The polls are closed - MSU picked 10th

When the clock struck midnight, the WCHA coaches and media preseason polls were released. Here's a look at them as well as a link to my Wednesday column about why Minnesota State was picked to finish 10th in the now-12-team WCHA.

40th annual Grand Forks Herald coaches poll:
1. North Dakota (10 first-place votes) 120 points
2. St. Cloud State (2) 105
3. Minnesota Duluth 100
4. Denver 88
5. Minnesota 82
6. Colorado College 67
7. Wisconsin 64
8. Nebraska-Omaha 55
9. Bemidji State 46
10. Minnesota State 41
11. Alaska-Anchorage 19
12. Michigan Tech 15

Player of the year: Jack Connolly, UMD (5 votes); Chay Genoway, UND (4); Garrett Roe, SCSU (3)


Rookie of the year: Jaden Schwartz CC (9 votes); Nick Bjugstad, UM (1); Tyler Barnes, UW (1); Matt White, UNO (1)

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94X media poll
1. North Dakota (28 first-place votes) 347 points
2. Minnesota Duluth 300
3. St. Cloud State (1) 295
4. Denver 242
5. Wisconsin 218
6. Minnesota 203
7. Colorado College 182
8. Bemidij State 156
9. Nebraska Omaha 125
10. Minnesota State 97
11. Alaska-Anchorage 51
12. Michigan Tech 46

Player of the year: Chay Genoway, UND (10); Garrett Roe, SCSU (5); Justin Fontaine, UMD (4); Jack Connolly, UMD (3); Jason Gregoire, UND (2); Mike Connolly, UMD (1); Matt Read, BSU (1); Evan Trupp, UND (1)

Rookie of the year: Jaden Schwartz, CC (10); Derek Forbort, UND (6); Beau Bennett, DU (4); Nick Bjugstad, UM (2); Tyler Barnes, UW (1); J.T. Brown, UMD (1); Rob Gunderson, UAA (1); Radoslav Illo, BSU (1); Jason Zucker, DU (1)

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Here's how PucKato voted in the media poll (you can see the entire media panel here):
1. North Dakota
2. Minnesota Duluth
3. St. Cloud State
4. Denver
5. Wisconsin
6. Minnesota
7. Colorado College
8. Minnesota State
9. Bemidji State
10. Nebraska-Omaha
11. Alaska-Anchorage
12. Michigan Tech

Player of the year: Jack Connolly. Rookie of the year: Jaden Schwartz

Here's a link to my Wednesday column.

What do you think of the polls? Let me know. For now, it's late. I'm going to bed.