College hockey is back, and teams across the nation have wasted no time when it comes to breaking up the ranks: “upset” was the theme for opening week.

National powerhouses were shocked as four of the top seven ranked teams dropped what should have been early-season wins; but, as they say, that’s why you play the game.

No. 10 Denver doubles down against No. 2 Boston University (4-3 and 3-1)

Boston University prides itself on being an annual contender for the National Championship--they won their last title in 2009, and lost in the finals in 2015.

Boston’s 2016-17 roster includes six 2017 draft selections, including four which were taken in the first round. That’s a lot of talent to drop back-to-back games against the No. 10 team.

However, Denver isn’t without its own group of talent. It may not boast the same draft-quality names as B.U., but being ranked inside the top ten is certainly respectable.

Denver’s impressive start over the No. 2 team helped push them to the No. 6 spot in the latest rankings, with B.U. dropping to No. 8.

Unranked Maine fashionably late to stun No. 3 Quinnipiac (4-3 OT)

Heading into the third period with a 2-0 lead, Quinnipiac couldn’t control the duo of Eric Schurhamer and Patrick Shea--each recorded a goal and an assist to force
overtime in front of their home crowd.

Mitchell Fossier scored from Schurhamer to give each of them a three-point evening and stun the No. 3 Bobcats.

Quinnipiac had an answer for the Black Bears the following day when it was their turn to score the overtime winner (3-2) and salvage their opening-week trip to Maine.

Quinnipiac has been the National Championship runner-up in two of the last four years and is aggressively establishing itself among the top NCAA teams.

Unranked Wisconsin uses steady scoring to top No. 6 Boston College (3-1)

Two points from each of Seamus Malone (1 G, 1 A) and Tim Davison (2 A) helped the Badgers to their second straight victory after dropping their first contest against Northern Michigan a week prior.

Similar to Boston, but perhaps a step above, Boston College is an annual contender. Before hitting a bit of a drought over the past four seasons, BC appeared in five finals between 2006 and 2012, and won three National Championships in that span—2008, 2010 and 2012.

BC exacted revenge two days later by handing Wisconsin an 8-5 loss. Wisconsin remains unranked, but their impressive play dropped BC from No. 6 to No. 10.

No. 14 Minnesota State doubles up No. 7 St. Cloud State (4-1 and 6-4)

Minnesota State upset St. Cloud State in back-to-back fashion, doubling the Huskies' goal output and dropping them seven spots in the ranks.

Junior Clint Lewis led the Mavericks with two goals and two assists, which scored by commission. Eight different skaters combined for 10 goals and 14 different players tallied a point in two games against the No. 7-ranked team. 

At 4-0, Minnesota State’s strong start can be attributed to starting fast, having scored nine of their 17 total goals in the first period. The Mavericks' powerplay also deserves recognition, with six powerplay goals in four games and a 26% success rate.

Unranked Western Michigan gets the better of No. 20 Bowling Green (4-4, 8-2)

A little over a week after knocking down No. 20 Ferris State, the Broncos upset the next No. 20 by bucking Bowling Green back into unranked territory, as well.

At 3-0-1, Western Michigan received the most votes among colleges that didn’t crack the latest rankings. With three goals and five points through four games, the Broncos’ own Wade Allison was named NCHC Rookie of the Week.

Allison was a large factor in keeping the Broncos undefeated--he scored four of his five points in the back-to-back games against Bowling Green.

The Broncos upset over the Falcons was in large part due to their powerplay, where they scored nine of their 12 goals against Bowling Green.

Minnesota State’s impressive start saw them climb the highest in the rankings, going from No. 14 to No. 9. Their victim, St. Cloud State, had the largest fall--they dropped from No. 7 to No. 14.

No. 13 Harvard and No. 16 Yale haven’t started regular-season play. You can see the full list of the Top 20 Rankings here.