With one month in the books, here is a look at my WCHA power rankings for the first weekend of November:

1 — Colorado College (Last week: 1)

An easy sweep at a helpless RPI squad keeps this team in front. The Tigers have yet to lose this season, although they have only played a league-low four games thus far.

2 — Minnesota (Last week: 3)

Yeah, UAA has slowed down a bit. But the Seawolves hadn’t been swept at home in almost two years, so last weekend’s double play in Alaska was actually pretty impressive.

3 — Minnesota Duluth (Last week: 4)

The Bulldogs have used a soft part of their schedule to get on a four-game unbeaten run. They’ll be tested in Denver this weekend though.

4 — Denver (Last week: 2)

After embarrassing Minnesota State two weeks ago, the Pioneers were embarrassed last Friday by Michigan Tech. Getting only one point in Houghton is a disappointment, no matter how improved they actually are.

5 — Nebraska-Omaha (Last week: 5)

The Mavericks can’t make a habit of falling behind 3-0 in games. They did twice at Wisconsin last weekend and were lucky to get two points out of the weekend.

6 — North Dakota (Last week: 6)

A ho-hum split against St. Cloud State is fine, but the Huskies were without perhaps their best player in Mike Lee. UND expects to win every game at The Ralph, so when they don’t, it’s a bad weekend.

7 — Wisconsin (Last week: 8 )

The Badgers should have taken four points from UNO at the Kohl Center last weekend. Allowing a team to come back from a three goal deficit on the road is inexcusable.

8 — St. Cloud State (Last week: 9)

With Lee on the shelf, perhaps for the rest of the season, Ryan Faragher needs to play like he did last weekend. If he does, the Huskies could be OK.

9 — Michigan Tech (Last week: 11)

It’s safe to say, winning in Houghton will be no easy task this season. The Huskies are undefeated at MacInnes this season and just dismantled Denver last weekend.

10 — Bemidji State (Last week: 7)

Tom Serratore said he may have found his team in Duluth last weekend, despite the fact the Beavers were swept by the Bulldogs. A road trip to Lake Superior State this weekend will not be an easy task, however.

11 — Alaska-Anchorage (Last week: 10)

The Seawolves are trending down after a solid start to the year. A week off could be just what UAA needs to try and get back on track next weekend at Minnesota Duluth.

12 — Minnesota State (Last week: 12)

The Mavericks should have about half their injured guys back and available for this weekend’s series in Houghton. But with how Tech is playing at home, two points for MSU would be quite the accomplishment.

• Be sure to check out my feature about Minnesota as they head into this weekend’s series with North Dakota. I will be at Mariucci Arena this weekend documenting the festivities.

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 - 9:26 pm | Blogs, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings, WCHA