[First of all, I am starting this thread JUST FOR FUN! It’s not for anyone who is p'o'ed at Penn State, or North Dakota, or anyone else, for screwing up college hockey. If you want to hate on somebody, please stay away! There are lots of threads on this forum for hating (unfortunately).]
The purpose of this thread just to amuse ourselves in speculating about what might happen next as college hockey reacts to the dramatic changes already announced.
To show you what I mean, here goes:
The Big 10 and the new NCHC have changed the landscape. There are more dominos to fall. Where might things head?
Well, let’s imagine that the next domino is that the big eastern hockey schools decide to buddy up, to reel in a TV contract and to cross-schedule with the Big 10 and the NCHC. What might an eastern super league look like? Well, it would certainly include BC, BU and UNH. Major state universities like Maine, Vermont and UMass might well come next. Now let’s think big. Why not add Notre Dame, who doesn’t have an obvious home, and how about Connecticut, if they would agree to ramp up the hockey program like they have done in basketball. So you’ve got BC, BU, UNH, Maine, Vermont, UMass, Notre Dame and UConn. There’s undoubtedly a New England TV contract there, if not more, with Notre Dame in the fold. For now, let’s call it Big East Hockey, if the name’s available.
Ok, that’s nice for those eight schools, but now you’ve wrecked not only the CCHA and the WCHA but also Hockey East. What’s next as the world of college hockey unravels?
Well, again, just for the fun of it, let’s imagine the Ivy League hockey schools finally decide they are better off alone in their own rarified academic/athletic conference, rather than compromising academic standards and scholarships and number of games with the rest of the ECACHL. So a few weeks go by and then Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth announce their departure from the ECACHL to reestablish the Ivy Hockey League. Plenty of new opportunities for the IHL to find new rivals and reestablish old rivalries. How about cross scheduling the Big 10 for two years? How about cross-scheduling the new Big East Hockey league? Bring back Cornell-BU at Madison Square Garden. How about Dartmouth-UNH home and home. Or BC-Yale in Bridgeport? OK. That leaves six schools stranded in the ECACHL: Colgate, Saint Lawrence, Union, Rensselaer, Quinnipiac and Clarkson.
Next, the four schools left behind in Hockey East, Providence, Merrimack, UML and Northeastern have got to reorganize and find at least two new partners to keep their autobid. In fact, it’s beginning to look like smaller conferences with autobids are going to be a big part of the new world of college hockey. If you can’t count on a home and home with the Gophers or the Sioux, you might as well focus on winning and getting to the NCAA tournament.
So the remaining Hockey East schools go courting. Where’s the obvious place to look? Atlantic Hockey. In fact there are four Atlantic Hockey schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut which might make a nice geographic fit: AIC, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart. Then throw in Quinnipiac, which has been left out of the new Ivy configuration and you have nine call them “mid-majors”, all in eastern New England, all within easy travel distances, all pretty much in the same recruiting pool. Let’s call this new league the Yankee Hockey Conference. Nine members: Providence, Merrimack, UML, Northeastern, AIC, Bentley, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac. Added benefit: the former hockey east schools have upgraded their chances of getting to the dance and the former AH teams have upgraded their neighborhood. Even Quinnipiac is probably better off, playing in a truly New England league with more real peer schools. No doubt Northeastern isn't liking much being out of Hockey East, but they would still have the Beanpot, as well as much improved chances for a tournament autobid. Same with Providence, Merrimack and UML.
That leaves seven schools in Atlantic Hockey (Air Force, Niagara, Canisius, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Army and RIT). A perfect solution quickly comes to mind: there are four stranded AH schools located in New York and five stranded ECACHL schools located in New York. Let’s call it the Empire Hockey League. As in the case of the Yankee Hockey Conference the EHL makes a great deal of sense. Less expensive travel by reason of geographic proximity and the chance to develop natural geographic rivalries. Who’s in? Niagara, Canisius, RIT, Colgate, Army, St Lawrence, Union, Rensselaer, and Clarkson. I know Union and Colgate won’t like not being in the almost-Ivy league anymore, but there is no reason they can’t schedule some of their former rivals out of conference. They will have more out of conference games available than they have today.
