Another college hockey season is upon us and, once again, the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks have been picked to be the team everyone is chasing.

UND received 25-of-30 first-place votes, according to USCHO.com, giving them 235 points total and the top spot on the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's preseason media poll.

The Fighting Hawks have won the Julie and Spencer Penrose Memorial Cup, which is given to the NCHC regular season champion, the past two seasons.

Only two other teams received first-place votes: Denver and Minnesota-Duluth. You can see the top eight teams in the preseason poll below:

  1. University of North Dakota
  2. Denver
  3. Minnesota-Duluth
  4. St. Cloud State
  5. Nebraska-Omaha
  6. Miami
  7. Western Michigan
  8. Colorado College

The Fighting Hawks begin their season with an exhibition game on October 1st against Manitoba. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

You can see the Fighting Hawks full 2016-17 schedule HERE.

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