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NCAA Reform Needed

S

SLASHER619

New member
With the current system giving the 1 and 2 seed buys and 4 at large, it is crazy to give these leagues that time and time again are not in contention to get a buy.

For instance lets say we use the USCHO Poll as the end all be all as of right now (yes I know thats not nearly how the at larges get decided).

Lets say an unranked team in the NCHA or even lets say Trine wins it by upset, and the SUNYAC Oswego upsets Hobart. That means Hobart / Adrian / St Norburg / Aurura would possibly get all the at large while teams like UNE and Curry would be out because MASCAC / MIAC / MAC get byes in leagues that are in reloading phases.

Why not add two teams and not give the 1 and 2 seeds a bye week. Yes they were the best of the best, so they are rewarded of playing the lowest easiest path. Also why not bet rid of the bye system all together. Make it so ranking is the key, include a massive strength of schedule component in NPI. Encourage teams to play the best of the best. Make teams push to be best in country to get in the tourney and not just better than the rest of their conference. Want automatic bids? Give the top four conferences of the previous year an automatic bid for their championship for the next year.

Why exclude a Curry or a Utica if they don't win their championship when in some conferences they would bulldoze the competition.

Don't take this as a slight of leagues with teams rebuilding but let this be motivation for them all to build consistant programs of excellence in order to get to the NCAA tournament.
 
SLASHER619 said:
With the current system giving the 1 and 2 seed buys and 4 at large, it is crazy to give these leagues that time and time again are not in contention to get a buy.

For instance lets say we use the USCHO Poll as the end all be all as of right now (yes I know thats not nearly how the at larges get decided).

Lets say an unranked team in the NCHA or even lets say Trine wins it by upset, and the SUNYAC Oswego upsets Hobart. That means Hobart / Adrian / St Norburg / Aurura would possibly get all the at large while teams like UNE and Curry would be out because MASCAC / MIAC / MAC get byes in leagues that are in reloading phases.

Why not add two teams and not give the 1 and 2 seeds a bye week. Yes they were the best of the best, so they are rewarded of playing the lowest easiest path. Also why not bet rid of the bye system all together. Make it so ranking is the key, include a massive strength of schedule component in NPI. Encourage teams to play the best of the best. Make teams push to be best in country to get in the tourney and not just better than the rest of their conference. Want automatic bids? Give the top four conferences of the previous year an automatic bid for their championship for the next year.

Why exclude a Curry or a Utica if they don't win their championship when in some conferences they would bulldoze the competition.

Don't take this as a slight of leagues with teams rebuilding but let this be motivation for them all to build consistant programs of excellence in order to get to the NCAA tournament.
Click to expand...
You must be new here...
 
SLASHER619 said:
With the current system giving the 1 and 2 seed buys and 4 at large, it is crazy to give these leagues that time and time again are not in contention to get a buy.

For instance lets say we use the USCHO Poll as the end all be all as of right now (yes I know thats not nearly how the at larges get decided).

Lets say an unranked team in the NCHA or even lets say Trine wins it by upset, and the SUNYAC Oswego upsets Hobart. That means Hobart / Adrian / St Norburg / Aurura would possibly get all the at large while teams like UNE and Curry would be out because MASCAC / MIAC / MAC get byes in leagues that are in reloading phases.

Why not add two teams and not give the 1 and 2 seeds a bye week. Yes they were the best of the best, so they are rewarded of playing the lowest easiest path. Also why not bet rid of the bye system all together. Make it so ranking is the key, include a massive strength of schedule component in NPI. Encourage teams to play the best of the best. Make teams push to be best in country to get in the tourney and not just better than the rest of their conference. Want automatic bids? Give the top four conferences of the previous year an automatic bid for their championship for the next year.

Why exclude a Curry or a Utica if they don't win their championship when in some conferences they would bulldoze the competition.

Don't take this as a slight of leagues with teams rebuilding but let this be motivation for them all to build consistant programs of excellence in order to get to the NCAA tournament.
Click to expand...
Ummm, The NPI is all that determines at large bids and also determines the seeding. Conference champions get automatic bids and may be seeded below an at large bid depending on again, the NPI. Polls mean absolutely nothing. They are for nothing more than an opinion.
 
If you all read my post I did clearly say I know the poll isn't how the at large were determined. But the point being is a few conferences get automatic bids when none of their teams are competitive in the top 15. It's like awarding a participation trophy. Why not just go off top NPI for all 16 bids, make teams want to get their strength of schedule up.

I mean if I got my info right geneseo left sunyac because of travel but went to a conference where they have to go to Pittsburgh and Connecticut. Seems like they left so they didn't have to deal with Plattsburgh oswego and Hobart all in the same conference as well as at the time a rising Cortland team.
 
They have to go to Pitt and CT....for only hockey. All other Geneseo sports do not make those trips. 20 trips to platty and new paltz across all sports annually cost way more than 1-2 annual trips to those cities for just hockey.Hobart and skidmore are only here because Geneseo and brockport left in the 1st place, otherwise those 2 would've joined the UCHC. The SUNYAC had no incentive to let the private schools in until their best athletic program told them to kick rocks.
 
SLASHER619 said:
If you all read my post I did clearly say I know the poll isn't how the at large were determined. But the point being is a few conferences get automatic bids when none of their teams are competitive in the top 15. It's like awarding a participation trophy. Why not just go off top NPI for all 16 bids, make teams want to get their strength of schedule up.

I mean if I got my info right geneseo left sunyac because of travel but went to a conference where they have to go to Pittsburgh and Connecticut. Seems like they left so they didn't have to deal with Plattsburgh oswego and Hobart all in the same conference as well as at the time a rising Cortland team.
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That is what many feel about D1 as well. Look at soccer last season, the "Big Conferences" fans felt that way about the America East and others. Gues what, UVM out of the America East won the national championship. Every athlete deserves a chance to be a champion.
 
SLASHER619 said:
If you all read my post I did clearly say I know the poll isn't how the at large were determined. But the point being is a few conferences get automatic bids when none of their teams are competitive in the top 15. It's like awarding a participation trophy. Why not just go off top NPI for all 16 bids, make teams want to get their strength of schedule up.

I mean if I got my info right geneseo left sunyac because of travel but went to a conference where they have to go to Pittsburgh and Connecticut. Seems like they left so they didn't have to deal with Plattsburgh oswego and Hobart all in the same conference as well as at the time a rising Cortland team.
Click to expand...
The only way simple way any of the teams in low ranked conferences will stay relevant and have a chance at recruiting is by having the AQ available to them. Take the worst conference with the MASCAC. Many of the schools that are part of it have historic programs which haven't seen success nationally in a long time or ever. But still having that opportunity to play at a higher level and have the potential to qualify to play in a NCAA tournament gives these players and programs something to strive for. A school like Salem or Westfield should be able to play against similar strength competition that is nearby, whether it's a team in the CNE or LEC. At the same time, these are also schools that have more important needs than spending millions on new facilities to recruit when they are smaller schools trying to provide an affordable education. If these teams could take on national contenders then that's great... but who's going to want to play for a program that's only set up for defeat every week against a program that makes the poll.

Kind of confused also by the point about Geneseo. Yes the SUNYAC is a slugfest year after year, but the UCHC isn't a cakewalk necessarily. Utica is a perennial contender with a facility on par with D1 programs. Other new member Elmira is a historic program that has the ability to compete. With the travel, I feel like it is comparable to the SUNYAC with most UCHC schools being in western/upstate NY - minus the long away trips to Albertus and Chatham who have programs that aren't even 10 years old.
 
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