who has stopped 60 shots over two games against MSU and posted a .911 SV% and 2.74 GAA in five starts. Like WMU’s Slukynski, Egorov had a solid freshman campaign and led the Terriers to a Frozen Four championship last season, so he should be able to reach another level as BU enters the 2025-26 campaign.
BU opens conference play Oct. 24 and 25 against No. 12 UConn in a home-and-home series. It will be interesting to see how the Terriers can bounce back from a tough series loss against current no. 1 Michigan State.
CCHA – Augustana
Augustana has been one of the surprises of the season so far, going 3-1-0 overall and playing convincingly as it split the series with Minnesota Duluth and finished No. 15 Arizona. In the latest USCHO poll, the Vikings were unranked despite their 80-point sweep of ASU at Augustana. The Vikings were the best team in the third period, winning 3 times and scoring 2 goals in the last period of each game.
Goaltender Josh Cotay started all four games for Augustana, posting a .936 SV% and 2.00 GAA in a shutout against high-scoring Minnesota Duluth. Junior Hunter Bischoff led the team in goals (3) and points (5) and has scored three straight in the Vikings’ conference opener against Bemidji State on Oct. 24-25.
AHA – Canisius
The AHA looks pretty wide open to start the season, but one team that is emerging as a top contender is Canisius. The Golden Griffins got off to a wild start to the season, beating No. 20 Clarkson in their opener and splitting the series at home against Long Island. They opened the season 5-2-0 with a 3-1 win over Army in their first AHA contest before splitting the series again before taking on Colgate.
Through six starts, senior G Chase Clark leads the NCAA with 179 shutouts, and his five wins trail only Michigan’s Jack Ivankovic. Senior forward Grant Porter is seventh with 10 (4G, 6A) and has one in six games this season, including the OT winner in the opener against LIU.
Mass. to battle Bentley as Canisius heads into the thick of AHA play.
Don’t sleep on the Sacred Heart
Despite Canisius’ hot start, it’s still early in the season and there’s plenty of time to shake things up in the conference. Another team to watch out for is Sacred Heart, led by standout sophomore goaltender Ajeet Gundara, who should build on his strong freshman season last year.
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