We’ve all seen what’s happened to teams rated number one this season. In the NFL, the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys were picked to win their respective conference, which looks to be a long-shot at this point. In NCAA football, there have been at least five teams rated number one since the first pre-season rankings came out.

Today, Boston University is the third team to be ranked number one in the nation after Boston College and Colorado College both failed to hold down that distinction. This weekend will be a tough test as the Terriers travel to Amherst Friday night to take on the UMass Minutemen.

Here are the match-ups for Friday nights contest:

Offense

BU – The depth of the Terriers offense is too good to be true. You can look up and down the line-up and not find one weakness. Sophomores Colin Wilson (5g, 7a) and Nick Bonino (4g, 8a) lead the Terriers in offensive production while the senior trio of Chris Higgins (4g, 6a), Brandon Yip (3g, 5a) and Jason Lawrence (5g, 3a) continue to make sieves out of the nation's goaltenders. Chris Connolly (2g, 4a) and Vinny Saponari (2g, 1a) lead the Terrier freshmen in production and always look to be ready to put another one in the net.

UMASS – While the Minutemen are not as deep as the Terriers, they are far from a one-dimensional team. Sophomore James Marcou (5g, 6a) leads the Minutemen in production and is making NHL GM’s take notice of his raw ability. Seniors Alex Berry (2g, 7a) and Cory Quirk (1g, 7a) continue to perfect the art of passing in Hockey East. Every time you see them passing the puck in the offensive zone, you can bet whoever receives it will put it in the net, especially if it's Marcou on the receiving end.

ADVANTAGE – The Terriers have proven that their 2-1 loss to New Hampshire earlier this season was clearly a fluke. In five out of their six wins, the Terriers scored at least five goals. However, this is not as big as an advantage as it may seem. The Minutemen are very dangerous when they have the puck in the offensive zone. UMass has been haunted by their lack of finishing. If they capitalize on their chances, then the Minutemen could pull the upset. Until that happens, the Terriers have the offensive advantage.

Defense

BU – There are no words that can describe how dominant the Terrier defense has been this season. Coach Parker really discovered something phenomenal when he put sophomores Colby Cohen (1g, 7a, +9) and Kevin Shattenkirk (2g, 5a, +10) together on defense. They create scoring chances, can move the puck out of their own zone and are rarely caught out of position. They are the best defensive pairing in all of college hockey.

UMASS – Except for the play of senior John Wessbecker (2s, +7) the Minutemen defense has been the teams Achilles heal. They fail to generate much offense out of their own zone and are unreliable when it comes to shots from the point evidenced by their lack of point production from everyone except senior Topher Bevis (1g, 3a, +4). The rest of the UMass defensive corps has yet to strike fear into opposing teams game plans and could be the main reason why the Minutemen may not upset the Terriers.

ADVANTAGE – The difference in abilities between the two schools defenses are like night and day. The top five defensemen on BU would easily be one of the top two if they attended the University of Massachusetts. However, This is not a knock on UMass, rather it’s a testament to just how good BU’s defense really is. It’s almost unfair to compare the BU defense to any other in the nation. Up to this point, no school in the country has a better defensive corps than the Terriers of Boston University.

Goalies

BU – Coach Parker has a “no media” policy when it comes to the freshmen, and Parker has been admired for years by his decision to keep the freshmen away from the media. If freshmen goaltenders Kieran Millan and Grant Rollheisser keep playing at their current pace, Parker may have to bend some rules. The goalies rotate every game and if it weren’t for their height difference, one would think it was the same goalie switching jerseys each game. Both Millan and Rollheisser look calm, cool and collected in net, refusing to be intimidated by anyone. No one could have predicted how well two, let alone one, freshman goalies could have been being thrown into the fire that is Hockey East.

UMASS – It looks as if the Minutemen will be set at goalie for a very long time. Junior Dan Meyers has impressed everyone with his .923 save percentage and 2.25 GAA. Both rank at the top for goalies in the Hockey East. Meyers has compiled the stats while facing the toughest of competition so far this year. You're not impressed? Then take a look at sophomore Paul Dainton. He has compiled a .951 save percentage and 1.14 GAA in three games this season. It doesn’t matter who you play, if you get those kind of stats over at least three out of eight games, you’re doing something right.

ADVANTAGE – There is none. Go ahead, try and pick which school has the advantage. Millan and Rollheisser have been outstanding, but also have the best defense in the country in front of them. Meyers and Dainton don’t have such a luxury but still perform near perfection for their team. Put the BU defense in front of Dainton and Meyers, and they would probably have extremely similar statistics to that of Millan and Rollheisser.

Final Outcome

This game is screaming upset. The Minutemen are hosting the number one team in the nation and have the tools to pull off a win. However, in order for that to happen, all of the following would need to occur. First off, whether it’s Meyers or Dainton in net, the UMass goalie needs to have the game of their career Friday night. The defense must generate offense in order to keep the Terrier forwards from cheating up the ice and the forwards will need to capitalize on every chance they get.

So far this season, the Terriers are a stronger team than the Minutemen and will ride out of Amherst with a win. Watch for things to get really interesting if everything comes together for the Minutemen. The Terriers have blown out every opponent except for their 2-1 win over Michigan State. During that game, the Terriers looked shaky while trying to cling to a small lead. The Terriers may be on upset alert, but it’s hard to imagine them losing this game.