Re: Saint Anselm College
The two sets of rules thing could be avoided if they chose to word things properly - Division II schools who participate in a sport with fewer than X programs may opt to play for either the DI or DII championship. If the school choose to play for the Division III championship the team must comply with all Division III regulations in regard to financial aid and competition in that sport. 1 rule - can be applied to any sport with no DII championship, but could be worded so that it only applied to hockey if X was chosen carefully.
I totally agree with your post. St.A's has resisted the DI option for the same reasons that Norwich and St. Thomas, that besides being very expensive they just don't belong. Merrimack has decided to reclassify as a DI in all sports and rumor has it, that Bentley is not far behind. As to AIC, who knows ?
for the past twenty years , St.A's has played by DIII rules, as it relates to athletic financial aid.
We have to keep in mind , that the NCAA caused this situation when it decided to have a DI, II,III format in all sports.
St.A's should have asked to be grandfathered as long as they agreed to play by DIII rules. They did not and are now in a bind.
My sense is that St.Michael's reclassifies as DIII and that would leave only 5 teams in the NE-10 for the men . If St.Mike's reclassifies, the smart money is that
St.A's follows suit which would leave the remaining DII's in a 4 team league. I would bet , if that was the case, they(4) would drop hockey down to club.
The NCAA has done a great job promoting the game of hockey. C'est la vie.
