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NCAA Hockey - 2023/24 **Insert Witty Tagline**

FadeToBlack&Gold said:
I think it's less "sucks to suck", and more, "sucks to not have B1G budgets and TV access."

What's actually happening is that the D2 & D3 play-ups are getting pushed out of the sport at the D1 level, as was predicted a decade ago when realignment first happened.
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That's the point I was trying to make in the most abrasive way possible.
 
Just got back from vacation, late to the party on this one. Reminder that Mankato and ASU applied to join the Nachos at the same time (2016ish?) and before both were rejected the Nacho brass reached out to BG to see if we were interested in joining. We declined to submit an application and shortly thereafter both the ASU and Mankato applications were denied. We aren't interested in the Nachos as we don't have the finances to run with those programs. We'd likely be a worse version of Miami. And we're all "meh" about the St. Thomas thing. It was clear they were leaving the CCHA on the first train out of the station. Could we be interested in the future? Yeah, well, maybe...anything is possible. We're still the second smallest athletics budget in the MAC so unless some hockey alum hits the Powerball we're likely an afterthought in all this. But who knows, it's becoming apparent the CCHA is relegated to third tier status.

I don't see Hockey MACtion happening. While BG and Miami would likely be a yes vote, Western and UMass are solid no votes and the rest of the MAC schools do not care one iota nor is the conference brass set up to do hockey. And if the stars align and I'm way off and we do end up with Hockey MACtion, you're looking at affiliate schools with access to airports. I struggle to see how UMass would leave HE to sign up for 1-3 trips to the UP so that could leave Tech, Northern, and LSSU teamed up with Bemidji, Mankato, and Augustana. Look at Bobby Mo (Pittsburgh), possibly Ferris (Grand Rapids), maybe RIT (long bus trip) as teams who might be added as affiliates. Miami (Cincinnati), Western (K'zoo or Detriot) and BG (Detroit) are already covered in the general MAC footprint. You'd be looking at a MAC league that trends more eastward than the current CCHA.
 
The D3 playups are dead. Right now, the alums and admins are in the denial phase. It's not going to be a quick death, either, but a long drawn out process.

I'm giving it 10 years before the men's programs are playing D3. 15 for the women.
 
joecct said:
The D3 playups are dead. Right now, the alums and admins are in the denial phase. It's not going to be a quick death, either, but a long drawn out process.

I'm giving it 10 years before the men's programs are playing D3. 15 for the women.
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I actually think they’ll be okay. That’s their one big sport and I believe they’re all providing scholarships, even RIT now. I think it’ll be the D2 and smaller D1 schools that have to make a choice. Does Ferris try to stay at the top in football or stay loyal to their historical flagship sport? What do Merrimack and LIU do between hockey, football, and basketball?

What do the AHA schools do? Some are D1, some aren’t. For some it may be the most known sport for the school, but in general the investment into the team and fan engagement has never made it THE program on campus like it’s been for Ferris or Tech or St Cloud.
 
I thought D3 couldn't offer any athletic scholarships for their D1 sport at all unless they were grandfathered in ala CC, SLU, Clarkson, and RPI. So unless I'm mistaken, any scholarships or aid RIT offers has to be academic or needs-based in nature, at least officially.
 
They changed that a couple years ago, at least for specific schools caught in the limbo. Not sure if it was another specific exemption vote or if it changed the rule for everyone going forward.
 
Spartanforlife4 said:
I actually think they’ll be okay. That’s their one big sport and I believe they’re all providing scholarships, even RIT now. I think it’ll be the D2 and smaller D1 schools that have to make a choice. Does Ferris try to stay at the top in football or stay loyal to their historical flagship sport? What do Merrimack and LIU do between hockey, football, and basketball?

What do the AHA schools do? Some are D1, some aren’t. For some it may be the most known sport for the school, but in general the investment into the team and fan engagement has never made it THE program on campus like it’s been for Ferris or Tech or St Cloud.
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That's a fair point about making choices. On paper, a school like WMU has more money to play with than Tech or Northern, being fully D1 and having 16,000 students. However they've also got D1 football and basketball programs to fund.
 
Spartanforlife4 said:
They changed that a couple years ago, at least for specific schools caught in the limbo. Not sure if it was another specific exemption vote or if it changed the rule for everyone going forward.
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It only changed for the schools caught out by the grandfather rule passing. And the reason was a few years after they passed the grandfather rule, they also passed the rule that no D3 school can play just one sport up anymore at all, moving forward.

Thus, those schools (like RIT hockey), who were caught in the between years of these two rules, asked for a special rule, since they argued no one else will ever be in this situation again. The NCAA agreed, and expanded the grandfather rule to include what I believe was a total of just five total sports teams in the country caught in this limbo.
 
joecct said:
The D3 playups are dead. Right now, the alums and admins are in the denial phase. It's not going to be a quick death, either, but a long drawn out process.

I'm giving it 10 years before the men's programs are playing D3. 15 for the women.
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I think you're being a bit of a drama queen.

There has always been the haves and have nots. This won't change that. If a smaller school (whether a D1 school or a D3 school playing up) wants to continue to "pay the price" of playing D1 sports, they will find a way, even if they continue to be one of the have nots. Heck, Union still does not give out scholarships (voluntarily) and they won a national championship that way.

And it works both ways. RIT is a very large school. Perhaps one of the largest D3 schools in the country. They have the money to pour into a D1 single sport team if they wish, and could even have an advantage in that sport over smaller D1 schools which have to support a plethora of D1 sports.
 
FadeToBlack&Gold said:
That's a fair point about making choices. On paper, a school like WMU has more money to play with than Tech or Northern, being fully D1 and having 16,000 students. However they've also got D1 football and basketball programs to fund.
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Student fees fund a decent portion of the athletic department, and telling your student body that you need to pay 50-100 bucks a semester so the football/basketball/hockey players can get paid is a hard ask.
 
The biggest thing that will change the sport is when CHL players are allowed to go to NCAA. CHL becomes the Canadian USHL. The top college schools will continue to get the best players, with the overall talent level at those schools increasing a bit.

The biggest winners of that are the "have nots" of college. There are going to be so many skilled kids joining college from the CHL. That talent will mostly be going to middle/bottom level schools.

Bedard plays a year of college at a blue blood. But there are too many 3rd-7th rounders who want to take some classes, enjoy the ladies on campus, and live that life. They can't all fit on the top 20 schools.
 
cF[Authentic said:
;n3880763]The biggest thing that will change the sport is when CHL players are allowed to go to NCAA. CHL becomes the Canadian USHL. The top college schools will continue to get the best players, with the overall talent level at those schools increasing a bit.

The biggest winners of that are the "have nots" of college. There are going to be so many skilled kids joining college from the CHL. That talent will mostly be going to middle/bottom level schools.

Bedard plays a year of college at a blue blood. But there are too many 3rd-7th rounders who want to take some classes, enjoy the ladies on campus, and live that life. They can't all fit on the top 20 schools.
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It is my understanding that the players will soon be classified as employees. I'm not sure if the money is there to bring in a bunch of Canadian players since the schools will need to pay for work visas. Do you pay an extra $$$ per non-US player on top of out of state tuition, plus min wage, etc. or just do what you can with American kids. It might happen and already broke schools will find money somewhere, but it is simply another expense in an already more expensive NCAA.
 
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Oh no, Wisconsin sources reporting Minnesota will be only big team left out of wrigley field outdoor games next January. 3 games six big ten teams

what a fun experience that would be

/s
 
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