DANBURY, Conn. – For the second-consecutive season, the Nichols College Bison have been picked as the preseason favorite in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast Hockey league, as determined by a poll of league head coaches.

On the heels of claiming their second ECAC Northeast Hockey Championship last March, the Bison received six first-place votes and three second-place nods for 78 total points in the poll.

Last year's runners-up, Salve Regina, came second in the poll with 67 points, which included one first place vote, as the Seahawks look to improve on last year's strong in-conference mark of 9-4-1.

Johnson & Wales and Endicott also both garnered a first-place vote in the poll, with the Wildcats placing third and the Gulls finishing fourth in the preseason rankings.

The 2015-16 ECAC Northeast Hockey campaign gets underway on Oct. 30, with five teams opening their schedules with out-of-conference contests. The remaining four squads are slated to begin their seasons with non-league tilts the next day.

TEAM (FIRST-PLACE VOTES)       POINTS

Nichols (6)                                          78

 Salve Regina (1)                                67

 JWU (1)                                              64

 Endicott (1)                                        51

 Curry                                                 48

 Wentworth                                         37

 Suffolk                                                 28

 Western New England                        22

 Becker                                                 10