I was going to stay out of this discussion, but I feel partially responsible
as it was I that posted the WMPL poll to the list.  Please bear with me
while I reproduce it below:
 
> 1.  Maine (7)          97
> 2.  Michigan (2)       91
> 3.  Minnesota (1)      72
> 4.  Clarkson           68
> 5.  Lake Superior      56
> 6.  Northern Michigan  48
> 7.  New Hampshire      36
> 8.  Michigan State     18
> 9.  Providence         14
>     St. Lawrence       14
>
> Others receiving votes:  Alaska-Anchorage, Boston University,
>                          Minnesota-Duluth, Harvard, Western Michigan
 
Now, let's take a look at the numbers.  Hmmm, Minnesota barely edged out
Clarkson for the #3 spot by four points.  But, what's this?  One of the
voters gave his #1 vote to Minnesota!  Now, I love the Golden Gophers as
much as anyone on the list, but even I ranked them #4 when I submitted
my votes to the HOCKEY-L poll this week.  One WMPL voter was sufficiently
impressed, however, that he ranked them #1, probably giving them just
enough points to squeak into the #3 spot ahead of Clarkson.  This goes
to show how volatile the polls can be at this early stage of the season.
Clarkson and Minnesota demonstrably belong in the top five at this point,
but I can't get excited about the exact placement.  It's not as though we
were discussing soemthing really important, like ceramic Dalmatians.  :-)
 
-- Erik