BOWLING GREEN — For the first time since 1996 and the first time in the history of the USCHO poll, Bowling Green is a top-five hockey team.
Following a weekend sweep of Northern Michigan, Bowling Green climbed to No. 5 in the USCHO poll, marking its highest-ever place in the rankings that began in 1997.
BG has not been ranked this highly since the beginning of the 1996-97 season, during which the Falcons started 6-0 and went as high as No. 3 in an earlier poll. A lengthy winless streak dropped BG out of the rankings entirely that season, marking the beginning of prolonged downturn.
The program cratered shortly thereafter, was nearly cut in 2009, and finished with 16 consecutive non-winning seasons before turning around under former coach Chris Bergeron.
Bowling Green, now under the second-year coach Ty Eigner, has had six consecutive seasons with at least 21 wins. BG made the NCAA tournament in 2019 for the first time since 1990.
The Falcons have started this season 14-2, including 8-0 on the road, with series sweeps against current No. 10 Quinnipiac and current No. 17 Robert Morris.
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association put two teams in the top five, as Minnesota State moved up to No. 2 and earned three first-place votes behind No. 1 Boston College.
The NCAA tournament selection committee is not using the traditional PairWise rankings to seed the 16-team field this year, but the top four teams in the country all earn No. 1 seeds in the four respective regions.
Bowling Green will return to the ice for a nonleague series beginning Thursday at Bemidji State.
First Published January 18, 2021, 7:24 p.m.
