Okay, I'll bite.  First my rankings, then some (okay, alot of)
explanation:
 
1. Minnesota
2. North Dakota
3. Boston University
4. New Hampshire
5. Colorado College
6. Cornell
7. Maine
8. Clarkson
9. Michigan
10. I don't know
 
Warning: This post turned out to be much longer than I had anticipated.
 
I've ranked Minnesota at the top for several reasons.  Accusations of
partisanship may not be entirely unwarranted, but there is some thought.
 Minnesota and North Dakota were very even last season; with a different
bounce in the WCHA final overtime, I can see the Gophers treading the
same path UND did.  The Sioux played at their absolute best when it
counted and it's so hard to do that once, let alone twice (see:
Michigan).  Assuming Crowley stays (which I'm thinking is increasingly
likely), neither of these teams loses much.  My decision to rank
Minnesota ahead of UND is mostly that I think intangibles will break
differently this year.
 
BU's ranking is largely a guess.  I'm not sure how much they lose or who
they have coming in.  Drury is great, they really impressed me down the
stretch, and I think that there might be an intangible factor provided
by Jack Parker turning down the Bruins job to stay.  I used to really
hate BU (the legacy of being brought up by a Harvard prof, I guess), but
they've won me over the last couple of years.  I can't say that they're
my favorite, but I'm at least neutral.
 
On paper, UNH looks like they ought to set the world on fire, but I
dunno.  I understand the atmosphere down the stretch last year wasn't
very helpful, but I haven't been impressed with this team's killer
instinct over the last couple of years.  If anything, they remind me of
Michigan teams at the beginning of the decade; they can destroy the
bottom of the league by margins no one else can comprehend, but feel
insecure every time they go up against the top teams and can't overcome
the hump despite the talent.  To extend the Michigan analogy, maybe this
is their 92-93 and they'll finally wipe up Maine and BU.  It's certainly
possible, but I'm waiting to be convinced.  (Yes, I know I have them
ranked above Maine.  Call it splitting the difference.  Or being a
coward.  Whatever.)
 
I lot of people seem to have forgotten about Colorado College when
posting their predictions.  This is another Final Four team that brings
back a heck of a lot; last year was supposed to be the rebuilding year
in the Springs.  They do lose some defensemen, but this was actually the
weakest looking component and the young guys were pretty good.  Ryan
Bach is gone, but Cugnet had taken the top job from him until a late
injury.  Minnesota and North Dakota better not focus on each other too
much, or the Tigers could steal the show.
 
My Cornell ranking combines two elements.  When I saw them play in Grand
Rapids, they were incredibly disciplined and executed their game plan
very well.  They just didn't have any firepower to speak of.  When
discussing that weekend, a couple of people (I won't name names, but one
of them DOES cover ECAC hockey for an online service we all know)
assured me that some of this problem would improve.  So, if Mike
Schaefer can keep the discipline on track, it should be an improved
team.
 
Maine is another guessing game for me.  I'm not really sure just how
much they have under the hood.  Walsh is a good coach, but obviously a
significant part of the late season surge was a matter of taking out
their frustration with the NCAA.  The big question in Orono is whether
or not that carries over into another season.  My personal hunch is that
it won't and that the Black Bears won't be as good as their late surge
would indicate.  But depending on the underlying talent level and
whether I'm right, this could be the #1 team in the nation or it could
be an also-ran.
 
Clarkson is also something of a guess.  If someone steps up to replace
Todd White as a leader and several people kick it up to replace his
scoring, this should be a good team.  I could also have said the same
thing about Miami, but I saw them twice last year and they didn't strike
me as looking like a team ready to step forward.  Clarkson, though,
looks like they could be just good enough break hearts yet again.
 
I look at the CCHA as a whole as being down next year.  Lake State and
Bowling Green need to figure out how to put the pieces back together
again after major disappointments.  Michigan State lost some important
people from a team that I found very boring when I saw them.  (What?
The Spartans iced the puck again?  NO GREEN!  NO WHITE!)  So, despite
all the losses, Michigan might have a chance to make some noise, at
least locally.  I don't think anyone has any idea of how good this team
is going to be.  They obviously have a number of players left that are
very good (Muckalt, Herr, Peach, Berenzweig, etc.) but whether they fit
together, no one knows.  No one has ever had a class as good as the one
that just left, ergo, no one has ever tried to replace a class as good
as the one that just left.
 
I just wasn't confident enough to make any more guesses.  You'll just
have to live with a Top 9 list.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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