AMHERST - Sleeping giant. That's what they called UMass hockey. Opposing coaches, UMass administrators, college hockey media all said it when the program was revived in 1993. State school in a hockey-loving region with a new rink. They kept saying it each time there was a coaching change. There was no reason UMass couldn't be a college hockey powerhouse.

Except for the better part of 25 years it just kept sleeping. Not anymore.

There were a couple seasons in the Toot Cahoon Era (2000-2012) when the Minutemen were good, but for one reason or another, it wasn't sustainable or at least it wasn't sustained. But on Monday afternoon, when U.S. College Hockey Online released it's top 20, UMass was the No. 1 team in the country.

As they teach all students in Coaching Cliches 101, polls don't matter and they especially don't matter in early December. It's a long season and there's plenty of hockey between now and the end of the season.

All of that is mostly true. Being No. 1 is a fun novelty for a day, a week, etc. But the success is more than just a poll rise: UMass is 12-1-0. The Minutemen have beaten good non-conference opponents and already have 14 points in Hockey East thanks to a 7-0-0 conference mark. They have the most goals per game (4.08) and fewest allowed (2.00) of any Hockey East team.

They're the top team in the Pairwise rankings, the computer formula the NCAA uses to stock and seed the tournament in March. If the Minutemen have a run of injuries, bad luck or bad officiating, they've created a little cushion where they can weather those stretches without any inclination to panic.

Coach Greg Carvel was neither worried about how his team would handle the added attention that comes with being highly-ranked nor any adversity should it arise.

"I'm sure whatever that adversity is going to be, I don't see us panicking and changing things. It's all about our standard of play. When we play to our standard, we're a very tough team to beat," he said after Friday's win over UConn. "I think our players have more confidence than I do. They're like 'Coach, relax we know what to do.'"

It feels like an overnight turnaround, but UMass has come a long way since Carvel's first year where they went 5-29-2 in 2016-17. Last year marked the ninth consecutive losing season. When he was hired in 2016, Carvel left St. Lawrence, his alma mater and a program he'd built into a force in the ECAC, to see if his approach could work at a bigger program. He envisioned talented teams competing at the top of Hockey East for NCAA tournament bids in front of big crowds.

"When I took this job, somebody I really trusted said 'It can happen. It's got everything you need. They've just never had the right athletic director and the right coach together at the same time.' It's a sleeping giant. My staff is really good. My assistants, the strength coach and the trainers are really good," Carvel said. "At St. Lawrence, I had a vision and a plan and it worked pretty well. We said 'let's see if it works at a bigger school in a different conference.' What we did at St. Lawrence is elevated here, culture building, staff building. It's a new wave of how programs need to be run."

So many times when a team crests a previously unreached mountain top, it does so loaded with juniors and seniors. UMass is finding success with a squad that is heavily stocked with sophomores and freshman.

"To me the sophomores seem like seniors," Carvel said. "They play like seniors. They act like seniors. They're the complete backbone of our team. Last year's freshman class was big and they didn't really have anyone to look up to. This freshman class can look at the sophomore class. They have no choice but to get in step and follow along. Now kids come in and they sense the culture."

Friday's win over UConn featured seven freshmen, seven sophomores, two juniors and four seniors, including one grad transfer. Many of those underclassmen won't ever be seniors or in some cases even juniors. The money they'll be offered to turn pro will be too good to walk away from. But right now they've bought in together.

"We have a group of kids who really do it right. They're unified," Carvel said. "They're one big happy group. They do a better job of being consistent than the coaches do."

Defenseman Cale Makar has been the face of that. The No. 4 overall pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2017 elected to stay in school for his sophomore year after a strong freshman season. His play combined with UMass' team success has made him a legitimate candidate for the Hobey Baker award as college hockey's best player.

Getting Makar to talk about himself is almost as hard as getting the puck away from him. Makar has been a team-first kid since he arrived. If the most highly-touted player in the history of UMass hockey puts team first, it's hard for anyone else to be selfish.

"Everybody has the right mindset coming into the rink wanting to get better. The consistency of everybody wanting to work hard will be a key factors to determine whether we can be a really good team down the stretch," Makar said. "I think there's a great mixture on this team. Growing up I was taught hard work trumps talent any day of the week. We know we have a lot of talent on this team, but the way that we use it is what's going to help us the most."

The fans have embraced the success. The students have returned in force and the Mullins Center once again has atmosphere. Against a below .500 UConn team, 7,124 fans showed up to see a 7-4 win. Another big crowd is expected Saturday for a top 10 showdown with No. 9 Quinnipiac.

The giant is awake.