SiouxVolley

Not directly related, but Kirk Schulz just moved from the Kansas State Presidency to Washington State's Presidency. Schulz was the Big 12 chair and has been at odds with Oklahoma President Boren about going to the press on B12 issues. Schulz started his career as associate professor in chemical engineering at UND.

Hockey seems to be the only thing that makes gophers riot in Dinkytown, so there's that.

Google Coralville and Iowa Arena. Supposedly Coralville, which is Iowa City western suburb, is building the arena for a new USHL team and the Iowa club team. A club team doesn't need a 6200 seat arena. Something is up. Iowa doesn't need an arena donor, just scholarship endowments like Ariz St.

Looks like Meridian Energy will go ahead and build a diesel refinery west of Belfield in Billings County. The refinery would be larger than the existing one near South Heart. South Heart also passed an expansion bond for schools.

Getting Notre Dame for hockey opens the door for eventual full membership for Notre Dame next decade. The Big Tens dream is to get Notre Dame and Texas in, but the ACC would be an option too. This was a declaration of war against the ACC, and the ACC should be worried. It's much more a strategic decision for both ND and the BTC than a hockey decision. In another decade, the CFP may not take independent teams.

Likely MTU, NMU, and LSU wouldn't get invited. The western AHA schools would gladly take bids. Canisius, Niagara, Mercyhurst, and Robert Morris would run to a new CCHA. A new league on the shores of Lake Erie. UAH only because it's a warm bus trip. The AHA has teams lined up to backfill, like URI, Post, Liberty, Navy, and maybe even West Chester and Delaware, which all play in the same DI ACHA league.

Then hopefully UNLV follows through with hockey and pairs with Ariz St. The MAC schools hate the idea of Ariz St and UNLV anyway. W Mich can help Bowling Green restart the CCHA.

You are missing the big picture. If one knows the strategic vision, one knows what the President will do given the resources. Minot St needs DI hockey for recruiting students, including from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There revealed that DI hockey is part of the plan all along, whether you admit that or not. UND and all the other XDSU's and USD want to be higher in research and that means FBS football. U Mary wants to be a DI school eventually in a low conference like Oral Roberts and serve Bismarck in an even greater capacity. Jamestown U wants to be a DII school in the Northern Sun to attract more Minnesotans. All of the school's are doing things that conform with their visions. Shirley doesnt have a beef with UND. He's just responding as expected to Minot State's long term vision. Minot St will be much more successful that Moorhead in fundraising, because it's more of a civic deal for Minot and because there are a lot of local people sitting on oil royalties that don't have plans for their money.

I got some serious grief for this in this thread. Sometimes my predictions do come true.

So Miami, UNO, and I throw another one out there, RIT are challengers to Ariz St for the 8th spot? RIT was brought up by a Gopher fan on Frank the Tanks blog. DIII RIT is in Rochester, which doesn't have any other DI school, is stellar academically in a hockey mad region with a new arena. Rochester would go bonkers over a B1G bid and would help Penn St and would provide a team besides Notre Dame to represent the B1G in NYC. RIT is in the tournament this year and has made the Frozen Four a couple of years ago. RIT would be an easy add because only hockey is DI, like only lax is DI for B1G affiliate Johns Hopkins.

Strengthening Shanks body up could take this team to a new level.

Hockey fans don't make conference choices, Presidents do on reasons like academics, endowment, research, media reach, professional schools etc. Mankato will only get a call if Miami and W Mich leave and the NCHC needs someone to pair with UNLV.

Minot only moved from NAIA to DII in order to start DI hockey, JMHO.

Read the Minot Daily News. Apparently they have pledges and just need an invite.

Yeah, it's all coming together now. ASU will go the Big Ten as expected. UCLA or USC or UNLV won't join B1G hockey though. ASU will be a short timer in the B1G until other PAC teams get their acts together. Notre Dame joined just for the western exposure. Simon Fraser and Minot St to the WCHA. Eastern WCHA schools won't have to travel to Alaska twice. ASU was just playing with other leagues. Minot St will get the second WCHA slot when ASU officially declines it.

From twitter, Notre Dame will keep its NBCSN contract and will be on the hook for $250 k exit fee from Hockey East.

Yeah, I understand that Delaney wants a piece of the Phoenix market, which has a larger number of Big Ten grads than any city outside of Chicago. But B1G hockey doesnt draw aquatic for ratings and the Arizona public would tolerate paying for the B1G network. But why would Arizona St agree to if they want to build a program and fanbase? Their games won't be filled with ASU fans, but rather with Gophers, Badgers, Irish and Wolverine fans. Granted the B1G will pay bills, but this looks like another Ohio State program playing in a massively oversized arena, which the B1G can't afford competitively. Wait til the Big adds Iowa and Nebraska. That league would lose a conference series against the AHA. Notre Dame switching leagues and the Gophers fans malaise prove that hockey is much based on more regional rivals than national ones. The rules that TV used for basketball and football don't apply here, as the B1G has already proven.

If it had a permanent arena set, I'd agree, but it wont by a 2017. A fan base needs some drivable rivals, as Notre Dame and the B1G have shown. If UNLV gets off the ground, ASU would give them and other PAC schools up and forfeit a traveling fan base. That wouldn't make business sense but would lead to a quick buck from the B1G network.

None of those are happening by 2017.

So who exactly is going to be the 8th B1G hockey team?

B1G hockey doesn't get ratings unless there are fans in the stands. UND would deliver in that department. U MINN needs us.

If UND can get football games against the B1G and the B1G supported the the Big Sky going FBS, that would be huge for the school. With Notre Dame going to B1G hockey, I'm beginning to believe that the B12 wants UND hockey and fans. Miami is a strong candidate academically, but UND takes it to the ice.

That Miami is unhappy with NCHC travel. Just like Notre Dame's Jeff Jackson was unhappy with Hockey East's travel.

If it comes down to Ariz St/UNLV or Miami/W Mich, rather have the western teams in the NCHC.

The B1G won't stay at seven. Maybe there is something to the Miami rumors. Ariz St probably wants to be with UNLV, which has less chance than UND to be invited to the B1G. Notre Dame fans insisted there was no way that they would go to the B1G. Miami and UCONN would be the most likely if Ariz St turns down the B1G.