The DU Pioneers finished last season on top. Now they’ll start the next one at the top, too. The University of Denver hockey team received the No. 1 ranking in the preseason USCHO poll released Monday, months after the program claimed a record 10th national title in Minneapolis. The Pios received 42 of 50 first-place votes in the poll voted on coaches and media members from across the country. Second-ranked Boston College received six first-place votes and Cornell two. DU is one of a record eight NCHC teams in the nine-school conference to land in the top 20. Rival Colorado College came in at No. 11 after narrowly missing out on the NCAA Tournament last season. Also ranked from the NCHC were North Dakota (5), Omaha (15), St. Cloud State (16), Western Michigan (17), Minnesota Duluth (18) and new addition Arizona State (20). The Pios finished 32-9-3 last season en route to the national title, marking the 22nd consecutive season the Pios won at least 20 games. They open the season with a two-game series at Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 5-6, and will host 20th-ranked Northeastern for a two-game set on Oct. 18-19. USCHO Division I Men’s Poll (Can’t see rankings in mobile? Click here.) Rank Team Points Last Poll 1 Denver (42) 988 1 2 Boston College (6) 945 2 3 Boston University 869 3 4 Michigan State 775 5 5 North Dakota 755 8 6 Minnesota 748 7 7 Michigan 690 4 8 Quinnipiac 633 6 9 Cornell (2) 585 9 10 Wisconsin 489 11 11 Colorado College 449 15 12 Maine 425 10 13 Providence 392 16 14 Massachusetts 329 13 15 Omaha 262 12 16 St. Cloud 247 18 17 Western Michigan 224 14 18 Minnesota Duluth 95 NR 19 Notre Dame 79 NR 20 Arizona State 61 NR 20 Northeastern 61 NR Others receiving votes: RIT 55, St. Thomas 53, Michigan Tech 47, Bemidji State 44, New Hampshire 31, Sacred Heart 29, Penn State 23, Harvard 22, Holy Cross 14, Ohio State 14, Minnesota State 12, Dartmouth 10, Merrimack 9, Clarkson 8, Connecticut 7, AIC 4, UMass Lowell 4, Colgate 3, LIU 2, Brown 1, St. Lawrence 1 Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.