WCHA Expansion?

[Falcon Fanatic]

http://www.newsminer.com/sports/uaf_nan ... f6878.html" target="_blank

GO FALCON HOCKEY!!

[gmartin]

Sure. Let's play hockey in Arizona in January when it's 90 degrees. Not!!!! The Pheonix Coyotes struggle to fill 1/2 it's stadium for its NHL games. I can't see a college team doing any better. Maybe we can have an outdoor Winter classic in Arizona in 2020.

[bgbill]

I'll take Arizona at +90 over Fairbanks at -30.

[Falcon Fanatic]

I'll take Arizona at +90 over Fairbanks at -30.

And you speak from experience!!

[Schadenfreude]

If Arizona State fields a varsity program, that's good for the sport. I wonder if there are other issues lurking about.

Just in terms of geography, wouldn't Arizona State and the Alaskas make more sense in a conference with the Colorado schools, and wouldn't the MAC schools all be better off together with more local schools? I didn't follow the realignment very closely, and I realize more than just geography was probably involved.

Maybe we could give the WCHA name back to the Colorado schools and revive the CCHA name

[pdt1081]

If Arizona State fields a varsity program, that's good for the sport. I wonder if there are other issues lurking about.

Just in terms of geography, wouldn't Arizona State and the Alaskas make more sense in a conference with the Colorado schools, and wouldn't the MAC schools all be better off together with more local schools? I didn't follow the realignment very closely, and I realize more than just geography was probably involved.

Maybe we could give the WCHA name back to the Colorado schools and revive the CCHA name

The realignment was about one thing and one thing only. Money.

[Schadenfreude]

Let me put it another way: The membership of Miami and Western Michigan in the NCAC reminds me a bit of all those years that Louisiana Tech insisted on playing football in the WAC instead of the Sun Belt. Is money really the reason Miami and Western Michigan are in that league?

[TG1996]

Let me put it another way: The membership of Miami and Western Michigan in the NCAC reminds me a bit of all those years that Louisiana Tech insisted on playing football in the WAC instead of the Sun Belt. Is money really the reason Miami and Western Michigan are in that league?

I didn't follow it as close as many, I'm sure, but I got the impression once the B10 pillaged the WCHA & CCHA, the self-perceived elite from those conferences got together, every man for themselves, and formed the new conference. Money probably played a role, of course, but I'm thinking the majority was thinking taking "the best of the rest" was going to make them elite. Miami(OH) finished 15-20-3 and I hope they look back on that as the glory days sometime soon.

[pdt1081]

Let me put it another way: The membership of Miami and Western Michigan in the NCAC reminds me a bit of all those years that Louisiana Tech insisted on playing football in the WAC instead of the Sun Belt. Is money really the reason Miami and Western Michigan are in that league?

I didn't follow it as close as many, I'm sure, but I got the impression once the B10 pillaged the WCHA & CCHA, the self-perceived elite from those conferences got together, every man for themselves, and formed the new conference. Money probably played a role, of course, but I'm thinking the majority was thinking taking "the best of the rest" was going to make them elite. Miami(OH) finished 15-20-3 and I hope they look back on that as the glory days sometime soon.

The reason Denver,CC, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Duluth wanted out of the WCHA was money. They were the biggest programs, with the biggest budgets, and felt that the league's profit sharing was allowing the rest of the league to field under-performing low budget teams and still receive the same amount from the league (Final 5 was huge $$$). Since the NCAA says you need 6 teams to receive an auto-bid they convinced Miami to join them (Miami had the largest budget and was the most successful of the remaining CCHA schools.

Western campaigned hard to get invited (whywestern.com), because they felt they were being left out. St Cloud was upset initially, then claimed they would reject any offer to join the NCHC, then went back on that statement when they were actually invited.

What it all boils down to in the end is, ranking every schools' budget (outside the B1G) the top 8 are in the NCHC, with the rest in the WCHA.

[NoDak]

http://www.newsminer.com/sports/uaf_nan ... f6878.html

GO FALCON HOCKEY!!

Robertson mentions Canada as a possibilty. That can only be Simon Fraser, the only Canadian NCAA school, which is finishing its transition to DII. Upon the completion of DII requirements, its is eligible to bring a hockey program to DI. There is some thought that Simon Fraser only went NCAA to be able to sponsor a DI hockey program. Simon Fraser, which is in a Vancouver suburb, is a very large school with 30,000 students and already plays the Alaska schools in their DII conference in other sports. The Alaska schools would strongly support SFU.

Think SFU is a shoe in to the WCHA, as SFU will be required to travel of UAA and UAF every year, thereby limiting the trips by Michigan schools and BGSU to only one.

Other possibilities are Eastern Washington (have a rink on campus and can play in Spokane), Minot St (ND, moved to DII so they should be able to start DI hockey soon), and Lindenwood, MO (also have a top ACHA team that is now eligible to move to DI as Lindenwood is nearing completion of its DII transition - Lindenwood would play in a 9000 seat arena in the St Louis suburb of St Charles).

The WCHA will probably break apart if its gets more western team. Arizona St and probably Simon Fraser want in the NCHC long term, and W Mich and Miami probably don't like the thought of traveling to the West Coast. I can seen a MAC-like hockey conference forming (the CCHA II ?) with BGSU, Miami, WMU, and maybe Buffalo, Ferris State, UAH, Niagara, Robert Morris, and Mercyhurst. A league like that wouldn't have any travel.