NCAA Notebook: Huge weekend series could shake up NCHC

The NCHC has a big opportunity here.

There are currently three teams from that conference in the top five of the NPI, another is 11th, and a fifth is in 19th.

This weekend, four of those five teams play each other, and in both series, there's a huge chance for the lower-ranked team to move up.

At this point in the season, North Dakota has brushed aside all early-season doubts — spurred by October and November losses to Clarkson, Minnesota, and Arizona State — to become what may now be the best team in the country. Obviously, a lot of that has to do with the injury that will sideline Michigan's Richter-worthy goalie, Jack Ivankovic, for much of the season's remainder, but with the nation's No. 1 spot now up for grabs, few teams are better-positioned than the Fighting Hawks to grab it.

This week