The American Collegiate Hockey Association used the results from a computerized ranking system for the first time in its 22-year history on Friday. Previously, the weekly polls were decided by voting done by coaches throughout the league.

The switch to computerized rankings caused a 10-spot drop for Illinois (7-6-1), which now stands as the No. 18 team in the nation.

The first trial for the computerized ranking was met with controversy after the top 25 underwent a large-scale makeover, with 23 teams switching spots in the latest poll.

Three teams jumped into the top 25 after not being ranked last week, something only one team (Mercyhurst) has done all season.

North Dakota State made a surprise jump to No. 25, despite a 1-5 overall record and being outscored 50-24 so far this year, while No. 3 Central Oklahoma (8-6) jumped eight spots after being ranked No. 11 last week.

Under the computerized system, weekly rankings will be determined by a formula involving the team’s wins, losses, strength of schedule and goal differential.

Bill Shannon, Vice President of the ACHA’s Division-I league, said the move to the new computerized system was intended to eliminate bias from coaches’ voting.

“Most of the coaches did a very good job with ranking the teams, but there were some that would be questionable,” Shannon said. “We think this will take that out of it and give us a much more representative ranking of where the teams should be.”

Head coach Nick Fabbrini said the worry over voting-bias was more a concern of coaches from smaller conferences in the ACHA and not the CSCHL, the conference Illinois plays in.

“I think the CSCHL has proven itself as the top league in the country for the last ten years,” Fabbrini said. “I guess I’m biased in that regard, that I think our teams are better than most everybody else in the country, but I think there’s good reason for that. The results back it up.”

CSCHL teams have won five national titles in the past decade, and the conference has had one of its teams playing in seven of the past 10 national championship games.

Shannon said the ACHA has already been using the computerized system for a few years now but began implementing its results into the national rankings for the first time in the league’s history last Friday.

“The kinks are really pretty much worked out,” Shannon said. “There were a lot of drastic changes from the coaches poll to the computer ranking, so it’s going to have to take a few weeks for it to really play out and to really get a good feel of how well it’s going to be accepted by the teams.”

Senior John Scully said the Illini’s drop in the rankings makes sense to him, since the Illini have lost seven of their last eight games.

“Looking at computer rankings and numbers, that’s fair,” Scully said. “Especially when you’re not putting up goals and you get scored on a bunch.”

Scully said the team needs to continue to work through their schedule, one of the toughest in the ACHA, and focus on how they can climb back up the rankings through their performance on the ice.

“We just need to start winning games,” Scully put it simply. “We definitely need to start competing and look at ourselves right in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, where do we want to be at the end of the year?’ You’ve got to start getting some wins in there and stepping up the rankings.”

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @Neumannthehuman.