More Realignment Coming?

[Falcon Fanatic]

Many have said this would eventually happen when the present realignment was going on.

http://www.sent-trib.com/bgsu-sports/fl ... y-10-30-13



GO FALCONS!!
SWEEP the seawolves!!

[BGFalconfromCincy]

Have there been any sites or stories that the rumors he mentioned have been talked about at. I've tried searching for stuff like this (this isn't the first time I've heard people mention this) and haven't found anything new, just stories about the realignment that went into place this season

[poltergeist]

don't think there's much doubt that realignment will happen again.
but I'm not buying the 'new CCHA' scenario, where miami and western run out on the NCHC to join BG and AHA schools. bailing on north dakota and denver $$$ and exposure so they can play against canisius and robert morris instead? doesn't make much sense, especially since miami couldn't get out of the CCHA fast enough. that would be admitting epic NCHC failure.
more likely, BGSU and 1 or 3 other teams go to the NCHC--maybe setting up some sort of NCHC East and NCHC West division alignment. but that could break the nWCHA and AHA--yikes, messy.

[Freddie]

"Rumors are circulating throughout college hockey that the next round of realignment could be coming to the sport - even though the latest realignment just took effect this fall"...So far the only "rumors" I've heard are those from Gordon's article itself. "Rumors are circulating", Mr Gordon?...please cite some sources.

It is well known that several Atlantic schools had expressed some interest (during the recent shake-out) to escape the restrictive scholarship limits of that conference, but I have not heard ANYthing from ANYbody about this in well over a year.

[BGFan]

The problem that Miami and WMU are and will continue to experience is exorbitant travel costs. (This includes BG in the WCHA also given the distance to some of those schools in Minnesota.) Both of those schools jumped before they fully considered the ramifications so I can understand the possibility of reforming the CCHA. There is also the possibility of Ohio and Kent bringing hockey back as a varsity sport that would be enticing to reforming the league. I don't think that this rumor is as far fetched as some may think. Geographically and monetarily speaking, the benefits are obvious.

[poltergeist]

The problem that Miami and WMU are and will continue to experience is exorbitant travel costs. (This includes BG in the WCHA also given the distance to some of those schools in Minnesota.) Both of those schools jumped before they fully considered the ramifications so I can understand the possibility of reforming the CCHA. There is also the possibility of Ohio and Kent bringing hockey back as a varsity sport that would be enticing to reforming the league. I don't think that this rumor is as far fetched as some may think. Geographically and monetarily speaking, the benefits are obvious.

BG didn't have much choice in going to the nWCHA and bearing the travel costs.
Miami knew exactly what trips to Grand Forks and Colorado Springs were gonna cost, and they jumped on it anyway. If they pull the plug on the NCHC now because of "travel costs"...how could they have been that boneheaded? a drunken monkey could've predicted the increased travel costs...while I don't have high general regard for miami, they couldn't be that dim.

would be great to see a real MAC hockey conference, but we'd need ohio, kent, and buffalo. that's a lot of cash.

[pdt1081]

The problem that Miami and WMU are and will continue to experience is exorbitant travel costs. (This includes BG in the WCHA also given the distance to some of those schools in Minnesota.) Both of those schools jumped before they fully considered the ramifications so I can understand the possibility of reforming the CCHA. There is also the possibility of Ohio and Kent bringing hockey back as a varsity sport that would be enticing to reforming the league. I don't think that this rumor is as far fetched as some may think. Geographically and monetarily speaking, the benefits are obvious.

BG didn't have much choice in going to the nWCHA and bearing the travel costs.
Miami knew exactly what trips to Grand Forks and Colorado Springs were gonna cost, and they jumped on it anyway. If they pull the plug on the NCHC now because of "travel costs"...how could they have been that boneheaded? a drunken monkey could've predicted the increased travel costs...while I don't have high general regard for miami, they couldn't be that dim.

would be great to see a real MAC hockey conference, but we'd need ohio, kent, and buffalo. that's a lot of cash.

No. No it wouldn't. It'd be absolutely horrible.

[jpfalcon09]

The problem for BG is simply location, which is why the CCHA worked so well. No matter what happens from here on out, travel is going to be an issue for the hockey program. I don't see any teams who made the jump to larger conferences wanting to regress back to the way things were, even if cost is an issue. College hockey is really growing and becoming a bigger entity within the NCAA, and these schools are trying their best to capitalize on it now and worry about the other problems later.

[poltergeist]

No. No it wouldn't. It'd be absolutely horrible.

Yes. Yes it would. Playing DI schools in Ohio and Michigan, better than playing DII schools in Minnesota and Alaska.
but it's not happening, so not worth worrying about.

[pdt1081]

No. No it wouldn't. It'd be absolutely horrible.

