2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

[MTUHuskies]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

My bad. Kato beats LSSU with a tiebreaker. I thought they only played twice.

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[MTUHuskies]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

My bad. Kato beats LSSU with a tiebreaker. I thought they only played twice.

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So Mankato locked up the first seed and Anchorage is out. The other 8 teams are sorting out 2-8 with one of them falling to 9 and not making it.

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[Laker Dude]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

pretty sure 2-0 series wins don't count for tie-breakers...H2H requires 4 games

Correct. Mankato would have tie breaker over BG for more wins. I think Mankato has clinched first.

 

[MTUHuskies]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

Correct. Mankato would have tie breaker over BG for more wins. I think Mankato has clinched first.

Mankato has clinched the first seed in the playoffs. BGSU & LSSU can still tie them for the MacNaughton if they get all 12 points remaining and Mankato doesnt get any more.

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[lakersparty]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

Anyone else get tired of the propaganda regarding the WCHA's health? They always have to have some sort of dig in there about the budgets and locations of WCHA schools. There is so much more to talk about this season with the WCHA having 2 bubble teams in addition to Minnesota State. There are three teams in the top 19 with the season winding down, and with some breaks this could be a 3-bid league. Yes, the Alaska schools may be an issue but that seems like an off-season topic more than a topic for right now when there could be focus on what BGSU and LSSU can do to get in the tourney.

Also they always seem to ignore that 7 D-1 national championships have been won from the Upper Peninsula schools, Bowling Green has another one, and Minnesota State is a very good modern hockey school. It's not like these schools haven't been there and done that before.

https://www.uscho.com/2019/02/19/tm...erence-realignment-alaska-schools-threatened/

 

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

Anyone else get tired of the propaganda regarding the WCHA's health?
https://www.uscho.com/2019/02/19/tm...erence-realignment-alaska-schools-threatened/

Look at some of their other opinions and then tell me how much you value their thoughts. Their insight this week has ASU joining Hockey East because:
1) "...a majority of the members can get to Tempe via a non-stop flight from Boston."
2) "Who wouldn’t want to go to Arizona in the middle of a northern winter?"

So I guess if ASU passes on Hockey East, it will be Denver that joins in their place because by their logic:
1) "...a majority of the members can get to Denver via a non-stop flight from Boston."
2) "Who wouldn’t want to go to Denver in the middle of a northern winter?"

Ryan

 

[purpleinnebraska]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

Look at some of their other opinions and then tell me how much you value their thoughts. Their insight this week has ASU joining Hockey East because:
1) "...a majority of the members can get to Tempe via a non-stop flight from Boston."
2) "Who wouldn’t want to go to Arizona in the middle of a northern winter?"

So I guess if ASU passes on Hockey East, it will be Denver that joins in their place because by their logic:
1) "...a majority of the members can get to Denver via a non-stop flight from Boston."
2) "Who wouldn’t want to go to Denver in the middle of a northern winter?"

Ryan

They also credited UAF with being the last independent to make the NCAA field. I assume they know the difference in the 2 schools, but maybe not. And they're encouraging expanding the college hockey landscape, while at the same time complaining about faraway places in the WCHA. Where else do they think college hockey can expand? Are we going to stick another team in the Boston area? If expansion comes, it's going to be at the perimeter, in places like Las Vegas or the south, with the extra travel costs they seem to be complaining about.

I don't know what they see as the end game. They dismiss the possibility of a reformation of the CCHA, so are they saying we'll end up with 5 conferences with 12 teams each? The Big 10 certainly isn't taking on many -if any- more teams, and the NCHC certainly doesn't want to end up as a 14 or 16 team league. So then why would the WCHA go away? The whole article seems like a stretch, and a way to take a shot at the Alaska schools.

 

[manurespreader]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

They also credited UAF with being the last independent to make the NCAA field. I assume they know the difference in the 2 schools, but maybe not. And they're encouraging expanding the college hockey landscape, while at the same time complaining about faraway places in the WCHA. Where else do they think college hockey can expand? Are we going to stick another team in the Boston area? If expansion comes, it's going to be at the perimeter, in places like Las Vegas or the south, with the extra travel costs they seem to be complaining about.

