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The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#44 – Niagara Purple Eagles
Points: 7.3249 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.1398 (Rank: 54)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 0.6094 (Rank: 48)
Last Season Ranking: #42

After three single-digit win seasons in a row (5-31-3 this past season, along with 6-25-6 and 7-28-4 the previous two seasons), Niagara sacked their head coach of 16 years, Dave Burkholder. The Purple Eagles were 0-5-1 in their OOC games (60th in PWR), were last in the AHC regular season standings, gave up 165 goals (4.23 GAA), scored only 76 goals (1.95 GPG), yet somehow took two of three from RIT in the first round of the AHC playoffs, before getting swept by Canisius in the second round. The Purple Eagles are losing six seniors, including Jackson Teichroeb who logged the majority of minutes in net, so new head coach Jason Lammers will have his work cut out for himself to get the Purple Eagles back to double-digit win seasons. – Snively65
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#43 – Princeton Tigers
Points: 7.3523 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.0330 (Rank: 37)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 1.9303 (Rank: 39)
Last Season Ranking: #43

The Tigers showed significant improvement in 2016-17, finishing one game below .500. The three years prior resulted in 5, 4, and 6 wins. Princeton swept Bemidji State on the road, swept Quinnipiac home and away, and defeated Penn State at home. They also won in the first round of the ECAC tournament over Colgate, scoring the tying goal with :01 left, winning in overtime, then winning the next night to advance. Princeton had a total of 7 seniors on the roster, none of whom scored in double digits. However, starting goaltender Colton Phinney was a senior; their other goaltender played in only 3 games last season. – drshoen
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#42 – Air Force Falcons
Points: 8.6899 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 1.952 (Rank: 13)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 2.5943 (Rank: 34)
Last Season Ranking: #44

Air Force lost 3-2 in OT to Sacred Heart in their last regular season game, which cost the Falcons the regular season title. However, the Falcons improved their overall record this past season to 27-10-5 from 20-12-5 the previous season, won the AHC tourney with wins over Army and Robert Morris, and then beat Western Michigan 5-4 before losing to Harvard 3-2 in the NCAA East Regional, depriving Air Force of a trip to the Frozen Four. The Falcons were 4-4-2 in OOC games this past season, including a 2-1 win over Boston College to begin their season, besides their playoff win in the East Regional. With a 12th in the PWR, the Falcons represented the AHC well this past season. The Falcons have their top 10 scorers returning this coming season, but they lost their star sophomore goalie Shane Starrett (37 games and 2142 minutes played, 0.778 win %, 1.99 GAA, 0.925 SV%), the first Falcon to sign a pro contract while still at the Academy. If the Falcons can replace Starrett’s performance in net and earn more hardware, they should continue to climb in these rankings. – Snively65
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#41 – Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks
Points: 8.715 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.4088 (Rank: 24)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 6.1102 (Rank: 20)
Last Season Ranking: #40

In Mike Hasting's fifth season as head coach, Minnesota State again won at least 20 games. Throughout the season, the Maverick's longest losing streak was only two games, which only happened once. Minnesota State was never swept, but were also not really able to put together much of a winning streak after winning their first five games. Despite all of that, it was probably a little bit disappointing for the Mavericks to finish third and not make the WCHA championship game or the NCAA tournament.

Minnesota State returns it's top six scorers from last year while managing to not suffer any early departures. Their biggest losses come on the defense and at goaltending where Sean Flanagan, Carter Foguth, and Cole Huggins graduate. Despite those loses, the Mavericks should be considered one of the favorites for the McNaughton Cup and Broadmoor Trophy with young stars like Marc Michaelis, CJ Franklin, and Brad McClure back for another season. – Shirtless Guy
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#40 – Western Michigan Broncos
Points: 8.8932 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.8101 (Rank: 18)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 1.6006 (Rank: 41)
Last Season Ranking: #41

The Broncos had a great year with a 22-13-5 record, the biggest turnaround in wins from last season (and the most wins for the program since 1996) in the NCAA when they won eight games. They finished 3rd in the NCHC and earned a two seed in the NCAA Tournament but lost their opening game. Next season looks like it should be another strong season but the Broncos lost their top scorer to the pros. They could move up another spot or two in these rankings with another 20+ win season and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. – Siouxfaninseattle
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#39 – Nebraska Omaha Mavericks
Points: 11.0343 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.5711 (Rank: 21)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 7.2774 (Rank: 18)
Last Season Ranking: #39

The Mavericks had another disappointing season in ’16-’17 with a 17-17-5 record and ending their season in the NCHC playoffs. But the big news is the retirement of Dean Blais after eight years with the program. Mike Gabinet, a UNO alum, has been named the new head coach after serving as associate head coach for about a year. He will be challenged to improve on last year’s record with 20 games scheduled in ’17-’18 against teams that made the NCAA tournament this year, and the loss of the team’s top two players. UNO will still have an experienced team with 16 upper classmen returning. – Siouxfaninseattle
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#38 – RIT Tigers
Points: 11.2998 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.5691 (Rank: 56)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 1.7361 (Rank: 40)
Last Season Ranking: #38