Ok, that’s a lot of dominos, and as a result, all of the old ECACHL and Hockey East schools have homes. But we’re not done. AH schools Air Force, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris are left with no home and the CCHA and WCHA still haven’t fallen into place. A natural solution for the CCHA and two of the three stranded AH schools is to form a new CCHA (lets call it the Great Lakes Hockey League) with Mercyhurst and Robert Morris from AH and CCHA holdovers Bowling Green, Lake Superior State, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech and Ferris State. Ok, if I’m a Western Michigan fan (for example) this is not exactly my dream alignment, but I have to admit, it’s got geographic coherence and my chances of an auto bid have improved mightily with Michigan, MSU, Ohio State and Miami no longer in the equation. And in an eight team league, I’ve got plenty of out of conference scheduling opportunities and there is room to grow the league. Why not cross-schedule the Big 10? Or the new Empire League. Or the new Hockey West, which is the big question…
… and it may or may not work. We’ve got three Minnesota schools, Bemidji, Minnesota State, and St Cloud, left from the WCHA, as well as AK Anchorage. Plus AK-Fairbanks from the CCHA, Air Force from AH and perennial left out Alabama Huntsville. How bad is it? Three Minnesota schools, two Alaska schools, one Colorado school and one other. Call it the Hockey West? Why not? Again, much improved autobid prospects, some geographic coherence (some not), and some decent expansion potential. Putting the two Alaska schools together is problematic based on today’s schedules and economics, but maybe there are synergies, too. Maybe it would be cheaper all around if only five schools (the other 5 Hockey West schools) had required trips to Alaska each year. The rest of the travel to Alaska (to fill out AKA and AKF’s home schedules) could be subsidized by college hockey as a whole, with the result that every D-1 team in the country would rotate through Alaska over a seven or eight year (or whatever) cycle. A fourth Minnesota school in M-Moorhead? How about Air Force partnering up with Colorado Boulder or Colorado State down the road? Air Force wouldn't be in Army's league any more, but they could certainly still schedule them. Why not add a Canadian school or two (no reason why eligibility requirements can’t be synched up).
Remember this is all just for fun. I haven’t even begun to figure out whether teams would play 2 or 3 or 4 conference games and how to deal with odd-numbered leagues. Or who would be travel partners and how to deal with having both Alaska teams in the same league. That’s what computers are for!
Here’s what we end up with: Eight leagues instead of five. That means eight autobids. Leaving, presumably 8 at large spots, so long as well still have a 16 team tournament, although opening up the tournament if you have eight leagues might make some sense.
In general, smaller leagues should lead to more out of conference games for everyone. This could make comparisons between leagues easier and smooth out some of the strength of schedule issues which concern some of us. There would be more geographic coherence, which could lead to lower travel costs for some leagues. There should be a lot more opportunity for cross-conference and out of conference scheduling. Many traditional rivalries would be maintained. There would be lots of opportunities for new rivalries. Smaller conferences may lead to growth of the sport because they can more easily accommodate new members. And you can still tweak this line up. Maybe Colgate and Army would rather go with the Ivies…or Notre Dame goes to the National league, or stays in the new Great Lakes. Maybe UConn can’t or doesn’t want to step up and stays with its old AH partners. Maybe you split up the two Alaskas. And who knows where Alabama Huntsville really belongs!
Anyway here's the new line up:
Big Ten (6 teams): Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota
National Hockey (6): Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, Miami, Colorado College, Denver and Minnesota Duluth
Big East Hockey (8): BC, BU, UNH, UMass, Vermont, Maine, UConn and Notre Dame
Ivy Hockey League (6): Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton and Harvard
Empire Hockey (9): Niagara, Canisius, RIT, Colgate, Army, St Lawrence, Union, Rensselaer and Clarkson
Yankee Hockey (9): Providence, Merrimack, UML, Northeastern, AIC, Bentley, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac
Great Lakes Hockey (8): Bowling Green, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Lake Superior State, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech and Ferris State
Big West Hockey (7): Bemidji, Minnesota State, Saint Cloud, Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Air Force and Alabama Huntsville
Have fun!
