BU is a private, Eastern school. It's not like the big state schools where the entire state shows up. If New Hampshire had made the Regional the place would have been banged out. Athletics are not the biggest priority in the Northeast. BU dropped football years ago. It is an academic, research institution with a wide international reach. Sports are not the priority. The hockey program is a legacy tradition, but it's the exception rather than the rule here. North Dakota has ONE Division 1 hockey program. There are FOUR just in Boston (Harvard, BU, BC and Northeastern) that are all within about 4 miles of each other. It's just different. So saying that "The Sioux fans travel, why can't you?" just doesn't explain the situation. You wouldn't understand unless you lived here.