Colorado College dropped three places Monday to 19th in the USCHO.com poll, and it’s still not ranked in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll after a pair of losses last weekend at Minnesota-Duluth that hurt its chances of making the NCAA Tournament.

Boston College overtook the top spot in both polls, in which Minnesota-Duluth is second and Ferris State is third, followed by Boston University, Minnesota, Michigan, Union and Massachusetts-Lowell. Denver ranks ninth in the USCHO.com poll and 10th in the USA Today poll, while North Dakota ranks 14th in the USCHO.com poll and 15th in the USA Today poll. Air Force is 20th in the USCHO.com poll, and it received a vote in the USA Today Poll. The Inside College Hockey rankings put CC at 17th – down three spots.

A loser in five of the past six games, CC (16-14-2, 13-12-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) is tied for fifth in the WCHA, needing one win in a season-ending series this weekend against Michigan Tech (14-16-4, 11-11-4) to claim home ice for the March 9-11 best-of-three first round of the WCHA playoffs. Since the Tigers are 21st in the PairWise rankings, they might need to win the WCHA Final Five next month in St. Paul, Minn., to qualify for the NCAA Tournament – they’ll need at least one or two victories in St. Paul.

The good news for CC is that it has a pretty healthy lineup. Right wing Dakota Eveland (upper body) and left wing Michael Morin (right ankle) are both done for the season, and defenseman Arthur Bidwill should return this weekend from an upper-body injury that he suffered Friday, benefiting from additional rest Monday, as the Tigers didn’t practice.

“We have two games to right the ship,” CC center David Civitarese said, adding that the increased sense of urgency against Michigan Tech “turns it into a new season. And if we can build some momentum, we can turn this into a positive. It has to happen quickly.”

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez. YouTube: Colorado College Hockey, Covered by The Gazette. For the CC homepage, visit www.gazette.com/sections/sports/cchockey. For the CC blog, visit http://cchockey.freedomblogging.com.

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