Ohio State opens the season at No. 1, setting the standard for a women's hockey landscape that looks as competitive as ever. The Buckeyes earned the top spot in the preseason poll, edging out a Wisconsin Badgers program that has long owned this space and arrives at No. 2 with something to prove.
Penn State checks in at No. 3, a nod to a program that has steadily built legitimacy and now sits squarely in the conversation with the sport's blue bloods. Minnesota, never far from the summit, lands at No. 4, while Northeastern rounds out the top five as the standard-bearer out east.
What the poll makes clear: there is no runaway favorite. Five programs, five legitimate title aspirations, and a regular season that promises to be a weekly referendum on who truly belongs at the top. The puck drops and the debate begins.
Data via ESPN · Summarized by D1Ball's editorial engine from official statistics.
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