Yes. Yes it would. Playing DI schools in Ohio and Michigan, better than playing DII schools in Minnesota and Alaska.
but it's not happening, so not worth worrying about.

The only advantage a MAC hockey conference offers is less travel. That's it. There is no national TV coverage, a la BTN. Playing regularly in Minnesota exposes the school to the kids there. Look at any roster and compare the hometowns of the players. How often will you see Minnesota compared to Ohio? Even in Michigan, you mention Ferris State or Lake Superior to a hockey kid and he'll know what you're talking about. Mention Central Michigan, Eastern, Akron, etc, and you'll get funny looks. The MAC simply offers no competitive advantage for hockey.

[poltergeist]

No. No it wouldn't. It'd be absolutely horrible.

Yes. Yes it would. Playing DI schools in Ohio and Michigan, better than playing DII schools in Minnesota and Alaska.
but it's not happening, so not worth worrying about.

The only advantage a MAC hockey conference offers is less travel. That's it. There is no national TV coverage, a la BTN. Playing regularly in Minnesota exposes the school to the kids there. Look at any roster and compare the hometowns of the players. How often will you see Minnesota compared to Ohio? Even in Michigan, you mention Ferris State or Lake Superior to a hockey kid and he'll know what you're talking about. Mention Central Michigan, Eastern, Akron, etc, and you'll get funny looks. The MAC simply offers no competitive advantage for hockey.

the nWCHA isn't giving us national TV coverage either.
a possibly bigger recruiting footprint is the only advantage to playing in minnesota. but since we already get kids from minnesota and everywhere else in N. America, playing in mankato/bemidji isn't gonna help much. (if we suddenly start getting tons of kids from minnesota, I'll eat my words, lol.)
aside from reduced travel costs, playing miami/western/ou/kent...could actually give us some meaningful rivalries again, and draw some real crowds. which team will draw better in BG...Miami or Bemidji?
it would also give us conference stability and get us out of of this realignment merry-go-round, which is bound to start up again soon. chances are we won't be playing bemidji/mankato in a few years anyway, once the merry-go-round spins again.
don't get me wrong, I don't want to see the WCHA blown up. But BG is not a very good fit in the conference, geographically or institutionally.

[pdt1081]

the nWCHA isn't giving us national TV coverage either.
a possibly bigger recruiting footprint is the only advantage to playing in minnesota. but since we already get kids from minnesota and everywhere else in N. America, playing in mankato/bemidji isn't gonna help much. (if we suddenly start getting tons of kids from minnesota, I'll eat my words, lol.)
aside from reduced travel costs, playing miami/western/ou/kent...could actually give us some meaningful rivalries again, and draw some real crowds. which team will draw better in BG...Miami or Bemidji?
it would also give us conference stability and get us out of of this realignment merry-go-round, which is bound to start up again soon. chances are we won't be playing bemidji/mankato in a few years anyway, once the merry-go-round spins again.
don't get me wrong, I don't want to see the WCHA blown up. But BG is not a very good fit in the conference, geographically or institutionally.

You're right that there is no national TV coverage. That wasn't the reason for joining the conference. The conference was a group of schools with established hockey teams at the D1 level. You use Miami vs Bemidiji as an example of attendance difference, but what about Miami vs Ohio, or Akron? Miami draws because they have been relevant on the national stage the past few years and bring a ton of fans with them. Western will draw the same as just about any WCHA team is going to.

2 years ago, when all the conference realignment took place, it was the best fit for BG. It wasn't ideal like the CCHA was, but with the way everything went down it had to happen. The NCHC was started with the words of "like minded schools." Simply put, the budget differences between teams is how the league realignment played out. The way this program was ignored for years is what put BG in the WCHA. I still say that BG's best fit (right now) is Hockey East with Notre Dame.

And simply venturing in any of the other forums here is reason enough to believe that the MAC will do nothing good for the sport of hockey.

[MacGuy]

There is zero chance that Ohio and Kent would begin DI hockey. They would also have to add more women's sports or make cuts to men's sports. MAC schools are already losing tons of money. No need to add another sport(s) to drag them down further.

[pdt1081]

There is zero chance that Ohio and Kent would begin DI hockey. They would also have to add more women's sports or make cuts to men's sports. MAC schools are already losing tons of money. No need to add another sport(s) to drag them down further.

No doubt. The only way I see there being 6 hockey teams from the MAC is through the realignment of other sports bringing new schools into the conference. Even then, I would be highly against the MAC office having anything to do with hockey.

[BGDrew]

The way I see a "new" CCHA is with BG, NMU, LSSU, FSU and possibly WMU if they can't swing that travel budget. Add in the schools from the Atlantic Hockey Conference that have expressed interest in going 18 scholarships and you'd have a decent conference.

Miami will NEVER return to what will be considered a "lesser" league. For their program's life or death, I think they're going to cling to the NCHC.