Badger coach Mark Johnson
Coming off its eighth NCAA Frozen Four appearance in the last ten years, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team will begin the 2015-16 season ranked No. 3 in the USCHO.com Division 1 Women’s Poll.
The Badgers received 124 votes, four fewer than second place Boston College. Defending NCAA champion Minnesota begins the season ranked No. 1 with 150 points and all 15-first-place votes.
Harvard sits fourth (101 pts), Clarkson is fifth (84 pts) and WCHA rival North Dakota is sixth.
The national ranking comes on the heels of the Badgers being picked to finish second in the WCHA by the league coaches last week.
Wisconsin returns 19 letter winners from last year’s WCHA Playoff Champion squad. They’ll start play Oct. 2-3 with a road trip to San Jose, California, to face Providence.