In the seventh and penultimate WCCHA League KRACH Rankings of the 2019-2020 season, the final round of full interdivisional action provided a bevy of additional data and caused some significant movement across the top 10.

Holding onto the #1 spot is the University of St. Thomas, who continue to rack up league wins and solidify their standing. With only one game left in the WCCHA regular season for the Tommies - a Tuesday night tilt against Gustavus - UST looks to have the inside track once again on the overall top seed at the 2020 tournament.

Also steady at #2 is the University of Minnesota, who battled to a 2-1 weekend against tough opposition in Wisconsin and North Dakota State. The Gophers - who also sit atop the Northwest Division standings - have one series left against St. John's and can claim the higher seed on the other half of the bracket with two wins.

Despite a drop in the numerical ratings, at #3 North Dakota State University stayed in a strong tournament position with a sweeep over UW-La Crosse and loss to Minnesota. Although technically not yet qualified via the Division with one week left and games in hand (due to weather postponements), the Bison are in a strong position ahead of a final showdown against in-state rivals North Dakota this coming weekend.

Moving up to #4 is the University of Wisconsin, who split the weekend series with Minnesota. The Badgers have completed their league schedule and are confirmed for the tournament, but will await the final week of conference results to confirm their seed.

With a sweep of St. Cloud State, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire maintained their spot at #5 in the KRACH. The Blugolds missed out on automatic qualification via the division (they sit 4th in the Southeast) and thus are a "wildcard", but a very strong showing in interdivisional and independent play has them primed for another trip to the Tournament.

Falling two positions to #6 is Gustavus Adolphus College, who started the week hot with a win over Bethel and St. Cloud State, but dropped 3 of 4 points at home on the weekend to North Dakota.  These mixed returns were enough to send the Gusties down in the rankings, where they could face a "road" path in the tournament. GAC has one last change to make a charge with a big final division game against St. Thomas on Tuesday.

With the mix of results elsewhere, two loses to top rated St. Thomas didn't move the needle for #7 University of Minnesota-Duluth, who remain within the tournament field. If the regular season ended today (it does not-this Sunday is the final day for games), UMD would finish in the top 3 in the Divison and automatically qualify. With their regular season schedule complete, the Bulldogs will have to wait until Sunday to learn their fate, but they have a strong position. Scoreboard watching - particularly the series in Grand Forks - will be on the menu Friday and Saturday as the team looks to make their first appearance at the WCCHA Tournament since 2014.

Occupying the final tournament spot via wildcard is the #8 University of North Dakota, who despite not moving up, did strengthen their rating with a big weekend at Gustavus Adolphus. The rating gap between 8 and 9 grew, providing the Fighting Hawks a bit of comfort as they prepare for a major battle this coming weekend.

On the outside looking in is #9 St. John's University, who still has a shot to move up if they can get results this weekend against MInnesota and potentially NDSU (possible makeup game). SJU split with #10 Winona State University, who fell one spot and has an upcoming series with UW-La Crosse to close out their return season to the WCCHA. At #11, Minnesota State University could still make some waves with two games against UW-Eau Claire coming up.

Finally, having completed their league season, #12 St. Cloud State University will almost certainly await next season's challenge for a return to the tournament, as will the pair tied at #13, Bethel University and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

St. Thomas, the University of Wisconsin, and Gustavus Adolphus have automatically qualify from the Southeast by confirming a top 3 finish. In the Northwest, while Minnesota has also confirmed qualification while Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota State would also automatically qualify from the Northwest. The wildcard entrants, then, would be UW-Eau Claire and North Dakota.

Based upon these rankings, the first round matchups at the 2020 WCCHA Tournament would be:

• #1 St. Thomas vs. #8 North Dakota
• #2 Minnesota vs. #7 Minnesota-Duluth
• #3 North Dakota State vs. #6 Gustavus Adolphus
• #4 Wisconsin vs. #5 UW-Eau Claire

The seventh rankings are illustrative of the records to date. There is only one week left of regular season play prior to the final KRACH Rankings set to be released this Sunday, Feb. 2.

FOR FULL RANKINGS, CLICK HERE

ABOUT THE WCCHA KRACH RANKINGS:

This season, the WCCHA will utilize KRACH Rankings for both Tournament Qualification and Tournament Seeding. 

Starting the week of Nov. 11, the WCCHA KRACH Rankings will be published each Monday after a WCCHA series is contested, with the final rankings on Feb. 2. The KRACH Rankings will use all WCCHA results, Divisional and Non-Divisional, to order teams according to their league-wide results. As a reminder, this season the top 3 finishers in both the Northwest Division and Southeast Division will automatically qualify for the 2020 WCCHA Tournament. Thereafter, the final two spots at the 2020 WCCHA Tournament will go to the 2 teams with the highest KRACH ranking not otherwise qualified. Finally, once the field of 8 is set for the 2020 WCCHA Tournament, the KRACH rankings will be used to seed the tournament in spots 1-8.