I don't know what they see as the end game. They dismiss the possibility of a reformation of the CCHA, so are they saying we'll end up with 5 conferences with 12 teams each? The Big 10 certainly isn't taking on many -if any- more teams, and the NCHC certainly doesn't want to end up as a 14 or 16 team league. So then why would the WCHA go away? The whole article seems like a stretch, and a way to take a shot at the Alaska schools.

What's going on in Alaska is unnerving though, but otherwise good points.
Possible new entrants to college hockey IMHO: 1. Illinois, maybe, obviously going to the big, but who else?. 2. One of the Pac 10 teams?, maybe someone in the NW, like BYU or Boise State? I question that. The cost of entry is not just the cost of a rink, you have to also consider addiing a womans sport somewhere and it's associated costs as part of the plan. I'm sure there will be some new teams, but where they play and the costs which might not be quite so obvious of travel etc, are something that need careful evaluation.
I think even ASU didn't do a good job of planning the cost of travel into the overall equation. Not just the direct cost, but the cost in terms of being gone so much and the large number of trips to the east which is expensive, and hard on the players, though they do have a lot of money to blow. I see them going to the NCHC but it will make people like Miami unhappy.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

What's going on in Alaska is unnerving though, but otherwise good points.
Possible new entrants to college hockey IMHO: 1. Illinois, maybe, obviously going to the big, but who else?. 2. One of the Pac 10 teams?, maybe someone in the NW, like BYU or Boise State? I question that. The cost of entry is not just the cost of a rink, you have to also consider addiing a womans sport somewhere and it's associated costs as part of the plan. I'm sure there will be some new teams, but where they play and the costs which might not be quite so obvious of travel etc, are something that need careful evaluation.
I think even ASU didn't do a good job of planning the cost of travel into the overall equation. Not just the direct cost, but the cost in terms of being gone so much and the large number of trips to the east which is expensive, and hard on the players, though they do have a lot of money to blow. I see them going to the NCHC but it will make people like Miami unhappy.

If you want to try to predict who will be adding D1 next, there are 2 options, in my opinion.

1) Large school, big money donors, edge to a private school, but a big public works too. Likely a Power 5 conference school, with some kind of tenuous hockey connection already (in a successful NHL town, well known hockey-enthusiast uber-rich alum, etc.) Schools that already have ice capabilities in a large basketball arena would have a lower "cost-of-entry" and require less big money donations. Examples: Illinois, Northwestern, USC. Goal would be to join the BIG or NCHC.

2) Smaller school in a hockey hotbed. Likely already has a D3 program*, and makes the jump (despite the lack of scholarship issue), because they want to play with the big boys. Cost of entry is much lower, because infrastructure is there, and likely destination is a league like Atlantic Hockey, or maybe the WCHA, not a Hockey East, BIG or NCHC. This is less likely, IMO, with the exception of I would expect some east coast D3 schools would be able to make the jump to Atlantic Hockey without too much additional effort. Sure, it would be a bigger investment, but infrastructure-wise, they would be ok.
*Caveat: A school that is D3, but going D1 in all sports would be a very good bet. Specifically, a UW system school could theoretically be in this situation.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

If you want to try to predict who will be adding D1 next, there are 2 options, in my opinion.

1) Large school, big money donors, edge to a private school, but a big public works too. Likely a Power 5 conference school, with some kind of tenuous hockey connection already (in a successful NHL town, well known hockey-enthusiast uber-rich alum, etc.) Schools that already have ice capabilities in a large basketball arena would have a lower "cost-of-entry" and require less big money donations. Examples: Illinois, Northwestern, USC. Goal would be to join the BIG or NCHC.

2) Smaller school in a hockey hotbed. Likely already has a D3 program*, and makes the jump (despite the lack of scholarship issue), because they want to play with the big boys. Cost of entry is much lower, because infrastructure is there, and likely destination is a league like Atlantic Hockey, or maybe the WCHA, not a Hockey East, BIG or NCHC. This is less likely, IMO, with the exception of I would expect some east coast D3 schools would be able to make the jump to Atlantic Hockey without too much additional effort. Sure, it would be a bigger investment, but infrastructure-wise, they would be ok.
*Caveat: A school that is D3, but going D1 in all sports would be a very good bet. Specifically, a UW system school could theoretically be in this situation.

