Midway through the season, the Arizona State Sun Devils are sitting at a record of 8-9-1. Not the record that they envisioned coming off a 21-14-2 finish last season, but sitting in a workable 5th place in the NCHC standings at the holiday break.
This break offers the opportunity to take a look at the broader national picture, and explore the NPI rankings.
What is the NPI? The NCAA Power Index is the calculation that replaces the former Pairwise rankings in determining participants in the NCAA tournament. Introduced at the Division III level, the 63 member schools of Division I hockey agreed to implement this ranking system for the 2025-26 season and beyond.