One notable college hockey media personality has the Spartans as his top team in the country entering the 2025-26 season.
John Buccigross of ESPN released his preseason top 16 rankings for the upcoming college hockey season and he has the Spartans as the top team in the country. Buccigross listed Michigan State as the No. 1 team in his preseason poll, edging out Denver (No. 2), Boston University (No. 3), Penn State (No. 4) and North Dakota (No. 5) for the top spot.
From the Big Ten, Buccigross has the Spartans, Nittany Lions, Minnesota (No. 7) and Michigan (No. 14) as his lone ranked teams.
The Spartans enter this season as back-to-back Big Ten regular season and tournament champions. Michigan State is once again expected to contend for the league title and remain as one of the top teams nationally as well.
Michigan State officially opens the 2025-26 season on October 9 against New Hampshire at Munn Ice Arena.
Check out Buccigross’ complete preseason poll in the social media post below:
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State hockey listed as No. 1 team in notable preseason poll
Reporting by Robert Bondy, Spartans Wire / Spartans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
