ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's hockey team is opening the 2025-26 campaign ranked No. 17 in the preseason USCHO.com poll, it was announced Monday afternoon.
The Big Red earned 228 points, finishing 52 points behind No. 16 Ohio State and 59 points ahead of No. 18 Minnesota State.
This marks Cornell's ninth consecutive year ranked inside the preseason top 20, one of four Division I teams to appear in every preseason poll over that span, joining Denver, North Dakota, and Providence.
Cornell's schedule features three preseason top-20 opponents, highlighted by the biennial Red Hot Hockey contest with No. 2 Boston University at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Nov. 28. The Big Red will open the regular season with a two-game road series at No. 15 UMass (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) before meeting No. 13 Quinnipiac twice during league play (Jan. 17 at Lynah Rink; Feb. 20 in Hamden).
Seven other opponents are receiving votes in the poll: Clarkson (64), Omaha (20), Dartmouth (10), Colgate (5), Brown (4), Harvard (4), and Union (1).
Cornell's 2025-26 slate begins Friday, Oct. 17, with a home scrimmage against the Czech University Selects at Lynah Rink. The Big Red will also face the U.S. NTDP Under-18 Team in an exhibition (Oct. 25) before starting a four-game road swing that includes the season-opening series at UMass before commencing ECAC Hockey play at Harvard (Nov. 7) and Dartmouth (Nov. 8).
| 2025-26 DCU/USCHO.com Preseason Poll |
| Bold denotes scheduled Cornell opponent for 2025-26 season |
| TEAM (First-place votes) |
RECORD |
LAST |
POINTS |
| 1. Western Michigan (29) |
0-0-0 |
1 |
921 |
| 2. Boston University (3) |
0-0-0 |
2 |
907 |
| 3. Michigan State (14) |
0-0-0 |
6 |
877 |
| 4. Denver |
0-0-0 |
3 |
840 |
| 5. Penn State (3) |
0-0-0 |
5 |
820 |
| 6. Boston College |
0-0-0 |
4 |
647 |
| 7. Maine |
0-0-0 |
8 |
619 |
| 8. Minnesota |
0-0-0 |
9 |
592 |
| 9. Providence |
0-0-0 |
13 |
559 |
| 10. UConn |
0-0-0 |
7 |
542 |
| 11. North Dakota |
0-0-0 |
18 |
536 |
| 12. Michigan (1) |
0-0-0 |
17 |
434 |
| 13. Quinnipiac |
0-0-0 |
15 |
373 |
| 14. Arizona State |
0-0-0 |
16 |
358 |
| 15. UMass |
0-0-0 |
10 |
311 |
| 16. Ohio State |
0-0-0 |
11 |
280 |
| 17. Cornell |
0-0-0 |
12 |
228 |
| 18. Minnesota State |
0-0-0 |
14 |
169 |
| 19. St. Thomas |
0-0-0 |
RV |
92 |
| 20. Wisconsin |
0-0-0 |
NR |
78 |
| Others receiving votes: Colorado College (68), Clarkson (64), Northeastern (24), UMass Lowell (23), Omaha (20), Minnesota Duluth (19), Sacred Heart (19), Bentley (16), St. Cloud State (15), Notre Dame (12), Dartmouth (10), Bowling Green (5), Colgate (5), Brown (4), Harvard (4), Holy Cross (4), Michigan Tech (3), Augustana (1), Bemidji State (1), Union (1) |
