Re: Wisconsin Hockey Vol I: Dawn of the Fifth Age of UW Hockey!
This is a great point. Why set up a B6 league with strictly B6 teams, then a few years later, start adding non B6 teams to the league? If that's the route, why F up the WCHA in the first place? Oh yeah......$$$$$$$$. If they want an 8th team, screw ASU and just go for UND, DU, UMD or MT. If your gonna mix a drink, add enough booze to the thing.
As soon as (actually, no doubt it was before) Pegula wrote a check to PSU, B1G hockey was happening. There was no stopping it. (But frankly, realignment of some sort was coming soon anyway, IMHO.)
I love the metaphor, (happy trails MM) and I would love to have the old schools in conference but it isn't ever happening. UND, UMD, and MT have nothing in common with the B1G schools and their huge enrollments, massive endowments, and giant research facilities. Not to mention their P5 status. The B1G office doesn't want the other UND on status and academic principles and the other UND would be crazy to join. Right now they have a lot of power within the NACHO,(or anywhere else they want to be) but in the B1G they would have zero say in anything and just be along for the ride. Why in the world would they want that? DU might have a very slight edge over the others as they could bring LAX along too. So maybe if DU begged the B1G... but still, a small private liberal arts college has zero in common with the B1G schools. At least Notre Dame has a $10 billion endowment to ensure stability. Comparatively, DU's endowment isn't enough to tip the waiters at ND's alumni breakfast. All would be antithetical arrangements.
Granted UW doesn't get much from ND joining in terms of rivalry but the CCHA schools do and MN has played them regularly as of late, so it's a good fit in the long run. As far as ASU goes, outside of research, they are much more simpatico as a large well funded school with a huge alumni base. Like ND, they're also a P5 member which would give the B1G yet another strong NCAA voice in its quest to take total control of college hockey.
As far as actual hockey goes, ASU isn't a D-III play up and we can perhaps expect them to follow a similar (if maybe slower) trajectory to PSU. Or who knows? Maybe they are even more successful if it can catch on. The best draft eligible player in the world is from AZ. There's at least 5 or 6 invitees to the NTDP evaluation camp from TX and AZ. (WI has one in Ty Emberson.) There's talent in the desert if they can corral it.
To me the thing is with ASU is it would be good for college hockey to have them successful and growing. The B1G teams have alumni and name recognition in AZ and perhaps give a financial benefit to a new program. And they certainly bring stability in that B1G schools can afford hockey even if no one shows up, so there's no question of anyone going anywhere. Short term we don't benefit, but long term helping a PAC-12 hockey conference get off the ground would be great for the sport and is the right thing to do. (Which is maybe why the evil B1G wouldn't do it, I suppose.) And lastly, 8 teams and 28 games is a much better number for a conference.
