Penn State men’s hockey split a two-game home-and-home series over the weekend with unranked RIT, being shut out in the opener on Saturday in Rochester before rebounding with a 7-3 victory on Sunday in Pegula Ice Arena. The split has caused them to drop in the latest USCHO rankings.

In the latest USCHO poll released on Monday, the men’s hockey team dropped back to No. 9 after briefly rising to No. 8 during their six-week layoff with a 12-6-0 record.

Big Ten rival Michigan remains a near-unanimous No. 1, gaining another eight first-place votes to notch a season-high 46 of them. Michigan State and Wisconsin flipped, with the Spartans taking the No. 2 spot after beating Michigan Tech, while the Badgers dropped after losing to No. 7 Western Michigan.

No. 4 North Dakota and No. 5 Minnesota Duluth remain unchanged, while Western Michigan moves up to No. 6, earning a first-place vote and jumping No. 7 Denver. Quinnipiac jumped two spots to leap ahead of Penn State. The Nittany Lions are 70 points behind No. 8 Quinnipiac and 61 points ahead of No. 10 UConn.

Penn State remains the lowest-ranked of the four Big Ten teams in the top 20. Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Minnesota all continue not to receive votes, while previous non-conference opponents Arizona State (19 points) and RIT (1 point) get consideration.

The men’s hockey team resumes conference play at Pegula Ice Arena against Minnesota at 6 p.m. on Friday, January 9. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.