CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 (#10)
Axemen hold on to No. 1 spot

The Axemen (14-2-1), who reached No. 1 for the first time since 1997 in the final poll of the fall semester, received 15 first-place votes and 159 points this week from the 16-member media panel. The other first-place nod went to the McGill Redmen (17-2-1), who remain at No. 2 thanks to a 144-point tally.

Rounding out the new Top 10 are the No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (15-3-0 / 125 points / up one position), No. 4 UNB Varsity Reds (12-3-2 / 99 / up three), No. 5 UQTR Patriotes (16-3-1 / 95 / no change), No. 6 Alberta Golden Bears (12-5-1 / 81 / down three), No. 7 St. Francis Xavier X-Men (12-3-2 / 73 / down one), No. 8 Mount Royal Cougars (11-5-2 / 45 / up one), No. 9 Carleton Ravens (13-5-0 / 35 / down one) and No. 10 York Lions (11-5-3 / 16 / no change).

Conference play resumed this past weekend with the Big Four all going a perfect 2-0.

Top-ranked Acadia dominated on home ice against St. Thomas, 7-2, and Moncton, 8-2; McGill picked up a pair of road wins, edging Laurentian 4-3 in double overtime and skating past Nipissing 5-1; Saskatchewan travelled to Lethbridge and swept the Pronghorns 3-1 and 7-2; UNB outscored Dalhousie 4-0 and StFX 6-2 in Fredericton.

Meanwhile, two-time defending University Cup champion Alberta is the big loser in the first poll of the new year following a two-game sweep at the hands of Manitoba in Winnipeg, 7-4 and 3-2.

A pair of Top-10 matchups highlights this week's schedule, both on Saturday night. UNB visits StFX at 7 p.m. AST (live on AUStv.ca) while McGill visits Carleton at 7 p.m. EST.

The No. 1 Axemen, who currently hold a three-point lead over UNB and STFX in the AUS standings, are at St. Thomas (1-15-1) on Friday and at Moncton (7-8-2) on Saturday.

CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#10)

Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1^st place vote worth 10 points. The CIS Men's Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee is made up of media members from across Canada.

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. Acadia (14-2-1) / 159 points (15) / (1)
2. McGill (17-2-1) / 144 (1) / (2)
3. Saskatchewan (15-3-0) / 125 / (4)
4. UNB (12-3-2) / 99 / (7)
5. UQTR (16-3-1) / 95 / (5)
6. Alberta (12-5-1) / 81 / (3)
7. StFX (12-3-2) / 73 / (6)
8. Mount Royal (11-5-2) / 45 / (9)
9. Carleton (13-5-0) / 35 / (8)
10. York (11-5-3) / 16 / (10) 

Other teams receiving votes: Manitoba (5), Waterloo (2), Saint Mary's (1).

CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#16)
Reigning champ Carleton moves up to No. 1 in men's basketball

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning champion Carleton University Ravens top the CIS national rankings in men's basketball for the first time this season.

In other CIS sports, the Saskatchewan Huskies (women's basketball), Guelph Gryphons (women's hockey), Acadia Axemen (men's hockey), UBC Thunderbirds (women's swimming), Toronto Varsity Blues (men's swimming), Alberta Pandas (women's volleyball), McMaster Marauders (men's volleyball) and Brock Badgers (women's & men's wrestling) all hold on to their pole position.

In track and field, the Western Mustangs (women) and Windsor Lancers (men) top the first national rankings of the campaign.

In men's hoops, the five-time defending CIS champion Ravens (7-0) had been ranked second behind cross-town rival Ottawa in each of the five coaches' polls of the fall semester. The Gee-Gees (7-0) drop to No. 3 in the first winter rankings, behind Carleton and McGill (4-0).

Over the holiday break, Ottawa went 2-1 at the Laval Holiday Tournament in Quebec City, losing 87-77 to the host Rouge et Or on Dec. 28 before rebounding with wins over Calgary and UNB. Carleton had no games scheduled during the December break.

The top-ranked Ravens and No. 3 Gee-Gees go head-to-head on Saturday night for their first of two regular season meetings. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m., live on OUA.tv.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. Saskatchewan (10-0) / 552 points (46) / (1) 
2. Ryerson (5-1) / 469 / (3)
3. McGill (3-1) / 426 / (2)
4. Regina (9-1) / 399 / (6)
5. Saint Mary's (7-1) / 387 / (4)
6. Laval (5-1) / 339 / (8)
7. McMaster (5-2) / 245 / (5)
8. Alberta (8-1) / 234 / (9)
9. Ottawa (6-1) / 170 / (NR)  
10. Queen's (6-1) / 120 / (10)  

Other teams receiving votes: Windsor (67), Brock (64).

MEN'S BASKETBALL

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. Carleton (7-0) / 435 points (24) / (2)
2. McGill (4-0) / 404 (13) / (3)
3. Ottawa (7-0) / 389 (9) / (1)
4. Brock (6-1) / 325 / (4)
5. Ryerson (4-1) / 271 / (5)
6. McMaster (5-2) / 214 / (6)
7. UBC (8-2) / 169 / (9)
8. Calgary (8-3) / 140 / (7)
9. Dalhousie (6-3) / 63 / (NR)
10. Thompson Rivers (8-2) / 36 / (10) 

Other teams receiving votes: Western (30), UPEI (18).

