Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1-#59
#4 - Boston College Eagles
All-Time Record (Division 1): 1492-804-127 (.642)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 33
NCAA Tournament Record: 47-40
Frozen Four Appearances: 24 (1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1985, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
Best Result: National Champion (1949, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012)
Most Dominant Season*: 2000-2001 (33-8-2 (.791) Hockey East Regular Season Champions, Hockey East Tournament Champions, NCAA National Champion)
Conference Championships: Regular Season - 14 Tournament - 13
National Championships: 5
Points Earned - 360.7912
Change: 7.3663 (+ 2.08%)
Last Season Position: 5 (up 1 spot)
The Boston College Eagles come in at #4. The Eagles have absolutely dominated the college hockey landscape since Jerry York took over the program in 1994. While his first few seasons were a bit shaky, since 1998 BC has been absolutely amazing. In an era of college hockey where parity is king, the Eagles have been the overlords of the kingdom. Boston College has made an astonishing 11 trips to the Frozen Four since 1998, played in 8 National Championship games, and won 4 National Championships. However, the Eagles presence at #4 is not solely because of the last two decades under York. Boston College sports the best winning percentage in the history of college hockey, and they are tied for the most Frozen Four appearances. The program hasn't had a losing season since 1996-1997, and it does not appear as though the Eagles will have one in the near future. If Boston College continues this stretch for another 16 seasons, they will likely sit atop these rankings. For now, they sit at #4.
#5 - Denver Pioneers
All-Time Record (Division 1): 1343-894-138 (.595)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 25
NCAA Tournament Record: 27-21
Frozen Four Appearances: 14 (1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1986, 2004, 2005)
Best Result: National Champion (1958, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1969, 2004, 2005)
Most Dominant Season*: 1960-1961 (30-1-1 (.953) WCHA Regular Season Champions, WCHA Tournament Champions, NCAA National Champions)
Conference Championships: Regular Season - 12 Tournament - 16
National Championships: 7
Points Earned - 355.4322
Change: 1.3579 (+ 0.38%)
Last Season Position: 4 (down 1 spot)
The Denver Pioneers come in at #5. The Pioneers struggled last season under first year head coach Jim Montgomery, but rallied in the NCHC Tournament to capture the conference's inaugural tournament championship and garner the automatic birth. Lifting hardware is nothing new for the DU program. The Pioneers have won more pieces of major hardware (i.e. national championships, regular season championships, and conference tournament championships) than any other program. Much of Denver's major damage in that regard came during the reign of legendary head coach Murray Armstrong, who led the Pioneers to 5 NCAA National Championships, 7 Conference Regular Season Championships, and 10 Conference Tournament Championships. More recently, George Gwozdecky guided DU to back to back national titles in 2004 and 2005, the last program to accomplish such a feat (and something DU has done 3 separate times). All of this has resulted in pretty big shoes for Montgomery to follow in, but if he can lead the Pios to more hardware, and in particular more NCAA titles, the Pioneers will rise up these rankings. For now, they sit at #5.
#4 - Boston College - 360.7912
#5 - Denver - 355.4322
#6 - Wisconsin - 345.9141
#7 - Boston University - 344.7717
#8 - Michigan State - 233.7003
#9 - Maine - 172.1054
#10 - Michigan Tech - 161.8814
#11 - Cornell - 159.018
#12 - Lake Superior State - 155.1683
#13 - Colorado College - 148.1879
#14 - Harvard - 129.0634
#15 - Clarkson - 128.0195
#16 - Minnesota Duluth - 111.5523
#17 - Rensselaer - 100.4252
#18 - New Hampshire - 83.5951
#19 - Northern Michigan - 80.9098
#20 - Bowling Green - 80.4704
#21 - Yale - 74.1412
#22 - St. Lawrence - 67.3464
#23 - Union - 57.2992
#24 - Providence - 48.6853
#25 - Miami - 46.6971
#26 - Notre Dame - 40.1649
#27 - Dartmouth - 39.6473
#28 - Ferris State - 32.6449
#29 - Colgate - 31.9207
#30 - Northeastern - 25.981
#31 - Quinnipiac - 25.2018
#32 - St. Cloud State - 25.0657
#33 - Brown - 21.4977
#34 - Ohio State - 19.2421
#35 - Massachusetts Lowell - 17.8988
#36 - Vermont - 17.4219
#37 - Bemidji State - 12.3169
#38 - RIT - 9.4061
#39 - Western Michigan - 7.9725
#40 - Niagara - 7.9213
#41 - Princeton - 7.1971
#42 - Air Force - 6.4961
#43 - Alaska Anchorage - 6.3671
#44 - Holy Cross - 5.0707
#45 - Nebraska Omaha - 5.0605
#46 - Minnesota State - 4.6448
#47 - Merrimack - 4.6092
#48 - Mercyhurst - 4.5085
#49 - Alaska - 3.8568
#50 - Massachusetts - 3.5038
#51 - Alabama Huntsville - 2.1932
#52 - Army - 1.6052
#53 - Canisius - 0.6028
#54 - Robert Morris - 0.5497
#55 - Connecticut - 0.2728
#56 - Sacred Heart - 0.1664
#57 - Penn State - 0.0589
#58 - AIC - 0.0374
#59 - Bentley - 0.0363
*According to my formula for determining the best teams from the NCAA era (1947-present)