The University of Minnesota men's hockey program has taken sole possession of first place in this week's USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll after sharing the honor with Boston College in the preseason poll.
The Gophers, who topped Lethbridge 7-0 in exhibition action on Saturday at Mariucci Arena, edged past the defending national champions with 483 votes to Boston College's 482 in this week's poll. Minnesota also picked up 14 first-place votes.
Minnesota opens the 2012-13 regular season against Michigan State this weekend at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers kick things off at 6 p.m. on Friday before closing out the weekend on Saturday at 8 p.m.
USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine 2012-13 Men's College Hockey Poll
Week 1
| 1 | University of Minnesota, 483 (14) | 1 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 2 | Boston College, 482 (19) | 1 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 3 | University of Michigan, 429 (1) | 3 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 4 | University of North Dakota, 406 | 4 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 5 | Cornell University, 284 | 6 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 6 | UMass-Lowell, 263 | 7 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 7 | Western Michigan University, 250 | 11 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 8 | Miami University, 234 | 9 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 9 | Union College, 227 | 5 | 0-1-0 | 2 |
| 10 | University of Denver, 200 | 8 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 11 | Ferris State University, 176 | 14 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 12 | University of Minnesota Duluth,140 | 12 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 13 | University of Notre Dame, 136 | 10 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 14 | Boston University, 119 | 13 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
| 15 | University of Wisconsin, 63 | 15 | 0-0-0 | 2 |
Others receiving votes: Harvard University, 40; Quinnipiac University, 36; Michigan State University, 33; Colorado College, 21; Merrimack College, 26; University of Maine, 13; Ohio State University, 6; St. Cloud State University, 6; University of New Hampshire, 5; United States Air Force Academy, 2