Your UW system example seems more likely to be a D2 upgrade in all sports with hockey going D1...D2 is a void in the state of Wisconsin...

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

Your UW system example seems more likely to be a D2 upgrade in all sports with hockey going D1...D2 is a void in the state of Wisconsin...

I think you and I have already chatted about it, but this is what is leading me to believe that a UW system school would be in play for the WCHA...

https://www.uwec.edu/facilities-projects/sonnentag-event-center/

The event center concept calls for a highly versatile design that would accommodate multiple types of events and activities, including serving as a home for UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s basketball games, men’s hockey games, basketball and other athletics tournaments, large indoor concerts and other entertainment or sports events.
seating to accommodate 4,500-5,000 and total capacity of 5,500-6,000

They could be going D2, but I can almost guarantee you that a 15,000+ enrollment public university, building a 5000-6000 seat arena is not planning on staying D3.

 

[lakersparty]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

It has always seemed odd to me that schools have a hockey conference we well as another conference for other sports. It's been the nature of hockey for a long time, but I think it lends itself to a lot of stability issues. Scenarios where you have two Northern Sun schools playing in the WCHA (Minnesota State and Bemidji State) and two playing in the NCHC (Minnesota Duluth and Saint Cloud State) are weird. It's like what's the point of the NISC conference then if you separate your schools? Once the Big Ten broke away from that model, there was such a rush to form the NCHC, but there may have been some opportunities there for something else.

I wonder if it would be beneficial if NSIC and GLIAC hockey schools left their current conferences to form a new all sports conference. I don't know if it's realistic because there would be so much posturing to take place, but I think it would be interesting to see an all sports conference that puts hockey first.

NSIC
Bemidji State
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State
Saint Cloud State

GLIAC
Ferris State
Lake Superior State
Michigan Tech
Northern Michigan

Also, would an all sports league like this then be appealing to someone like North Dakota that is currently a football independent? I'm not sure if that would even work, but a potential new all sports conference could at least have opportunities where things like this could be explored.

 

[purpleinnebraska]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

If you want to try to predict who will be adding D1 next, there are 2 options, in my opinion.

1) Large school, big money donors, edge to a private school, but a big public works too. Likely a Power 5 conference school, with some kind of tenuous hockey connection already (in a successful NHL town, well known hockey-enthusiast uber-rich alum, etc.) Schools that already have ice capabilities in a large basketball arena would have a lower "cost-of-entry" and require less big money donations. Examples: Illinois, Northwestern, USC. Goal would be to join the BIG or NCHC.

2) Smaller school in a hockey hotbed. Likely already has a D3 program*, and makes the jump (despite the lack of scholarship issue), because they want to play with the big boys. Cost of entry is much lower, because infrastructure is there, and likely destination is a league like Atlantic Hockey, or maybe the WCHA, not a Hockey East, BIG or NCHC. This is less likely, IMO, with the exception of I would expect some east coast D3 schools would be able to make the jump to Atlantic Hockey without too much additional effort. Sure, it would be a bigger investment, but infrastructure-wise, they would be ok.
*Caveat: A school that is D3, but going D1 in all sports would be a very good bet. Specifically, a UW system school could theoretically be in this situation.

For your first category, now seems to be a good time for UNLV to jump on the success of the Golden Knights. And there are plenty of smaller arenas in the Vegas area where they could play.

 

[purpleinnebraska]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

It has always seemed odd to me that schools have a hockey conference we well as another conference for other sports. It's been the nature of hockey for a long time, but I think it lends itself to a lot of stability issues. Scenarios where you have two Northern Sun schools playing in the WCHA (Minnesota State and Bemidji State) and two playing in the NCHC (Minnesota Duluth and Saint Cloud State) are weird. It's like what's the point of the NISC conference then if you separate your schools? Once the Big Ten broke away from that model, there was such a rush to form the NCHC, but there may have been some opportunities there for something else.