After winning the AHC playoffs two seasons in a row, RIT dropped below 0.500 this past year (14-22-1 vs 18-15-6). The Tigers were 0-5-1 in OOC games (51st in PWR), and then got booted out of the first round of the AHC playoffs, losing two of three games to Niagara. The Tigers are losing seven seniors, including goalie Mike Rotolo who logged nearly all the minutes in net this past season. However, the Tigers also have 10 of their top 12 scorers returning, so there is hope that they can return to their winning ways in the AHC. – Snively65
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#37 – Bemidji State Beavers
Points: 14.8173 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 2.0731 (Rank: 11)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 2.476 (Rank: 35)
Last Season Ranking: #37

A haughty critic would look at the 2016-17 success for Bemidji State and say, “They were the best team in a weak league. They’re benefitting from the changes in the WCHA.” In response, Gang Green can point to the fact that the the Beavers’ breakthrough is unlike that of Michigan Tech, Minnesota State, or Bowling Green — their gains came after the change, going from winning percentages of .278, .355, .487, and .513 before last season’s .573.

Like most of their WCHA brethren, the Beavers struggled in out-of-conference play last season, going 2-10-1. These struggles kept the Beavers out of postseason play, as the WCHA was a one-bid league. The Beavers also faded down the stretch, sweeping just once in 2017 (at home against Michigan Tech that put the regular season title in little doubt), getting swept in the final North Star Cup, and splitting every other series before going to three games against Northern Michigan and being swept by BG.

It gets a little darker for the Beavers, as three of their top five (and four of nine) scorers graduated. The good news is that Michael Bitzer seems set to come back for his final season of eligibility, and his three rising senior classmates named Fitzgerald will also be there to shoulder the load. This team has been building, and next season could be special at the headwaters of the Mississippi. – gfmorris
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

FS23 would you add 1 stat possibly without much trouble? Include # of seasons the program has been Div I.
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

Slap Shot said:
FS23 would you add 1 stat possibly without much trouble? Include # of seasons the program has been Div I.
Click to expand...

I don't have that information readily available. As I noted before, I keep track based on games played as opposed to number of seasons. However, I don't think the information would be too difficult to put together. I don't have the extra time at the moment, but if someone wants to put together the information, I'll add it into the summaries.
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#36 – Vermont Catamounts
Points: 18.7382 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.2147 (Rank: 28)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 2.8924 (Rank: 32)
Last Season Ranking: #36

Vermont came into the season with tempered expectations in the aftermath of a hazing scandal that shook the university community. Unsure of how the team would be able to bounce back from the loss of their senior leadership for the first few weekends of the season most expected a middle of the table finish in Hockey East. They lived up to those expectations, coming out to start the season hot, splitting with Clarkson and taking 3 points from Omaha. Through the rest of the season they won most of the games they were expected to win (big wins over BU and QU in late Nov early Dec, splitting with Providence, two ties with BC late in the year), but taking a combined one point from Notre Dame and Lowell set them back to the 6th spot in Hockey East. Freshman Stefanos Lekkas was the story of the season, stepping in for Senior Mike Santaguida, starting 33 games for the Catamounts. Looking towards next season, expectations remain similar, with hopes the losses of Mario Puskarich’s high flying offense and Brady Shaw’s senior leadership can adequately be filled by returning players. – UML Puck Hawk
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#35 – Ohio State Buckeyes
Points: 20.4009 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: 0.9225 (Rank: 17)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 3.0765 (Rank: 30)
Last Season Ranking: #35

The Buckeyes had a nice turnaround last season, finishing with a 21-12-6 record (including an impressive 13-2-3 road record), a #8 ranking earlier in the year and making the national tournament for the first time since ’09. Unfortunately they ran into a hot goalie and bowed out after a first round loss. The ’17-’18 season looks very promising as they return a lot of this year’s team and bring back alum J.B. Bittner (’02-’05) as assistant coach. There is also talk of building a new on-campus arena. – Siouxfaninseattle
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

How/why did BSU earn so many more points last season than OSU?
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

Slap Shot said:
How/why did BSU earn so many more points last season than OSU?
Click to expand...

There are a variety of reasons why Bemidji State's 2016-2017 campaign earned more points than Ohio State's in these rankings. Bemidji State won their conference, had a First-Team All-American, and had a Hobey Baker Finalist. The teams had similar records, but Ohio State had a slightly better strength of schedule and made the NCAA Tournament, losing its first game. Had Ohio State beaten Minnesota Duluth, they would likely have scored more points than Bemidji State. I would also note that BSU only scored about 1 more point than OSU...not really "so many" points in general, although for teams at this stage of the rankings, 1 point does represent a decent bump.

Shirtless Guy said:
McNaughton Cup title is more valuable than making the NCAA as an at-large?
Click to expand...

It depends on the team/season, but in general, a conference title is worth more than making the NCAA Tournament...although they usually do go together.
 
Re: The Greatest Programs of All-Time: #1 - #60

#34 – Brown Bears
Points: 22.5807 Points
Points Earned in 2016-2017: -0.1011 (Rank: 53)
Points Earned in Past Five Seasons: 4.0778 (Rank: 28)
Last Season Ranking: #33

Brown continued a long decline in 2016-17; for the last 5 years their win total decreased from 16 to 11, 8, 5, and this years' 4. The Bears lost in the first round of the ECAC tournament in two games to Quinnipiac. Brown had only 6 seniors, none of whom scored more than 7 points; in total they got 16 points from their seniors. Brown also started a freshman in net for most of the season, so they do not have significant losses to recover from. – drshoen
 
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