ITHACA, N.Y. — Following a vote of the league's 12 head coaches, the No. 17-ranked Cornell men's hockey team has been picked to finish third in the ECAC Hockey preseason poll, the conference office announced Thursday morning.

The Big Red received one first-place vote and totaled 111 points, placing behind only No. 13-ranked Quinnipiac (nine first-place votes, 129 points) and Clarkson (two first-place votes, 118 points). Dartmouth (97 points) rounded out the top four, finishing 14 points behind Cornell. It marks the second straight year that Clarkson, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Quinnipiac have occupied the top four spots in the preseason poll.

Cornell has now been picked as a top-four finisher in eight consecutive ECAC Hockey preseason polls, excluding 2020-21 when only four league members competed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clarkson holds the conference's longest active streak with nine straight top-four preseason selections dating back to 2016-17. Eight of the last nine preseason favorites have been either Cornell or Quinnipiac.

Union (93 points) ranked fifth, followed by Harvard (79), Colgate (75), Princeton (55), St. Lawrence (48), Brown (47), RPI (42), and Yale (27) to round out the 12-team field.

Cornell's 2025-26 campaign begins Friday, Oct. 17, with a home scrimmage against the Czech University Selects at Lynah Rink. The Big Red will also host the U.S. NTDP Under-18 Team in an exhibition contest on Saturday, Oct. 25, before opening the regular season with a four-game road swing that features a two-game series at UMass (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) and the first weekend of ECAC Hockey play at Harvard (Nov. 7) and Dartmouth (Nov. 8).
 

2025-26 ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll
First-place votes denoted in parentheses
1. Quinnipiac (9) — 129 points
2. Clarkson (2) — 118 points
3. Cornell (1) — 111 points
4. Dartmouth — 97 points
5. Union — 93 points
6. Harvard — 79 points
7. Colgate — 77 points
8. Princeton — 55 points
9. St. Lawrence — 48 points
10. Brown — 47 points
11. RPI — 42 points
12. Yale — 27 points