KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan hockey team has earned the 18 spot in the US College Hockey Online poll, released by the media organization on Monday.

The USCHO.com Poll consists of 50 voters, including coaches and beat writers and sports professionals from across the country. The poll, published weekly by the Associated Press, is a production of USCHO.com, which provides in-depth coverage of college hockey.

The 2020-21 campaign will be the seventh that the Broncos have started the season in the national rankings under head coach Andy Murray.

WMU will open the season and National Collegiate Hockey Conference play with a "Pod" in Omaha Neb., beginning on Dec. 1. Western Michigan will be in the East Division with Miami, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State, while the West Division will consist of Colorado College, Denver, North Dakota and Omaha. The Broncos will play their divisional opponents six times and each cross-division opponent twice. The Pod was designed to alleviate travel due to the pandemic and will provide a safe and healthy environment for the teams.

The second portion of the season will begin in January and run through March.

Schedule and game times are still to be determined.