There was not a ton of action over the last month of the NCAA season, as things slowed down a bit between the American Thanksgiving holiday and the celebrations for the 2026 New Year.  Top-ranked Michigan retains its position at the top of the polls, with the top 10 looking familiar to our last check-in around the NCAA landscape. 

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Wisconsin Gains Ground on Michigan’s First-Place Position

The second-ranked Wisconsin Badgers picked up a handful of votes in the most recent U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division I Men’s poll after a series sweep in a pair of one-goal contests against the third-ranked Michigan State Spartans in late November. However, the top team in the country, the Michigan Wolverines, maintains their grip on the #1 ranking after splitting a series against the Spartans in early December. 

USCHO Division I Men’s Poll (Dec. 15, 2025)
School (First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Week’s Poll
#1) Michigan (36)	16-4-0	982	1
#2) Wisconsin (13)	12-2-2	942	2
#3) Michigan State (1)	12-4-0	896	3
#4) North Dakota	14-4-0	835	4
#5) Minnesota Duluth	14-6-0	744	5
#6) Denver	12-6-1	743	6
#7) Western Michigan	10-6-0	666	7
#8) Dartmouth	11-1-0	656	8
#9) Penn State	11-5-0	594	9
#10) Quinnipiac	12-4-2	554	10

The list of the top 10 NCAA teams in the country remains unchanged, aside from updated records and changing totals in the points column. There will be some holiday tournament action for some teams in the last week of the calendar year – the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off (Wisconsin, Western Michigan) and the Great Lakes Invitational (Michigan State) – but college hockey will pump the brakes on the season as the 2025 calendar comes to a close. 

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Martone, McKenna, and More Head to World Juniors

There will be no shortage of NCAA talent competing at the 2026 World Junior Championship (WJC) in Minnesota next week. While the best under-20 players typically appear at the prestigious tournament, this season features a massive influx of talent from the college scene due to the new rules that allowed some Canadian Hockey League (CHL) heavy-hitters to transition to the NCAA for the 2025-26 campaign. 

Last season’s leading WJC scorer, Cole Hutson (Boston College), returns to help lead Team USA to a title on home soil. The Washington Capitals draftee will have some help with B.C. teammate James Hagens along for the ride in Minnesota. William Horcoff (Michigan), a 2025 Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick, and Nick Kempf (Notre Dame) will be essential pieces for Team USA’s repeat title hopes. 

Gavin McKenna, a consensus top-three project at the 2026 NHL Draft, will look to help restore Canada to World Juniors glory. The 18-year-old forward has contributed 18 points in 16 games for Penn State, but he would no doubt love to add some gold to his collection. He will be joined by several top Canadian stars in the NCAA, such as Porter Martone (Michigan State), Michael Hage (Michigan), and 2026 draft-eligible Keaton Verhoeff (North Dakota).

A pair of players from outside of North America to watch is the Björck brothers from Team Sweden. Wilson Bjorck (Colorado College), a fifth-round draft pick by the Vancouver Canucks, has registered eight points in 15 games in his first NCAA season. Viggo Bjorck, a projected top-10 draft pick at the 2026 NHL Draft, has recorded eight points in 24 games for Djurgardens IF in the Swedish Hockey League. 

The 2026 World Juniors will take place from Dec. 26 – Jan. 6, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There will be wall-to-wall hockey for the first week as ten countries battle for eight medal round spots before a single-elimination tournament begins to crown an International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)-sanctioned champion. 

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Max Plante Leads NCAA in Scoring, Will Horcoff is the Goals Leader

Horcoff continues to lead the college ranks in scoring at nearly a goal per game pace with 19 celebrations in 20 games. The 2026 first-rounder has a slim two-goal advantage over Justin Poirier of Maine near the end of December. A pair of skaters from New York colleges, Felix Trudeau and Brandon Buhr, find themselves in the mix for the NCAA goals lead at the holiday break. 

NCAA Goals Per Game Leaders Through 12/22/2025
Player / School	Games	Goals	Goals Avg. (per game)
Will Horcoff (Michigan)	20	19	0.95
Justin Poirier (Maine)	19	17	0.89
Max Plante  (Minn. Duluth)	20	16	0.80
Felix Trudeau (Sacred Heart)	15	15	1.00
Brandon Buhr (Union NY)	19	14	0.74

Minnesota Duluth’s Max Plante stands alone atop the NCAA points leaderboard. The Detroit Red Wings’ pick from the 2024 NHL draft has littered the scoresheet in almost every Bulldogs game with 16 goals and 30 points through 20 games in 2025-26. His brother, Zam Plante, sits ninth in the NCAA with 25 points in 13 games for UMD. 

In close pursuit is the three-headed monster from Michigan – Horcoff, T.J. Hughes, and Michael Hage – with a combined 84 points in 20 games. Each player has secured 28 points this season, each in their own combination of goals and assists (seen below). 

NCAA Points Per Game Leaders through 12/22/2025
Player / School	Games	G / A/ P	Points Avg. (per game)
Max Plante (Minn. Duluth)	20	16 / 14/ 30	1.50
2)  T.J. Hughes (Michigan)	20	19 / 9 / 28	1.40
Michael Hage (Michigan)	20	10 /18 / 28	1.40
William Horcoff (Michigan)	20	9 / 19 / 28	1.40
5) Bennett Schimek (Arizona St.)	18	9 / 18 / 27	1.50
6) Stiven Sardarian (Michigan Tech)	18	8 / 18 / 26	1.44
Justin Poirier (Maine)	19	17 / 9 / 26	1.36
8) Ethan Wyttenbach (Quinnipiac)	18	9 / 16 / 25	1.38
Zam Plante (Minn. Duluth)	13	7 / 18 / 25	1.92
10) Adam Flemmang (Bemidji St.)	18	6 / 18 / 24	1.33

Trey Augustine, a Detroit Red Wings draft pick, continues to excel at the college level with a 10-4-0 record, a 1.71 goals against average (GAA), and a .937 save percentage (SV%) in 14 starts. Cross-state rival Jack Ivankovic (Michigan) has been equally impressive, posting a 16-4-0 record, a 1.90 GAA, and a .927 SV% over 20 games. 

NCAA Goalie Per Game Leaders Through 12/22/2025 (at least 800+ minutes)
Player / School	Goalie Mins	Goals Against	Goals Avg. (per game)
Trey Augustine (Michigan St.)	840	24	1.71
Jakub Krebecek  (RIT)	893	26	1.74
Jack Ivankovic (Michigan)	1197	38	1.90
Alex Tracy (Minnesota St.)	1220	39	1.91
Quintin Miller (Denver)	1030	33	1.92

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The college hockey season will truly start to kick into gear following the 2026 New Year.  There are several teams, such as Michigan and Minnesota-Duluth, that will hibernate until January. A handful of others will participate in holiday tournaments, like Wisconsin and Michigan State, to help keep players on the ice in a competitive environment. 

Once the calendar flips over to the new year, it’s going to be a fun dash to the finish line in the 2025-26 season. Until then, kick back and watch the best under-20 hockey players on the planet entertain your hockey-loving self at the 2026 World Juniors.  

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My socials can be found on Twitter/X – @CBabosWrites 

Christopher Babos