The purpose of this thread just to amuse ourselves in speculating about what might happen next as college hockey reacts to the dramatic changes already announced.
To show you what I mean, here goes:
The Big 10 and the new NCHC have changed the landscape. There are more dominos to fall. Where might things head?
Well, let’s imagine that the next domino is that the big eastern hockey schools decide to buddy up, to reel in a TV contract and to cross-schedule with the Big 10 and the NCHC. What might an eastern super league look like? Well, it would certainly include BC, BU and UNH. Major state universities like Maine, Vermont and UMass might well come next. Now let’s think big. Why not add Notre Dame, who doesn’t have an obvious home, and how about Connecticut, if they would agree to ramp up the hockey program like they have done in basketball. So you’ve got BC, BU, UNH, Maine, Vermont, UMass, Notre Dame and UConn. There’s undoubtedly a New England TV contract there, if not more, with Notre Dame in the fold. For now, let’s call it Big East Hockey, if the name’s available.
Ok, that’s nice for those eight schools, but now you’ve wrecked not only the CCHA and the WCHA but also Hockey East. What’s next as the world of college hockey unravels?
Well, again, just for the fun of it, let’s imagine the Ivy League hockey schools finally decide they are better off alone in their own rarified academic/athletic conference, rather than compromising academic standards and scholarships and number of games with the rest of the ECACHL. So a few weeks go by and then Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth announce their departure from the ECACHL to reestablish the Ivy Hockey League. Plenty of new opportunities for the IHL to find new rivals and reestablish old rivalries. How about cross scheduling the Big 10 for two years? How about cross-scheduling the new Big East Hockey league? Bring back Cornell-BU at Madison Square Garden. How about Dartmouth-UNH home and home. Or BC-Yale in Bridgeport? OK. That leaves six schools stranded in the ECACHL: Colgate, Saint Lawrence, Union, Rensselaer, Quinnipiac and Clarkson.
Next, the four schools left behind in Hockey East, Providence, Merrimack, UML and Northeastern have got to reorganize and find at least two new partners to keep their autobid. In fact, it’s beginning to look like smaller conferences with autobids are going to be a big part of the new world of college hockey. If you can’t count on a home and home with the Gophers or the Sioux, you might as well focus on winning and getting to the NCAA tournament.
So the remaining Hockey East schools go courting. Where’s the obvious place to look? Atlantic Hockey. In fact there are four Atlantic Hockey schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut which might make a nice geographic fit: AIC, Bentley, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart. Then throw in Quinnipiac, which has been left out of the new Ivy configuration and you have nine call them “mid-majors”, all in eastern New England, all within easy travel distances, all pretty much in the same recruiting pool. Let’s call this new league the Yankee Hockey Conference. Nine members: Providence, Merrimack, UML, Northeastern, AIC, Bentley, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac. Added benefit: the former hockey east schools have upgraded their chances of getting to the dance and the former AH teams have upgraded their neighborhood. Even Quinnipiac is probably better off, playing in a truly New England league with more real peer schools. No doubt Northeastern isn't liking much being out of Hockey East, but they would still have the Beanpot, as well as much improved chances for a tournament autobid. Same with Providence, Merrimack and UML.
That leaves seven schools in Atlantic Hockey (Air Force, Niagara, Canisius, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Army and RIT). A perfect solution quickly comes to mind: there are four stranded AH schools located in New York and five stranded ECACHL schools located in New York. Let’s call it the Empire Hockey League. As in the case of the Yankee Hockey Conference the EHL makes a great deal of sense. Less expensive travel by reason of geographic proximity and the chance to develop natural geographic rivalries. Who’s in? Niagara, Canisius, RIT, Colgate, Army, St Lawrence, Union, Rensselaer, and Clarkson. I know Union and Colgate won’t like not being in the almost-Ivy league anymore, but there is no reason they can’t schedule some of their former rivals out of conference. They will have more out of conference games available than they have today.
