mikejm

This is incredibly short-sighted. UND is a legitimate college hockey powerhouse, among a handful of programs that can probably be counted on to be among the top five each and every year. That being said, UND is a big fish in a teeny, tiny little pond. What you continually suggest is that UND take its ball (or in this case, puck) and go start a new conference somewhere. That's fine, and almost understandable. But what happens to the rest of the WCHA? The Fighting Sioux fill barns throughout the conference. You saw what Sioux fans did at the Final Five. People were suggesting the X would be a ghost town without the Gophers and/or Badgers. Officials have been quoted as saying they actually had 100+ MORE people through the turnstiles every session than last year, and most of the crowd was demonstrably Sioux fans. So you leave the WCHA to start your own gig and watch half of the remaining teams turn belly up? Say four WCHA teams fail. That takes us from 58 down to 54. And let's assume a couple CCHA teams fold as a result of the BTHC. Now we're down to 52 Division I teams. Once that ripple starts washing its way across college hockey, what do you think is going to happen? Do you honestly believe some university administrators are going to look at THAT landscape and decide to invest the millions of dollars it takes to establish a new program? No way. College hockey is already operating a 16-team championship tournament under a sort of "wink-wink" deal with the NCAA; normally they want 60 teams to support that big of a playoff structure. You want to go back to 12? When I was a UND student, the hockey playoff was a four team deal. Is that what you want to see? Fighting Sioux hockey has been a supporter of start-up and fledgling hockey programs since its beginning. "We" played Bemidji as it moved from DII to DI, and look what that program has turned out to be. We played Mankato while they were an independent after working their way up from DIII to DII to DI. I've watched DI college hockey continue to contract, and I don't like that trend at all. I don't really believe the BTHC is about "growing the sport", but I am willing to at least look the other way while those schools go off on their own. I do not want to sit idly by while the sport dwindles further. This is the time to look at the big picture; time to ensure there is a future for college hockey. What good is being that big fish if the pond you are in is drying up? You ever see what happens to a fish caught in a tidal pool? They don't last long.

Whether or not they have any business doing so, they do have a pretty big sugar daddy in line to help fund a hockey program.

And I don't think I'd like 95% of the population making decisions about higher education, either.

Based on several conversations I've had with a very high-up in NDSU's athletic department, a Bison hockey team is a non-starter. And I truly hope MSU-M starts a hockey program. I'd really like to see 70+ DI teams instead of the 58 we now encompass. I don't think that is attainable, but I'd settle for 64. Eight 8-team conferences would be ideal, with 8 at-large bids into the playoff. I worry about the NCAA dropping the hockey playoff back to 12 teams, and if the off-campus regional sites continue to stink it up at the box office, that may happen sooner than later. All this NIMBY talk about conferences and new, weak teams could lead to catastrophic results.

I'd also say we need to keep rolling all four lines. That luxury

I doubt it. The word "hubris" comes to mind.

I think he is only a Sophomore.

Think of the Strength of Schedule ramifications for all the teams involved. I've heard people talking about how the BTHC will get an auto-bid plus another one or two at-large seedings. Imagine what their SOS is going to look like with 8 games against legitimate cupcakes.

Wouldn't that be a storybook ending to his career as a Fighting Sioux?

Well, not exactly... Faison was replaced by McKinley Boston as NMSU athletic director 14 Dec 2004. Pistol Pete was replaced by Lasso Larry in August 2005. Pistol Pete reappeared in 2007. Faison assumed his AD duties at UND in May 2008. Please don't construe any of the above as endorsement of Faison's actions regarding the Fighting Sioux nickname, nor of his testimony in Bismarck. But please be accurate in assertions as to his involvement in New Mexico. These dates are pretty easily verified with NMSU and UND documents.

They just joined Atlantic Hockey in '06 iirc. They want to be in the same conference as West Point.

I think they are sort of focused on team awards right now.

Good for Matt! I like his play a lot.

I thought the Gophers' season was over.

Air Force wants to play Army. They are trying to get Navy to move their hockey program up from club status.

^I remember Hakstol telling me four years ago that Davidson was a real "project".

You destroyed any semblance of credibility you might have had.

Is that a rhetorical question? Because the answer is quite clear.

Sa-weeeeet!!!!!!!! Thanks

I don't think they have a choice, pal; Big Ten rules. As long as there are 6 BT teams in a sport, I think the conference has to be there. I haven't paid any attention lately, but I'm guessing there are some grumblings at GPL. There are some pretty smart hockey fans over there who see the folly of this whole mess and what it could lead to.

Go back and study the history of Division I college hockey. This is a sport that is on thin ice. As I've pointed out, "we" are only 58 teams, and this may kick a couple of those to the curb. Rock the boat just a little bit and a few more schools may say to heck with it and fold their teams, too. Then, yes, it will be tougher to get into the NCAA tournament, because there won't be one. You do realize there used to be NCAA championships at all three levels, right? And that the number of DI teams hasn't always been so small?

I will take that as a compliment of the highest order. Delany is an egotistical idiot. He is also not a hockey guy. No one in the BigTen(+2) is hockey. This sport is going to get pushed aside by the BT. All this is to them is revenue capture. They don't care if they kill the CCHA in the process. And if that happens, you'll see DI hockey fall even further into the irrelevant category.

I'm going with "never". We all love and live and breath a niche sport.

I can't believe adding hockey to the BTNetwork is going to impact their revenues by multi-millions $$$$ (Remember, every net dollar delivered by the BTN is divided by 12; they'd have to net $12 million new money to deliver $1 mil each to Minn and Wisc). It increases their programming options, but there is a cost to that as well. Every member is going to have to give up at least a portion of their current television revenues, if not the entirety. And I just don't see a college hockey coach making 3/4 large. Sorry.

Thank you for this.^