It is UND's second No. 4 ranking of the preseason after the Kelly Green and White were also slotted fourth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll released last week.
North Dakota received 826 voting points to trail only top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Boston College, No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Michigan. BC received 35 of the 50 first-place votes.
Seven of UND's scheduled opponents in 2012-13 were ranked in the USCHO preseason poll, including No. 2 Minnesota, No. 8 Denver, No. 12 Minnesota Duluth, No. 13 Boston University, No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 15 Wisconsin and No. 20 Colorado College.
Last season, UND went 26-13-3, won a league-record third straight Broadmoor Trophy as WCHA Final Five Champions, and advanced to the NCAA regional finals for the sixth time in eight years under head coach Dave Hakstol.
UND returns 17 letterwinners from last year's team, as well as freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi, who was the 2011-12 WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year before missing all but four games with a knee injury.
UND will host Manitoba (Oct. 6) and the U.S. Under-18 Team (Oct. 12) in exhibition action before opening the regular season Oct. 19-20 at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush in Fairbanks.
USCHO.com Division I Men's Preseason Poll
| Rk. | School (1st place) | Record | Pts. | Prev. |
| 1 | Boston College (35) | 33-10-1 | 972 | -- |
| 2 | Minnesota (12) | 28-14-1 | 937 | -- |
| 3 | Michigan (3) | 24-13-4 | 857 | -- |
| 4 | North Dakota | 26-13-3 | 826 | -- |
| 5 | Union | 26-8-7 | 789 | -- |
| 6 | Cornell | 19-9-7 | 631 | -- |
| 7 | UMass-Lowell | 24-13-1 | 599 | -- |
| 8 | Denver | 25-14-4 | 566 | -- |
| 9 | Miami | 24-15-2 | 553 | -- |
| 10 | Western Michigan | 21-14-6 | 516 | -- |
| 11 | Ferris State | 26-12-5 | 472 | -- |
| 12 | Minnesota Duluth | 25-10-6 | 460 | -- |
| 13 | Boston University | 23-15-1 | 413 | -- |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 19-18-3 | 395 | -- |
| 15 | Maine | 23-14-3 | 234 | -- |
| 16 | Michigan State | 19-16-4 | 219 | -- |
| 17 | Harvard | 13-10-11 | 213 | -- |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 17-18-2 | 202 | -- |
| 19 | Air Force | 21-11-7 | 116 | -- |
| 20 | Colorado College | 18-16-2 | 81 | -- |
| 19 | Air Force | 21-11-7 | 116 | -- |
| 20 | Colorado College | 18-16-2 | 81 |
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