Ok, that’s a lot of dominos, and as a result, all of the old ECACHL and Hockey East schools have homes. But we’re not done. AH schools Air Force, Mercyhurst and Robert Morris are left with no home and the CCHA and WCHA still haven’t fallen into place. A natural solution for the CCHA and two of the three stranded AH schools is to form a new CCHA (lets call it the Great Lakes Hockey League) with Mercyhurst and Robert Morris from AH and CCHA holdovers Bowling Green, Lake Superior State, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech and Ferris State. Ok, if I’m a Western Michigan fan (for example) this is not exactly my dream alignment, but I have to admit, it’s got geographic coherence and my chances of an auto bid have improved mightily with Michigan, MSU, Ohio State and Miami no longer in the equation. And in an eight team league, I’ve got plenty of out of conference scheduling opportunities and there is room to grow the league. Why not cross-schedule the Big 10? Or the new Empire League. Or the new Hockey West, which is the big question…
… and it may or may not work. We’ve got three Minnesota schools, Bemidji, Minnesota State, and St Cloud, left from the WCHA, as well as AK Anchorage. Plus AK-Fairbanks from the CCHA, Air Force from AH and perennial left out Alabama Huntsville. How bad is it? Three Minnesota schools, two Alaska schools, one Colorado school and one other. Call it the Hockey West? Why not? Again, much improved autobid prospects, some geographic coherence (some not), and some decent expansion potential. Putting the two Alaska schools together is problematic based on today’s schedules and economics, but maybe there are synergies, too. Maybe it would be cheaper all around if only five schools (the other 5 Hockey West schools) had required trips to Alaska each year. The rest of the travel to Alaska (to fill out AKA and AKF’s home schedules) could be subsidized by college hockey as a whole, with the result that every D-1 team in the country would rotate through Alaska over a seven or eight year (or whatever) cycle. A fourth Minnesota school in M-Moorhead? How about Air Force partnering up with Colorado Boulder or Colorado State down the road? Air Force wouldn't be in Army's league any more, but they could certainly still schedule them. Why not add a Canadian school or two (no reason why eligibility requirements can’t be synched up).
Remember this is all just for fun. I haven’t even begun to figure out whether teams would play 2 or 3 or 4 conference games and how to deal with odd-numbered leagues. Or who would be travel partners and how to deal with having both Alaska teams in the same league. That’s what computers are for!
Here’s what we end up with: Eight leagues instead of five. That means eight autobids. Leaving, presumably 8 at large spots, so long as well still have a 16 team tournament, although opening up the tournament if you have eight leagues might make some sense.
In general, smaller leagues should lead to more out of conference games for everyone. This could make comparisons between leagues easier and smooth out some of the strength of schedule issues which concern some of us. There would be more geographic coherence, which could lead to lower travel costs for some leagues. There should be a lot more opportunity for cross-conference and out of conference scheduling. Many traditional rivalries would be maintained. There would be lots of opportunities for new rivalries. Smaller conferences may lead to growth of the sport because they can more easily accommodate new members. And you can still tweak this line up. Maybe Colgate and Army would rather go with the Ivies…or Notre Dame goes to the National league, or stays in the new Great Lakes. Maybe UConn can’t or doesn’t want to step up and stays with its old AH partners. Maybe you split up the two Alaskas. And who knows where Alabama Huntsville really belongs!
Anyway here's the new line up:
Big Ten (6 teams): Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota
National Hockey (6): Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, Miami, Colorado College, Denver and Minnesota Duluth
Big East Hockey (8): BC, BU, UNH, UMass, Vermont, Maine, UConn and Notre Dame
Ivy Hockey League (6): Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton and Harvard
Empire Hockey (9): Niagara, Canisius, RIT, Colgate, Army, St Lawrence, Union, Rensselaer and Clarkson
Yankee Hockey (9): Providence, Merrimack, UML, Northeastern, AIC, Bentley, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac
Great Lakes Hockey (8): Bowling Green, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Lake Superior State, Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech and Ferris State
Big West Hockey (7): Bemidji, Minnesota State, Saint Cloud, Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Air Force and Alabama Huntsville
Have fun!
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