Pre-season Ranking: #13

Wisconsin starts the season ranked #13 according to USA Today and Todd's TCT post.

5 other WCHA teams are ranked in the top 15 including North Dakota (fourth), Colorado College (fifth), Denver (sixth) and minnesota (ninth), and St. Cloud State (15th).

BC rightly returns as the pre-season #1, followed by Michigan (who won all those titles before math was created) and Notre Dame (St. Norberts has a better rink).

As Todd puts it regarding the start of the schedule:

"The Badgers' first month of the season looked daunting when it was revealed, and now we have a way of measuring that. In the first eight games, they'll play the teams ranked Nos. 1, 4, 6, 7 and 9.

Wisconsin, in fact, may not face an unranked team until Nov. 7-8, when it hosts Michigan Tech. After traveling to BC and UNH to start the season, the Badgers play at Denver, home against Minnesota and at North Dakota in a challenging first month."

The only rankings that really matter are the Pairwise and ultimately the team that has more goals at the final whistle during the championship game in Washington DC.