2026 NCAA TOURNAMENT MEGA-THREAD: THE ROAD TO UTICA

[***JCB***]

And a sixth team would get the Liberty League an autobid to the D1 tournament. I know there's probably not interest in breaking up the ECAC but...

 

[Russell Jaslow]

And a sixth team would get the Liberty League an autobid to the D1 tournament. I know there's probably not interest in breaking up the ECAC but...

This has been mentioned a lot. Technically, they could try to bring in an affiliate team. But you're right, the LL teams do not want to leave the ECAC, so there's no incentive for them to look to create a LL D1 conference. Only if they are forced to because someone already in the LL went D1 hockey, but we know Hobart is not doing that.

 

[OZFEST]

Great point Russell. HWS and Skidmore are in the Liberty league which is a great D3 league for all sports. But RPI, RIT, Clarkson and SLU and Union all are D1 hockey, so what would be an awesome D3 hockey league has no remaining critical mass for the remaining D3 teams So HWS hockey teams were looking for a new league and the SUNYAC is geographically desirable and has a great hockey tradition, so we were happy to accept the invitation.. Hobart has absolutely no interest in going D! for hockey, we did that in lacrosse and we are barely over .500 since moving up because we have to compete with other very strong D1 programs in the A10. Frankly, I wish we never moved up to D1 , because programs like Johns Hopkins and Syracuse have real NIL programs and very significant institutional support. I remember the old days when Cortland lacrosse was a big rival in the D3 days and we would beat them in some great Championship match ups in lacrosse and the Cortland fans said Hobart must be paying players with excessive "merit" scholarships . Funny, now the SUNTAC is saying the hockey program is doing the same thing,

First, what Hobart is doing is amazing, historical, and they deserve all the accolades. I was here for the Middlebury run, so this ranks right up there. As Hobart's #1 fan on this board, I appreciate your insight and positivity when the banter goes sideways. I speculate the SUNYAC only invited Hobart because they heard Statesmen was your nickname and said, "they must be one of us..." Given the most recent lack of success of the SUNYAC (other than Genny, now gone), I won't weep if Hobart moves on. Private schools do have the financial edge if they choose to, as is their prerogative. I once saw an Adrian team bus in Orlando, FL, for their bass fishing team. (I looked for the OZ bass fishing bus, didn't see one) Obviously, state schools will always have to adhere to a tighter, albeit corporate control because it's NYS tax dollars. When an individual state school attempts to increase its athletic value, they have narrow guidelines to begin with and then a probable state audit if things don't line up. A recent example would be finding an uneven number of international financial scholarships given to hockey players at OZ (and maybe Platty, don't remember). The good news is, like stocks, winners rotate...for the rest of us, that is.

 

[Russell Jaslow]

A recent example would be finding an uneven number of international financial scholarships given to hockey players at OZ (and maybe Platty, don't remember).

This was an NCAA D3 violation and private schools fell afoul of it as well (can you say Neumann?). It had nothing to do with NY public schools alone.

 

[Bartman]

Oz, nice
"they heard Statesmen was your nickname and said, "they must be one of us...". . The SUNYAC is a very nice home for the Skatesmen, I'm sure all boats will rise in the league . Honestly, I think we are only as good as our coach and the environment he has built, so I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts. We had two players enter the portal last year but they decided to stay( Duclair and Morrissey), so the engagement of every player is important.

 

[Transplanted Tiger Fan]

Didn’t this whole ‘private/public’ topic go the complete opposite direction about 10-15 years ago (2013???) involving the Wisconsin schools? I seem to recall the NCHA consisted of the Wisconsin state schools and a few privates, and that conference split along private/public lines which I believe was due to underlying financial concerns, ultimately forming the WIAC. I cannot remember who “took their puck and went home” as a result… the privates or the publics, but I am fairly certain that the main cause of the split was financial (resource) disparity.