By JIM MEENAN South Bend Tribune Staff Writer

8:09 p.m. EST, January 26, 2012
It's truly a strange college hockey season.

Notre Dame is ranked higher (No. 4 in both polls) nationally than its
current place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings,
where it's in a tie for sixth with Lake Superior State.

Irish coach Jeff Jackson is more worried about his team's placement in
the conference standings and how it will affect the postseason CCHA
tourney than he is currently about making the NCAA.

"We've played such a difficult schedule that we're in pretty good
shape there right now," he said of the 16-team NCAA tourney.

The Irish are 8-6-3 vs. ranked teams after last weekend's split with
No. 10 Michigan.

"We're in better shape NCAA-wise than we are conference-wise," Jackson
said. "And that's because we didn't play any lightweights in our
non-conference schedule."

The Irish even own wins over the three teams ranked ahead of them.

And the conference is strong.

Eight of the CCHA's 11 teams are ranked, but one of the non-ranked is
the Nanooks of Alaska, whom the Irish beat 5-4 and 3-2 (in overtime)
at the Compton Family Ice Arena clear back in November.