UNION LAKE, Mich. – (December 6, 2017) – Minot State University jumped back into the top spot in the 2017-2018 American Collegiate Hockey Association Men's Division I Ranking, No. 11, for the first time since November 8.  The Beavers (16-2-1) hit the road to Ames, Iowa and promptly swept host Iowa State University with a 3-0 shutout win on Friday followed by a 4-1 win on Saturday.  Previously top-ranked Adrian College dropped to No. 2 despite sweeping Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League (GLCHL) rival Oakland University with a 7-1 home win on Thursday at Arrington Ice Arena followed by a 5-1 road win Friday night. 

Three Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) teams round out the top 5: No. 3 Ohio University, No. 4 Lindenwood University, and No. 5 Robert Morris University Illinois.  Ohio (15-4-1) and Robert Morris University Illinois (14-5-0) split a pair of conference games at Bird Arena in Athens, OH with each team winning a game by a score of 4-1.  Meanwhile, Lindenwood University split a pair of road games with No. 9 University of Illinois, succumbing 2-1 in overtime on the Big Pond in Champaign, Ill. on Friday before the Lions secured a 4-1 win on Saturday over the Fighting Illini.

The CSCHL leads the way with all five of its member teams ranked, while the Western Collegiate Hockey League has six (of 8) of its member teams ranked, the GLCHL has five (of 9) of its member teams ranked, and the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League has four (of 8) of its member teams ranked.

The computer ranking will for the fifth time determine the 20 teams that qualify for the 2018 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships, which will include the following six autobids:

• (CHMA) College Hockey Mid-America
• (ECHA) Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association
• (ESCHL) Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League
• (GLCHL) Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League
• (NECHL) Northeast Collegiate Hockey League
• (WCHL) Western Collegiate Hockey League

A total of 60 teams are competing in Men’s Division I this season, including three new teams: Calvin College, New York University and University of Nevada-Las Vegas.  The two teams that have departed Men’s Division I include Binghamton University and Indiana Tech.

The ACHA uses two computer rankings generated by USHSHO.com, Ranking A (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 7) and Ranking B (Wins with Maximum Goal Differential of 1), and come up with an average of the two rankings.  The ACHA will then use the list generated from the average for its weekly ranking.  Ties will be broken using the higher ranked team from Ranking B until the Top 25 teams are listed.  Games that go to a shootout will be scored as ties.

In its 27th season of action, there have been a total of 13 schools that have won the ACHA Men's Division I National Championship:

• Penn State (5 times)
• Ohio (4)
• Lindenwood (3)
• Central Oklahoma (2)
• Illinois (2)
• North Dakota State (2)
• Arizona State
• Davenport
• Delaware
• Iowa State
• Minot State
• Oakland
• Rhode Island

The 2018 ACHA Men's Division I National Championships will be hosted March 8-13 for the second consecutive season by the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, Columbus Blue Jackets, and OhioHealth Chiller Ice Rinks at the OhioHealth Ice Haus, in Columbus, OH. This will be the seventh year of the 20-team format.

The twelfth ranking of the regular season will be released on Wednesday, December 13, 2017.