I wonder if it would be beneficial if NSIC and GLIAC hockey schools left their current conferences to form a new all sports conference. I don't know if it's realistic because there would be so much posturing to take place, but I think it would be interesting to see an all sports conference that puts hockey first.

NSIC
Bemidji State
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State
Saint Cloud State

GLIAC
Ferris State
Lake Superior State
Michigan Tech
Northern Michigan

Also, would an all sports league like this then be appealing to someone like North Dakota that is currently a football independent? I'm not sure if that would even work, but a potential new all sports conference could at least have opportunities where things like this could be explored.

I don't know. We're still kinda stinging from the whipping Ferris gave us in the football playoffs! On a more serious note, I think the smaller sports are more problematic. For golf, cross country, and other sports with essentially no revenue, it's good to just hop in a van and drive a couple hours.

 

[MTUHuskies]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

It has always seemed odd to me that schools have a hockey conference we well as another conference for other sports. It's been the nature of hockey for a long time, but I think it lends itself to a lot of stability issues. Scenarios where you have two Northern Sun schools playing in the WCHA (Minnesota State and Bemidji State) and two playing in the NCHC (Minnesota Duluth and Saint Cloud State) are weird. It's like what's the point of the NISC conference then if you separate your schools? Once the Big Ten broke away from that model, there was such a rush to form the NCHC, but there may have been some opportunities there for something else.

I wonder if it would be beneficial if NSIC and GLIAC hockey schools left their current conferences to form a new all sports conference. I don't know if it's realistic because there would be so much posturing to take place, but I think it would be interesting to see an all sports conference that puts hockey first.

NSIC
Bemidji State
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State
Saint Cloud State

GLIAC
Ferris State
Lake Superior State
Michigan Tech
Northern Michigan

Also, would an all sports league like this then be appealing to someone like North Dakota that is currently a football independent? I'm not sure if that would even work, but a potential new all sports conference could at least have opportunities where things like this could be explored.

Could NSIC & GLIAC possibly have a hockey conference partnership? They could also expand it to an agreement for non-conference games in other sports.

That 8-team lineup would be a winner in my book. Plus, if a school in either the NSIC or GLIAC wanted to start a hockey program, they wouldn't have to go the independent route.

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[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

Could NSIC & GLIAC possibly have a hockey conference partnership? They could also expand it to an agreement for non-conference games in other sports.

That 8-team lineup would be a winner in my book. Plus, if a school in either the NSIC or GLIAC wanted to start a hockey program, they wouldn't have to go the independent route.

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The 2 biggest issues, and really, reasons this won't happen are 1) There is no way you're going to convince SCSU or UMD to make any changes at this point, with the success they're having. Why fix what isn't broke? 2)It would be a D2 conference, and wouldn't have a seat at the D1 table with all of the other NCAA D1 hockey conferences.

 

[MTUHuskies]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

The 2 biggest issues, and really, reasons this won't happen are 1) There is no way you're going to convince SCSU or UMD to make any changes at this point, with the success they're having. Why fix what isn't broke? 2)It would be a D2 conference, and wouldn't have a seat at the D1 table with all of the other NCAA D1 hockey conferences.

How would it be a D2 conference? They are all D1 hockey programs and there is no D2.

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[BGDrew]

How would it be a D2 conference? They are all D1 hockey programs and there is no D2.

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The same reason BGSU is the only Division 1 program in the WCHA: playing “up” in one sport doesn’t change your overall designation.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

How would it be a D2 conference? They are all D1 hockey programs and there is no D2.

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because its a D2 conference in everything else...the play-up style doesn't get you a seat at the D1 table.

 

[giwan]

Re: 2018-19 WCHA Season: 3 Bids And The Second Round?

For your first category, now seems to be a good time for UNLV to jump on the success of the Golden Knights. And there are plenty of smaller arenas in the Vegas area where they could play.

Golden Kinghts great story. I don't see that any NHL success translates to college hockey. Otherwise you'd have college hockey in Chitown and Detroit and Dallas etc