Binghamton University announcement

[dhammond]

https://www.wicz.com/story/48706920/...-academic-year

Is a new conference in the works with Binghamton, Utica, LIU, and the 6 D2 schools?

[ericredaxe]

All the other America East teams are in Hockey East. Don’t know if that means anything and they would seem like an odd addition to Hockey East but who knows?

[DavidNardolillo]

Good to see a second SUNY school make the jump to Division I ice hockey ;-)

[moose97]

Is a new conference in the works with Binghamton, Utica, LIU, and the 6 D2 schools?

There's a moratorium on single sport conferences, so, not likely

[jericho]

If true, Binghamton and Utica would be a good fit for the ECAC, without disrupting the travel partners. RPI-Union, Harvard-Dartmouth, Yale-Brown, Q-Princeton, SLU-Clarkson, Cornell-Colgate, Bingo-Utica. Maybe. Or split off into an ECACNY and an ECACNE (including Cornell in NE because of the Ivies).

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

It’s an announcement of maybe an announcement, so let’s temper our expectations accordingly

[AMC]

There's a moratorium on single sport conferences, so, not likely

Well, I’d say two things:

1. The Northeast 10 would not be a single sport conference and that conference would include a plurality of NE-10 schools.

2. The moratorium doesn’t stop them from joining together, scheduling games, having a conference tournament, or calling themselves whatever they want. It just means they are ineligible for an automatic bid.

[moose97]

2. The moratorium doesn’t stop them from joining together, scheduling games, having a conference tournament, or calling themselves whatever they want. It just means they are ineligible for an automatic bid.

Not technically, but it has kept the current independents from doing just that. Per Eric Largent, they stopped discussions once they realized they couldn't be a true conference.

[SNHUPenman]

https://www.wicz.com/story/48706920/...-academic-year

Is a new conference in the works with Binghamton, Utica, LIU, and the 6 D2 schools?

Taking a walk down this hypothetical situation - I am not sure outside of Saint Anselm those D2 schools are in a position to fully embrace even the bottom end of D1 resources. SNHU could afford it, if their President wasn't so busy traveling the globe he would see the value in it. But I won't hold my breath.

[HawksHockey]

Not technically, but it has kept the current independents from doing just that. Per Eric Largent, they stopped discussions once they realized they couldn't be a true conference.

Right now, one of the challenges for a lot of the new independents is getting games scheduled - Binghamton will run into this issue as a lot of schedules are set three to four years in advance. If seven or eight teams get together and build out a 20-25 game "conference" schedule, these schools only need to find a certain level of non-league games to get started.

Anybody can get together and form a single-sport league in any sport across divisions I, II and III - there are no rules against it, except for the fact that the NCAA's moratorium prevents earning an automatic qualifying bid at the present time.

The NEWHA was in the same situation on the women's ice hockey side - the league was formed as a scheduling alliance that was not eligible for an AQ way back in 2017, but eventually was recognized as an official NCAA Division I league just two years later because there was no moratorium (https://newhaonline.com/general/2019...NCAAElectionD1) and the 2022-23 season was the first for the conference to earn an automatic qualifying bid.

What the independents could possibly consider is to start a scheduling alliance so when/if the moratorium is lifted, they already have a rough conference structure in place - the institutions can then "flip the switch" when/if the moratorium is lifted, or dissolve it if the NCAA puts up a road block.

The alternative, I guess, is to do nothing, stay as an independent, and hope and pray that one of the existing leagues takes them? Waiting until a moratorium is lifted to start talking about forming a league is far too late.

[SNHUPenman]

Not technically, but it has kept the current independents from doing just that. Per Eric Largent, they stopped discussions once they realized they couldn't be a true conference.

Ultimately, no one can stop these teams from scheduling each other. It makes sense to have at the very least a scheduling agreement.

[SNHUPenman]

Right now, one of the challenges for a lot of the new independents is getting games scheduled - Binghamton will run into this issue as a lot of schedules are set three to four years in advance. If seven or eight teams get together and build out a 20-25 game "conference" schedule, these schools only need to find a certain level of non-league games to get started.

Anybody can get together and form a single-sport league in any sport across divisions I, II and III - there are no rules against it, except for the fact that the NCAA's moratorium prevents earning an automatic qualifying bid at the present time.

The NEWHA was in the same situation on the women's ice hockey side - the league was formed as a scheduling alliance that was not eligible for an AQ way back in 2017, but eventually was recognized as an official NCAA Division I league just two years later because there was no moratorium (https://newhaonline.com/general/2019...NCAAElectionD1) and the 2022-23 season was the first for the conference to earn an automatic qualifying bid.

What the independents could possibly consider is to start a scheduling alliance so when/if the moratorium is lifted, they already have a rough conference structure in place - the institutions can then "flip the switch" when/if the moratorium is lifted, or dissolve it if the NCAA puts up a road block.

The alternative, I guess, is to do nothing, stay as an independent, and hope and pray that one of the existing leagues takes them? Waiting until a moratorium is lifted to start talking about forming a league is far too late.

It is a matter of WHEN the moratorium is lifted, not if IMO. The reason it has been in place so long is because of the changes within the NCAA. As things settle from the Transformation Committee I think we will see more independence by the sports in determining what is best for each sport. Hockey is obviously dealing with different challenges than football or basketball. So in the end it will be up a board of hockey minded decision makers. It is clearly better to be in a league than independent. It is just a matter of time, you're right those schools need to get the details sorted out now and not later.

[moose97]

It is a matter of WHEN the moratorium is lifted, not if IMO. The reason it has been in place so long is because of the changes within the NCAA. As things settle from the Transformation Committee I think we will see more independence by the sports in determining what is best for each sport. Hockey is obviously dealing with different challenges than football or basketball. So in the end it will be up a board of hockey minded decision makers. It is clearly better to be in a league than independent. It is just a matter of time, you're right those schools need to get the details sorted out now and not later.

I mean, maybe. Pretending anyone has a clue what college athletics will look like when this all sorts out is laughable.

[Lost_Husky]

I mean, maybe. Pretending anyone has a clue what college athletics will look like when this all sorts out is laughable.

No one knows what anything will look like in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years,... It is all a SWAG. I think it is a safe bet to say that the moratorium will be lifted before the existing leagues accept more than a small number of the current independents. For the Alaska schools, Lindenwood,... I would assume no league is going to come calling any time soon. They will need to take care of themselves and why not band together and ride out the storm until the landscape changes again.

[J.D.]

But they don't have the money!!!