Weighing Realignment?

[giwan]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

Keep in mind though, the B1G is about to sign a future TV contract that is just absurd, and you can't get the Pac-12 network on many providers. This far, the Pac-12 network has been quite a dud.

Mostly football and basketball related. Not sure how proceeds would be distributed. In fact I'm not sure I've met anyone that watches the BTN but somebody must.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

I'm not a media guy but this is how I see this kind of story getting started.

Some student at a student newspaper writes an article. Might be somewhat accurate. It gets picked up by a poster who posts a link to it. makes a comment. Someone speculates what the words mean. (In this case, I'm sure that ND is unhappy with the refereeing. And not so much the travel, but I'm sure they do not feel fairly treated by the refs. rightly or wrongly.)

Then someone tweets it, and it get's a life on social media. USCHO is then forced to publish it. They can't afford to not be the main source of information, so rather than getting bypassed they write a story, maybe they interview a commissioner or something. They don't get told much of substance, then we all end up speculating.

For instance, someone began speculating on the boards about Q pac wanting to leave the ecac. someone else saw it, tweeted it, the next thing you know, there's an article.

Same thing in pro hockey. someone tweeted about the wings having a goalie they were looking to trade for a right handed defenseman. Next thing you know, there's an article analyzing the plusses and minuses of them doing it.

Now if i'm speculating on the possible ramifications. ND might switch, but I'm thinking they are going to hang with it for a while and see if things get better, if they feel more at home, and how the money is working out. I think they would prefer to stay all things being equal.

The biggest thing we all have to realize in these discussions about ND is that there is big difference between what the team and the coaching staff thinks, maybe even the athletic department...and its a completely different group of people that ultimately get to decide where ND sports reside. As much as Jackson may not want to be in Hockey East and they would prefer NCHC or maybe even WCHA for travel reasons, it won't matter as long as ND has deal with NBC Sports and NCHC is attached to CBS Sports, etc.

[Got 6, Want More]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

Western bias woofing? He was defending the calling of the wcha and the NCHC inferior... now, you can make a case for the new wcha but the NCHC? Come on, it's the conference that every other conference strives to be. It's kinda the bee's knees. Actually not kinda. Vastly superior super duper league. All asu and the dame would do is dilute it. And we already have cc doing that.

*Yawn*

[Jasma]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

BC is in the B1G?

I assume you mean inferior, which makes a whole lot of sense considering the NCHC and WCHA combine for 8 of the top 9 Pairwise spots.

Oops. Brain fart on BC. They are, of course, in the ACC.
By inferior I was referring to level of recognition, revenue potential/TV exposure. Roll your eyes all you want, any of the teams in the WCHA or NCHC would rather be in the Big 6/10 for the reasons above. If hockey is to become a big-money sport with significant TV and merchandise revenue more big-time schools like AZ St. will have to move to varsity status. Notre Dame vs. Michigan or Michigan State vs. Ohio State will bring a much larger TV audience than Duluth vs. Neb.-Omaha, Mich. Tech vs. Bowling Green, or St. Lawrence vs. Colgate.

[FreshFish]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

Good time to go through and re-do all the conferences, blow them all up and start over.

Maybe we can just sort all the teams alphabetically and then have 8 conferences of 7 - 8 teams each?

Oh, wait, then people would argue about whether we sort by school name or nickname, W for Wisconsin or B for Badgers, etc.

There are probably more ideas on this subject than there are people expounding.....

[Patman]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

I want NOTHING to do with Quinnipiac

[Got 6, Want More]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

I want NOTHING to do with Quinnipiac

Don't blame you, but why?

[blackswampboy]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

If hockey is to become a big-money sport with significant TV and merchandise revenue

ewwwww. we've seen what that's done to football--no thanks.

[IrishHockeyFan]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

For this to be driven by Notre Dame, a couple things might have occurred, I suppose. Either the Big Ten is offering to let Notre Dame join as hockey members only (which would seem to be against their rules) or they are offering Notre Dame full membership in all sports and for some reason Notre Dame now may feel this is attractive whereas before they did not for whatever reason (national profile, TV contracts, etc.).

I almost never post anymore, but I guess I need to hang around just enough to continue to quash any talk of a Notre Dame/B1G alignment. For many, many deep seated and long standing reasons, Notre Dame is not, nor will they EVER be, joining the B1G. The conference doesn't want Notre Dame anymore and Notre Dame wants no part of the B1G and hasn't since Fielding Yost was still alive and hating Catholics. I don't know how many times it needs to be said, or how much more plainly it could be said. Notre Dame to the B1G is not happening. Not for hockey. Not for all sports. Not for anything. This dead horse has been beaten not only beyond death, but beyond whatever comes after death for horses. Notre Dame's hockey will be independent and the football team will drop to 1AA and join the Ivys (where they just might be able to consistently compete) before there would be a Notre Dame/B1G marriage.

You may all now return to your rumor mongering. Have fun.

[aparch]

LOL. Big 10 already blew everything up, now we want to do it again?

They blew up the West. Time for them to leave their mark on the East.

Maybe now the Ivy's will get off their * and form their own conference?

