It has nothing to do with good ice at the 12 rinks of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. You can erase lucky meteor showers as a factor, too.

Tom Anastos, CCHA commissioner, said it’s only coincidental that in the same season the conference is the host of the NCAA Division I Frozen Four, half of its teams are ranked this week in the USCHO.com national poll.

The Alaska Nanooks are 12th this week, joined by the No. 1-ranked Miami (Ohio) Redhawks, No. 8 Michigan State Spartans, No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, No. 17 Ferris State Bulldogs and No. 19 Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks in the 20-team poll.

It’s the most teams in the poll from any single conference.

“It’s only coincidental,” Anastos during the first intermission of Alaska’s game against the Lake Superior State Lakers on Friday in the Taffy Abel Arena, reiterating there is no serious connection between the poll and the Frozen Four on April 8-10 at Ford Field in downtown Detroit.

Anastos, in his 12th season as the CCHA commissioner, said having half of the conference ranked for the second straight week is a testament to competitiveness rather than playing host to the D-I national semifinals and championship game.

“We’re real proud of the depth of the league,” Anastos said. “Every year, the competitive balance is real high and this year is going to be no different. You always want to have teams at the end of the season in the mix, and the more, the better.”

That mix is the four regionals of the NCAA Tournament.

A few weeks before the Frozen Four and a few blocks away from Ford Field, the CCHA will conduct its conference tournament at Joe Louis Arena on March 19-20.

The tournament champion automatically advances to a regional, which could be the one on March 26-27 in Albany, N.Y., or on the same dates in St. Paul, Minn. The CCHA champ could be head to the regional on March 27-28 in Fort Wayne, Ind., or the one on the same dates in Worcester, Mass.

The D-I regionals can also include teams who qualified based on being in the top-16 of the PairWise Rankings, a system that mimics the NCAA Tournament Committee’s selection of the 16-team field for the national tournament. The PairWise takes into consideration such criteria as records against conference opponents, results against nationally ranked teams and squads with .500 or better records.

The Nanooks are currently 14th in the PairWise. The four regional winners advance to Ford Field, the home of the National Football League’s Detroit Lions that will be transformed in early April into the home of the premier showcase of college hockey.

The past three Frozen Fours have been a showcase for the CCHA.

Michigan State raised the championship trophy in 2007 and Notre Dame was runner-up in 2008. Miami, with former Fairbanks Ice Dog and then freshman Cody Reichard guarding the nets, lost 4-3 in overtime to Boston University last April 11 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

The quality of the mix from the CCHA, said Anastos, is just as important as the quantity.

“You want to compete for that national championship and your league is viewed a lot on how far you get and how many wins you get in that tournament,” he said.

This week’s USCHO.com poll speaks well of the CCHA, too.

CAMPUS TRAILS: Western Washington senior and West Valley graduate Anthony Tomsich placed 45th in 32 minutes, 44.7 seconds of the men’s 10-kilometer race of the NCAA Division II Cross-Country Championships on Saturday in Evansville, Ind. ... Arizona junior and West Valley grad Maggie Callahan placed 147th (21:37) in the women’s 6K of the NCAA Division I Championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind. Portland (Ore.) freshman and Kodiak alumnus Trevor Dunbar placed 64th in the men’s 10-K in 30:42.

• Sophomore defenseman Ashly Norum of Fairbanks assisted on the game-tying goal for Maine in a 1-1overtime outcome against Boston University in a Hockey East women’s game on Tuesday in Orono, Maine ... Alaska Anchorage junior center Nick Haddad of Fairbanks had three points in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association split with visiting Minnesota State. He scored a goal and had an assist in Friday’s 8-2 loss and contributed an assist in Saturday’s 4-1 win ... Service High School senior left wing Jordan Smelker signed a national letter of intent Monday to play next season for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute women ... Sophomore right wing Michael McCurtain of Eagle River scored his first goal of the season and the only one Tuesday for the Wisconsin-Eau Claire men in a 4-1 loss to Hamline in St. Paul, Minn.

• Senior guard and North Pole graduate Kelsy McIntosh scored 17 points Saturday for the Nyack College women’s basketball team in an 80-72 overtime loss to Bloomsburg University (Pa.) in Nyack, N.Y. ... Senior guard/forward and West Anchorage grad Ramon Harris contributed eight rebounds, two steals and two points for the Kentucky men in Tuesday’s 73-49 win over Cleveland State in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.