Fresh off of a bye week for the Spartan hockey team, Michigan State was on the move in the polls despite the weekend of rest.
Being sixth in the polls after a sweep of their in-state rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, the Spartans went to the bye week in high spirits, and even without play, the team continued to make big moves as the Spartans jumped to fourth place in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls. This is the highest rank the Spartans have received since the team ranked third place back in their 2007 season.
The result of the movement came from the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan State's opponents for this upcoming week, as they swept the Wisconsin Badgers, who are currently in second place in the Big Ten, trailing the Spartans. Ohio State earned five points on the weekend and found their second and third wins of the season against Big Ten teams.
The sweep of the Badgers and a weekend sweep that Colorado College clinched over North Dakota made a catapult for the Spartans to bump up two spots.
The Spartans have also improved in the PairWise rankings as they are currently tied for third place with North Dakota, both with 60 points on the season. Both the Spartans and the Fighting Hawks are just behind the Boston College Eagles (63 points) and the Boston University Terriers (62 points).
If Michigan State is able to sweep Ohio State, then the Spartans can improve to 66 points overall in the PairWise rankings and possibly overthrow either Boston College or Boston University, depending on how their weekends go, and jump to first or second place.
Michigan State is set to host Ohio State this Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at Munn Ice Arena. Both games will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
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