The University of Minnesota Duluth, which was idle last weekend, dropped two spots to No. 20 in this week's USCO.com poll and will be back at AMSOIL Arena this Friday and Saturday night to host the country's second-ranked club, St. Cloud State University. It will be the Bulldogs' first-ever National Collegiate Hockey Conference home series.

UMD is 6-5-1 on the year and has posted decisive victories over three nationally-ranked teams in No. 1 Minnesota (6-2 in its most recent outing on Nov. 24 in Minneapolis), No. 2 Notre Dame (4-1 on Oct. 26 in Duluth), and No. 13 North Dakota (6-3 on Nov. 16 in Grand Forks, N.D.). The Bulldogs were one of four NCHC members to crack the USCHO.com Top 20, joining St. Cloud State (No. 2), Miami University (No. 12) and the University of Nebraska-Omaha (No. 16).

The Bulldogs received votes in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.

USCHO.com Poll (Dec. 2, 2013).