WOMEN'S HOCKEY

(regular season record) / (previous ranking)

1. Guelph (12-2-1) / (1)
2. Montreal (8-3-1) / (3)
3. McGill (7-3-1) / (2)
4. Western (10-4-0) / (4)
5. Saint Mary's (11-3-0) / (5)
6. Saskatchewan (11-5-2) / (7)
7. Toronto (8-3-3) / (6)
8. St. Thomas (8-5-1) / (8)
9. Ottawa (8-4-0) / (10)
10. Alberta (11-6-1) / (NR)  

Other teams receiving votes: Queen's.

MEN'S HOCKEY

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. Acadia (14-2-1) / 159 points (15) / (1)
2. McGill (17-2-1) / 144 (1) / (2)
3. Saskatchewan (15-3-0) / 125 / (4)
4. UNB (12-3-2) / 99 / (7)
5. UQTR (16-3-1) / 95 / (5)
6. Alberta (12-5-1) / 81 / (3)
7. StFX (12-3-2) / 73 / (6)
8. Mount Royal (11-5-2) / 45 / (9)
9. Carleton (13-5-0) / 35 / (8)
10. York (11-5-3) / 16 / (10) 

Other teams receiving votes: Manitoba (5), Waterloo (2), Saint Mary's (1).

WOMEN'S SWIMMING

(points) / (previous ranking)

1. UBC 628 points / (1)
2. Toronto 545 / (2)
3. Calgary 264 / (3)
4. Dalhousie 199 / (4)
5. Montreal 197 / (5)
6. Laval 180 / (8)
7. McGill 160 / (6)
8. Western 146 / (7)
9. Victoria 92 / (10)
10. UQAM 82 / (NR) 

MEN'S SWIMMING

(points) / (previous ranking)

1. Toronto 519 points / (1)
2. UBC 440 / (2)
3. Calgary 342 / (3)
4. Alberta 311 / (4)
5. Ottawa 159 / (9)
6. Dalhousie 157 / (5)
7. Guelph 123 / (6)
T8. McGill 114 / (7)
T8. Victoria 114 / (NR)
10. Western 110 / (8)  

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD

(points) / (previous ranking)

1. Western 105 points / (-)
2. Guelph 92 / (-)
3. Toronto 88.5 / (-)
4. York 83 / (-)
5. Windsor 77 / (-)
6. Laval 30 / (-)
7. Manitoba 28.5 / (-)
8. Dalhousie 26.5 / (-)
9. Sherbrooke 23 / (-)
10. Calgary 20.5 / (-)  

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD

(points) / (previous ranking)

1. Windsor 102.5 points / (-)
2. Western 85 / (-)
3. Guelph 83 / (-)
4. York 77 / (-)
5. Laval 70.5 / (-)
6. Toronto 50 / (-)
7. Dalhousie 36.5 / (-)
8. Waterloo 24 / (-)
9. Manitoba 20.5 / (-)
10. Saskatchewan 20 / (-)  

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

(regular season record) / votes / (previous ranking)

1. Alberta (13-1) / 59 points / (1)
2. Trinity Western (13-1) / 57 / (2)
3. UBC Okanagan (13-1) / 52 / (3)
4. Toronto (8-0) / 48 / (4)
5. UBC (11-1) / 43 / (5)
6. Montreal (11-3) / 39 / (6)
7. McMaster (8-1) / 33 / (7)
T8. Dalhousie (6-2) / 32 / (8)
T8. McGill (10-3) / 32 / (9)
10. Sherbrooke (10-4) / 24 / (10) 

Next highest votes: Ryerson (20), Western (10), Calgary (7), Memorial (7), Mount Royal (6), Brandon (6).

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. McMaster (11-0) / 236 points (20) / (1)
2. Alberta (14-0) / 211 (4) / (2)
3. Manitoba (12-2) / 185 / (3)
4. Calgary (11-3) / 147 / (4)
5. UBC (8-4) / 118 / (5)
6. Winnipeg (9-5) / 99 / (7)
7. Laval (9-1) / 93 / (6)
8. Queen's (8-2) / 55 / (9)
9. Saskatchewan (7-7) / 53 / (8)
10. Trinity Western (8-6) / 52 / (10) 

WOMEN'S WRESTLING

(previous ranking)

1. Brock (1)
2. Saskatchewan (3)
3. Regina (6)
4. Alberta (2)
5. Calgary (8)
6. Winnipeg (5)
7. Guelph (4)
8. Concordia (7)
9. Western (9)
10. Lakehead (10) 

MEN'S WRESTLING

(previous ranking)

1. Brock (1)
2. Alberta (2)
3. McMaster (3)
4. Winnipeg (4)
5. Calgary (T7)
6. Saskatchewan (6)
7. Guelph (10)
8. Regina (5)
9. Concordia (T7)
10. Western (10)