The University of St. Thomas men’s hockey team was featured by Sports Illustrated’s Puck Drop for its continued rise in the national college hockey rankings during the 2025–26 season. The Tommies, who have won 10 straight games and sit atop the CCHA standings, climbed to No. 15 in both major polls and No. 11 in the National Collegiate Percentage Index, positioning the program for potential NCAA Tournament consideration.
From the article:
They’ve only been playing Division I hockey since 2021-22, and many thought that opening a new arena would be the biggest highlight of their season. But the Tommies of St. Thomas obviously had other thoughts. While the University of Minnesota is having a horrible season by its standards, and is nowhere to be found in the latest college hockey rankings, the “other” team in the Twin Cities has won 10 straight games, and is a month away from qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Specifically, St. Thomas (16-7-3) hasn’t lost since Dec. 5, while moving into first place in the CCHA standings during its final year in the league (it will join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference for 2026-27). The Tommies have slowly moved up to No. 15 in both polls, while the National Collegiate Percentage (NPI) Index has them at No. 11.
What that means is that if the season ended today, and St. Thomas wasn’t the CCHA automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament it could still make the 16-team field as an at-large.
Meanwhile, the 8-16-1 (4-10 Big Ten) Gophers are No. 41 in NPI. Granted, they’re No. 1 in strength of schedule, but if they won their final 10 regular-season games might still need to win the conference tournament to advance.
