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Multiple reports are out that Notre Dame will be joining the Big Ten for hockey beginning in the 2017-2018 season. This all but opens the door for Arizona State to join as well.

It also puts an end to the idea that Notre Dame and Bowling Green would join the NCHC as a package.

I wonder if talks of reviving the CCHA will start to intensify. It would be a lot more fun if if Western Michigan and Miami would come along for the ride.

I thought they'd stay out east for sure after all those years of gagging at the thought of B1G membership, but it makes perfect sense from a geography standpoint. I'd be shocked if ASU doesn't follow them now. This probably won't shake things up in the WCHA, but we'll have to wait and see.

Sure looks like they are counting on ASU to join. If not things could get real interesting very quickly

A re-launched CCHA would struggle if we're being honest. It'd most likely be LSSU, FSU, WMU, BGSU, Miami (if they'd even join), Robert Morris, Niagara, and Mercyhurst. None of those teams are in the top-20, and only two made the NCAAs this year.

Continued improvement should put us in line with a NCHC invitation, but the extra plane trip or two per season might be too cost prohibitive until fundraising is improved.

The Big Ten hockey commissioner, Travoli, or however you pronounce his name said that there is no rush to expand to an 8 team conference. He said it would be years before another team is added.

So with that logic an 8th team will be added before next season begins.

Arizona State will probably announce something after the Frozen Four.

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2 ... _final.php" target="_blank

I don't see us getting an invitation to NCHC unless the entire WCHA joins. We bring nothing to the conference other than a bus trip for Miami and WMU. Has are program improved....no question. However, contrary to popular belief around this board, the team still hasn't won anything in almost 30 years.
Our last AD begged to be included in the NCHC when it formed and they laughed at him....nothing has changed to make us a good fit for them since then.

apollo wrote:I don't see us getting an invitation to NCHC unless the entire WCHA joins. We bring nothing to the conference other than a bus trip for Miami and WMU. Has are program improved....no question. However, contrary to popular belief around this board, the team still hasn't won anything in almost 30 years.
Our last AD begged to be included in the NCHC when it formed and they laughed at him....nothing has changed to make us a good fit for them since then.

Our last AD was a dbag. And both Miami and Western (as well as BG) will see a boost in attendance by all three being in the same conference. Less travel expenses and more money from attendance sounds like a hell of a deal for the three teams involved. Burning non-conference games against each other isn't a good compromise as it limits exposure to other markets (east).

I honestly don't want to join the NCHC, but the current college hockey landscape in the west is not sustainable. Something is going to change, and there's a very good chance BG will be centrally located when things do.

pdt1081 wrote:I honestly don't want to join the NCHC, but the current college hockey landscape in the west is not sustainable. Something is going to change, and there's a very good chance BG will be centrally located when things do.

Agree. I don't really want to be in the NCHC either. I wonder if Miami and Western Michigan will ever have second thoughts. A CCHA with them in it would be stronger than without them. In fact, the Associated Press, quoting the Hockey East commissioner, was practically peddling that idea a couple of weeks back:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/06817e4b ... ice-so-far" target="_blank

But, honestly, even a conference with Ferris State, Alabama-Hunstville, Robert Morris and some of the western New York schools would be better than what we have now. (Bonus if we could get Lake Superior State to come along.) Maybe not in terms of schedule strength. But it would be more compact and less expensive.

Is this just a stray sport finding a more logical home...or is this the first step in bringing ND under that B1G umbrella...ND just inked a ten year extension for football on NBC that currently pays $15 million per year. That's chump change compared to the $45 million the B1G network pays out to its schools. A number that surely would increase with the addition of a program with a national reach like ND. Cable systems all over the country would be pressed to add the channel And it would be a nice feature to have when it comes time to launch that seemingly inevitable over the top streaming network for guys like me who cut cable TV entirely and stream everything.

Notes Dame will not be getting a share of the BTN revenue. The Irish will continue to hold the rights to their home games while the BTN will hold the rights to all other games and their tournament.

Yeaah...by "program" I mean football...;perhaps I should have made that clear.

Article in the Rochester paper discussing ND moving to BiG and its effect on RIT. Hypothesis: Quinnnipiac leaves ECAC to join Hockey East, RIT leaves Atlantic to join ECAC. Atlantic is then down a team, leading to another realignment.