Lindenwood University accepted into NCAA.

[sbkbghockey]

Re: Lindenwood University accepted into NCAA.

I'll echo CARDS_rule_the_Burgh a little here... I'm glad that the Atlantic Hockey Association is a limited scholarship league and hope that it never goes away. It is a healthy place for schools to grow programs, or compete on a even playing field when they can't give scholarships (RIT) or are under serious recruiting restrictions (Air Force & Army). I hope some of the programs get more serious over time and become expansion candidates for other conferences, or the conference splits down the road as some of the programs add more scholarships, but I think a limited scholarship conference option on the East Coast could eventually drive some additional expansion of the sport.

Those are some solid points I didn't think of. I do think it's important to have a conference for new programs, one in regular DI athletics is the Great West Conference. I really don't like that the CHA men's conference ended and hope that it maybe restarted with a more regional focus in the southeast or even west coast. On the Lindenwood subject. LU wanted to join the CHA back in the early 2000s but either NAIA, NCAA or both governing bodies rules prohibited it (they wanted to play NCAA DI men's and women's hockey and all other sports stay in the NAIA).

A limited scholarship conference like Atlantic Hockey has some positive impacts on growth and is perfect for the service academies (WAKE UP Navy!) but the word you used, "compete" is a stretch for most of those schools. They might upset a team every so often in the NCAA first or even second rounds but very unlikely an Atlantic Hockey will win the National Title. What could really work is a limited scholarship-DII National Collegiate level to really spark growth and create an FCS-like sub level.

 

[Rhett]

Re: Lindenwood University accepted into NCAA.

On the Lindenwood subject. LU wanted to join the CHA back in the early 2000s but either NAIA, NCAA or both governing bodies rules prohibited it (they wanted to play NCAA DI men's and women's hockey and all other sports stay in the NAIA).

I think it was the NCAA that killed it. You have to play with a minimum number of sports (differs by division) under the NCAA banner. Dual membership itself would have been allowed by either organization.

A limited scholarship conference like Atlantic Hockey has some positive impacts on growth and is perfect for the service academies (WAKE UP Navy!) but the word you used, "compete" is a stretch for most of those schools. They might upset a team every so often in the NCAA first or even second rounds but very unlikely an Atlantic Hockey will win the National Title.

I disagree. The champion "competes" every year. What was the last time that the AHA champion wasn't competitive in the NCAA tournament? The last time they lost in the first round by more than a goal was 2004, the year of their first appearance. Especially amazing since they get fed to the overall #1 seed nearly every year.

Pick another seed at random and stack up their results with the AHA representative. I randomly picked Midwest's #2 seed, and the results were nearly a mirror. They get 1 of 16 slots and that's pretty close to their odds of winning it all every year.

What could really work is a limited scholarship-DII National Collegiate level to really spark growth and create an FCS-like sub level.

How could it work? Who would be interested? I honestly can't think of a single institution. None.

 

[NUProf]

Re: Lindenwood University accepted into NCAA.

I think it was the NCAA that killed it. You have to play with a minimum number of sports (differs by division) under the NCAA banner. Dual membership itself would have been allowed by either organization.

However, except for a very few schools, dual members are not allowed to play for NCAA championships. The one exception that I know about is Nebraska Wesleyan in DIII - I'm aware of that one because I taught there back at the beginning of my teaching career. They are dual members because of geography (most small schools in that area are NAIA), but are allowed to compete for NCAA championships. I know that there are other DIII dual members that are specifically excluded from championships. I don't know what the situation is in DI and DII