MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The reigning Big Ten Conference champions enter the 2020-21 campaign with the highest preseason ranking in program history as Penn State landed at No. 9 in the preseason Division I poll released by USCHO.com on Monday afternoon.
This marks the fourth-consecutive season the Nittany Lions have earned a preseason ranking with their previous high coming at No. 10 to begin 2017-18. Penn State won its first Big Ten regular-season title last year and were poised for another deep postseason run prior to the cancellation of the championship season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nittany Lions finished the season 20-10-4 overall and 12-8-4-1 in league action.
The Nittany Lions have now been ranked in 64-consecutive polls dating back nearly three full seasons. The last time Penn State went unranked was in the poll released on November 27, 2017.
Penn State tops a list of five Big Ten programs ranked inside the top-10 to begin 2020-21 joining Ohio State (No. 10), Michigan (No. 12), Minnesota (No. 14) and Notre Dame (No. 20) while Wisconsin also received votes. Arizona State which will be a part of the 2020-21 schedule for all B1G teams also finds itself in the top-20 at No. 15.
North Dakota tops the poll receiving 28 of the 40 first-place votes with Boston College (No.2), Minnesota Duluth (No. 3), Minnesota State (No. 4) and Cornell (No. 6) each receiving at least one first-place vote. Hockey East joins the Big Ten with five conference members ranked to open the season while the NCHC has four, the ECAC has three and the WCHA has two.
