The Harvard men's hockey team is still number one--at least until Monday night.

Four days from now, the new national rankings will come out. And there's a good chance that Harvard will not be sitting on top.

If that is the case, it was a glorious three-week stay at number one for the first Harvard team ever to achieve that honor. The WMEB/CHSB poll looked so perfect: Harvard (15-0), with 15 of 15 possible first-place votes.

The Crimson should remain in the top five despite Tuesday's 4-2 loss to Yale. This week's two through four spots were taken by former number ones--Michigan State, North Dakota, and Boston College.

It's the ECAC that matters most at this point in the season, and this week's standings show Harvard comfortably on top with a 13-1 mark, with eight league games remaining. Six of those games are at Bright Center.

NFL Commisioner Pete Rozelle would be proud of the parity in the ECAC this season. Behind Harvard in the league is Yale, with a 7-2 record. Colgate and St. Lawrence--in third place--have six wins. Four teams are bunched together with five wins, while two more have four each.

Except for Yale and Colgate, which have played only nine and eight conference games, respectively, all the other teams have at least five league defeats.

Colgate has been playing impressive hockey recently. The ninth-ranked Red Raiders beat Cornell, RPI and Vermont last weekend to improve their overall record to 12-3.

Halfway to Detroit: Harvard's 16 games mark the halfway point of the season--provided that the Crimson reaches the NCAA semi-finals in Detroit in March. After the Yale game, the Crimson entered its traditional three-week layoff for its other finals.

So this is an opportune time to recount some of the highlights from individual games in the first half of this storybook season:

Team scoring : Highest output--8-3 over Dartmouth, November 28. Lowest output--Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Bulldogs.

Team defense: One shutout (Dickie McEvoy) and four one-point games (three by McEvoy, one by John Devin).

Individual scoring: Hat-tricks by Pete Chiarelli and Tim Barakett, four-point efforts by Allen Bourbeau, Lane MacDonald, Randy Taylor, Barakett and Mark Benning.

Individual defense: Most saves, Devin, 29 (twice).

Game winning goals: Barakett, seven.