[Split-N]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

...I need to hang around just enough to continue to quash any talk of a Notre Dame/B1G alignment. For many, many deep seated and long standing reasons, Notre Dame is not, nor will they EVER be, joining the B1G. The conference doesn't want Notre Dame anymore and Notre Dame wants no part of the B1G...

Very true. The bridges between ND and the B1G were burned a long time ago (although money (and maybe time) is said to be able to heal all wounds).

NDs only other viable option would be the NCHC, but the travel advantages gained would be marginal, at best. Yes, they would get bus trips to WMU and Miami but they'd be swapping six flights to Boston (684 air miles -- ~2.5 hrs) for two trips to Colorado (850 air miles), one trip to Duluth (400 air miles) two trips to Minneapolis (360 air miles), one trip to Omaha (430 air miles), and one trip to Grand Forks (600 air miles). Total flights: seven (as opposed to six). Throw in Arizona State and you have eight. OK, maybe the Minnesota trips could be by bus but you're still looking at ~400 road miles, or about the distance from Boston to Baltimore. Then there's the fact that the NCHC teams play each other twice at home and twice away, as opposed to the one-and-one in HEA (or, in NDs case, two and home and two away on alternating years), so their OOC scheduling opportunities would become limited.

I guess they could follow the football model and play an independent schedule but hockey ain't football so that's easier said than done.

I suspect the fact that Jeff Jackson is known to be unhappy with HEA officiating plays into this somehow. But a coach with his experience should have figured out by now that HEA calls the clutch-and-grab obstruction type fouls tighter than they might have been called in the CCHA. But c'mon, he's had the better part of two seasons to adjust. And yes, the bottom tier of HEA officials leave something to be desired but so did the bottom tier of CCHA officials.

So, as someone else pointed out, this looks like much ado about nothing.

[ChinaHockey]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

I would be for an Ivy League Hockey Conf. I wish Penn and Columbia would join and make it a true ILHC. I believe NCAA hockey should be regional "bus leagues." I know the Alaska schools are the exception and there are other examples of teams that need to fly. But I know with proper realignment they can be more limited in their travel expenses by having league competitors closer than what exists now. Bringing ASU into the fold will be great if that program doesn't suck a ton of money out of their athletic budget. Don't forget, they are an AD away from folding the tent on the program if the $ for the team takes too much out of the budget.

[Biddco]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

Very true. The bridges between ND and the B1G were burned a long time ago (although money (and maybe time) is said to be able to heal all wounds).

NDs only other viable option would be the NCHC, but the travel advantages gained would be marginal, at best. Yes, they would get bus trips to WMU and Miami but they'd be swapping six flights to Boston (684 air miles -- ~2.5 hrs) for two trips to Colorado (850 air miles), one trip to Duluth (400 air miles) two trips to Minneapolis (360 air miles), one trip to Omaha (430 air miles), and one trip to Grand Forks (600 air miles). Total flights: seven (as opposed to six). Throw in Arizona State and you have eight. OK, maybe the Minnesota trips could be by bus but you're still looking at ~400 road miles, or about the distance from Boston to Baltimore. Then there's the fact that the NCHC teams play each other twice at home and twice away, as opposed to the one-and-one in HEA (or, in NDs case, two and home and two away on alternating years), so their OOC scheduling opportunities would become limited.

I guess they could follow the football model and play an independent schedule but hockey ain't football so that's easier said than done.

I suspect the fact that Jeff Jackson is known to be unhappy with HEA officiating plays into this somehow. But a coach with his experience should have figured out by now that HEA calls the clutch-and-grab obstruction type fouls tighter than they might have been called in the CCHA. But c'mon, he's had the better part of two seasons to adjust. And yes, the bottom tier of HEA officials leave something to be desired but so did the bottom tier of CCHA officials.

So, as someone else pointed out, this looks like much ado about nothing.

I think the big thing for Notre Dame is where the NCHC's recruiting footprint is. ND takes a lot of kids from Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. I thought I heard Jeff Jackson wanted to be in the NCHC so they could take advantage of that recruiting footprint.

[#1collegehockeyfan]

I think the big thing for Notre Dame is where the NCHC's recruiting footprint is. ND takes a lot of kids from Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. I thought I heard Jeff Jackson wanted to be in the NCHC so they could take advantage of that recruiting footprint.

I believe Jeff Jackson was referring to the WCHA. The Minnesota presence is more visible in the WCHA. The NCHC is more of a Colorado league not a Minnesota league.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Weighing Realignment?

I would be for an Ivy League Hockey Conf. I wish Penn and Columbia would join and make it a true ILHC. I believe NCAA hockey should be regional "bus leagues." I know the Alaska schools are the exception and there are other examples of teams that need to fly. But I know with proper realignment they can be more limited in their travel expenses by having league competitors closer than what exists now. Bringing ASU into the fold will be great if that program doesn't suck a ton of money out of their athletic budget. Don't forget, they are an AD away from folding the tent on the program if the $ for the team takes too much out of the budget.

oh you mean like would have existed if the NCHC had not blown up the WCHA?