University of Maine men’s hockey senior captain Lynden Breen watches a drill during an Oct. 1 practice. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Maine Trust for Local News sports columnist Travis Lazarczyk is a voter in the U.S. College Hockey Online men’s poll. Each week, he’ll share his top 20, as well as hit on a few items of interest in the sport.

Well, Western Michigan’s run at No. 1 on my ballot was a short one. Here’s where I landed this week:

1. Boston College
2. Minnesota
3. Western Michigan
4. Michigan State
5. Maine
6. Denver
7. Providence
8. Michigan
9. UConn
10. Ohio State
11. Arizona State
12. Boston University
13. Minnesota State
14. Quinnipiac
15. UMass
16. Penn State
17. UMass Lowell
18. North Dakota
19. Clarkson
20. Colorado College

Maine drops one spot. With Friday’s overtime loss at UConn, Maine (19-6-5) fell out of its first place tie with Boston College at the top of the Hockey East standings. The Black Bears are four points ahead of Boston University in second place, and could solidify their hold on the spot with a sweep of 10th-place Vermont at Alfond Arena this weekend. Maine is fourth in the PairWise rankings, the formula used to determine which teams get into the NCAA tournament and where they’re seeded. So a top seed at one of the four regional sites is still in play. Maine got good news with the return of captain Lynden Breen to the lineup Friday. Out since breaking his leg at RPI on Nov. 30, Breen’s return gives the Black Bears a little more scoring punch. Breen entered the season with 42 goals and 60 assists for his career. The night he was injured, Breen tallied a hat trick. His return can only help a Maine offense that has scored more than three goals just once in 14 games since returning from the holiday break.

Minnesota takes over first place in the Big Ten. In a battle of two top 10 teams, Minnesota swept a pair of games from Ohio State. The wins gave the Golden Gophers a two-point edge over Michigan State, which tied and lost to Penn State over the weekend. Minnesota will be tested this weekend, the final of regular season in the Big Ten, with a pair of games at Penn State. Michigan State plays at Notre Dame, while Ohio State hosts Michigan.

Western Michigan splits two in the desert. Maine’s biggest challenger for a top seed at an NCAA regional right now appears to be Western Michigan. The Broncos (23-6-1) are fifth in the PairWise rankings. Western Michigan split a pair of games at Arizona State last weekend, leaving the Broncos three points ahead of the Sun Devils in the race for the top spot in the NCHC. This weekend, Western Michigan hosts North Dakota, a perennial NCAA tournament participant that might need to win the NCHC tournament to earn a spot in the field this season. North Dakota currently is 18th in the PairWise rankings.

Clarkson heats up. The Knights have won six straight to move into second place in the ECAC behind Quinnipiac, which has also been stronger over the second half of the season. Clarkson hosts Quinnipiac Friday. Both are on the tournament bubble right now, and both might need to win the ECAC to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. As the regular season winds down, the ECAC is looking like a one-bid conference, with only Quinnipiac (13) and Clarkson (tied for 18th) inside the top 20 of the PairWise rankings.