With the Badgers off, there was still plenty of action impacting UW's all-important PWR rank. As of today, the PWR looks like this:
| Record | RPI | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Team | PWR | Rk | W-L-T | Win % | Rk | RPI |
| 1 | Boston University | 24 | 1 | 23-5-1 | .8103 | 1 | .6038* |
| 2t | Notre Dame | 22 | 2 | 22-5-3 | .7833 | 2 | .5795 |
| 2t | Michigan | 22 | 7 | 22-9-0 | .7097 | 4 | .5712 |
| 4 | Vermont | 21 | 9 | 16-7-4 | .6667 | 5 | .5663 |
| 5t | Northeastern | 19 | 5t | 20-7-2 | .7241 | 3 | .5765 |
| 5t | Princeton | 19 | 4 | 18-6-0 | .7500 | 6 | .5567* |
| 7t | Cornell | 17 | 8 | 15-5-4 | .7083 | 7 | .5546* |
| 7t | Miami | 17 | 10 | 17-8-4 | .6552 | 8 | .5545 |
| 7t | Yale | 17 | 3 | 18-5-1 | .7708 | 9 | .5532* |
| 10 | Denver | 16 | 13 | 17-9-4 | .6333 | 10 | .5520 |
| 11 | Minnesota-Duluth | 14 | 15 | 15-9-6 | .6000 | 11 | .5422 |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 13 | 20 | 13-9-5 | .5741 | 12 | .5414 |
| 13 | North Dakota | 12 | 16 | 17-11-3 | .5968 | 14 | .5404 |
| 14 | Ohio State | 11 | 11 | 18-9-4 | .6452 | 13 | .5409* |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 10 | 18 | 16-11-3 | .5833 | 15 | .5380 |
| 16 | Minnesota | 9 | 22t | 12-9-6 | .5556 | 16 | .5363 |
| 17 | Boston College | 8 | 22t | 13-10-4 | .5556 | 17 | .5356 |
| 18 | Air Force | 7 | 5t | 20-7-2 | .7241 | 18 | .5276* |
| 19 | Colorado College | 6 | 19 | 14-9-8 | .5806 | 19 | .5261 |
| 20t | St. Lawrence | 5 | 21 | 15-11-3 | .5690 | 20 | .5248 |
| 20t | St. Cloud State | 5 | 24 | 16-13-2 | .5484 | 21 | .5231 |
| 22 | Dartmouth | 3 | 14 | 13-8-3 | .6042 | 22 | .5213 |
| 23 | Mass.-Lowell | 2 | 27 | 14-13-0 | .5185 | 23 | .5196 |
| 24 | Alaska | 1 | 28t | 12-11-6 | .5172 | 24 | .5123 |
| 25 | Minnesota State | 0 | 35 | 13-14-3 | .4833 | 25 | .5090 |
UW moves up one spot to 15th. Still on the outside, but nevertheless a one spot improvement.
Things to note:
- Mankato has broken into the top 25 of the RPI, and is now a TUC. This can be a double-edged sword - as a Saturday night win for them over UND certainly helps UW in the WCHA standings, but also makes it harder for UAA to climb in the top 25. If Mankato stays in the top 25, that adds much more importance to the series with the Landcows.
- UAA's tie with Minnesota still has them outside the top 25, sitting in 29th position in the RPI, though the gap between them and #25 Mankato is very small.
- Wisconsin has also opened up the margin in the individual comparison with Minnesota. UAA's tie with the Gophers dropped their RPI a few points, but it was also the first series between the Seawolves and Rodents, thus UW's 4-0 record against UAA entered into the COp criteria, giving UW a relatively comfortable 4-2 comparison win. The RPI is still very tight, however - and Minnesota can flip that back into a 3-3 tie, with the RPI providing the tiebreak.
| Wisconsin | vs | Minnesota | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .5380 | 1 | RPI | 0 | .5363 | ||
| 6-8-1 | .4333 | 0 | TUC | 1 | .5556 | 9-7-2 |
| 11-6-0 | .6471 | 1 | COp | 0 | .5882 | 8-5-4 |
| 2-1-1 | 2 | H2H | 1 | 1-2-1 | ||
| 4 | TOT | 2 | ||||
A look at the individual comparison table shows which comparisons UW can realistically flip. Of the teams immediately ahead of UW, the RPI is the crucial factor in all of the comparisons. The margin between teams is extremely close, and winning the RPI will either flip the comparison in favor straight up or it will force a tie, and then break said tie.
The comparisons with UND and DU will be settled head to head. Ohio State, UNH, and UMD are all within striking distance in the RPI - but conversely, UW is also one or two bad games away from losing contact and falling behind.
For UW, improving their RPI remains the highest priority. Given their remaining schedule, the goals of winning the WCHA and improving their RPI are essentially the same. The margin is slim.
We'll see how Saturday's games shake things up.
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