Bemidji State in the WCHA?

[Goon]

smart move by both Omaha and NMU. Now the WCHA has to recruit them and they could get some incentives. The Herald made it seem like there is an entrance fee into the conference. Anyone know how much? I bet that gets waived for the recruited team.

Isn't it a 100,000.00

[star2city]

smart move by both Omaha and NMU. Now the WCHA has to recruit them and they could get some incentives. The Herald made it seem like there is an entrance fee into the conference. Anyone know how much? I bet that gets waived for the recruited team.

Isn't there a significant fee just for the application? If so, it makes no sense to apply without some type of assurance the application will be accepted.

UBC is still out there, awaiting decisions this summer from the CIS on dual membership and from the NCAA on requiring American academic credentials. A UBC / Bemidji combo probably would get more support than an Omaha/Bemidji one, although both would get enough votes. NMU/Bemidji or MSU-M/Bemidji combos would not get enough support.

MSU-Moorhead's best bet at a conference may be if the CCHA loses a team like Bowling Green or W Mich [which like BGU hasn't been investing much in hockey and has IA football and a declining Michigan economy to deal with], assuming UNO leaves and UAH is admitted. Even then, Niagara, Mercyhurst or Robert Morris might get more interest from the CCHA. If a BTHC ever formed, there would be much more opportunity. MSU-Moorhead

[roper1313]

Isn't there a significant fee just for the application? If so, it makes no sense to apply without some type of assurance the application will be accepted.

UBC is still out there, awaiting decisions this summer from the CIS on dual membership and from the NCAA on requiring American academic credentials. A UBC / Bemidji combo probably would get more support than an Omaha/Bemidji one, although both would get enough votes. NMU/Bemidji or MSU-M/Bemidji combos would not get enough support.

MSU-Moorhead's best bet at a conference may be if the CCHA loses a team like Bowling Green or W Mich [which like BGU hasn't been investing much in hockey and has IA football and a declining Michigan economy to deal with], assuming UNO leaves and UAH is admitted. Even then, Niagara, Mercyhurst or Robert Morris might get more interest from the CCHA. If a BTHC ever formed, there would be much more opportunity. MSU-Moorhead

Just curious as to why you think UBC/Bemidji combo would receive more support than the UNO/Bemidji? It's another flight for every school and I don't see schools looking forward to adding that cost. I'll admit that I don't know a lot about UBC, but I'm interested in hearing your reasoning.

[roper1313]

With a UNO/BSU combo as the 11th and 12th team the WCHA could look at changing the "rivalry" pairings. Here's how I see it:

UMinn and UWisc- Can't switch them up. The two Big 10 teams stick together. I'd love to see UND here, but it's not happening.

MSUM and UNO- The battle of the Maverics. They are both old NCC rivals geographically the nearest schools.

DU and CC- Duh

Anchorage and MTU- No one wants to be eithers rival so it only makes sense.

These next 4 can be swapped any way:

UMD and St. Cloud- I know when I was at UMD in the mid-90's we hated St. Cloud. St. Clown fans actually went through one of the dorm parking lots and flipped a car over. Now that's a rivalry!!

UND and BSU- I think with the new facility BSU will turn into a consistenly good program. If BSU beats UND in the new arena Beaver fans will probably burn down the town. If we can't have the Gophers, I'd perfer to have the Beavers. Plus students just have too much fun with the Beaver nickname.

This topic is a great offseason time killer.

[Shawn-O]

UNO didn't apply because of their old Ad who was going to be fired took a job at UIU.

Trev Alberts has been hired as the new AD, so should be interesting to see what happens.

[dakotadan]

Northern Michigan has offically said NO TO WCHA.

"We evaluated all the pros and cons and decided it's not the best for us," NMU athletic director Ken Godfrey said Wednesday. "We made the decision about two weeks ago."

On the flip side, UNO fans seem very supportive of the idea of joining the WCHA.

MavPuck.com WCHA discussion

[star2city]

Just curious as to why you think UBC/Bemidji combo would receive more support than the UNO/Bemidji? It's another flight for every school and I don't see schools looking forward to adding that cost. I'll admit that I don't know a lot about UBC, but I'm interested in hearing your reasoning.

UAA, CC, DU effectively call the shots on what second team will be added: those three votes block any expansion.

UAA would no doubt strongly support UBC if given any option. Would oppose UNO if UBC was on the table.

Denver and CC would support another true western school: UBC, UAA, CC, DU (as well as UAF) would be one school away from a true western conference (if a BTHC ever materialized). Du and CC would probably benefit more from UNO in the short term: but longer term their futures are more dependent on more hockey playing schools in the West.

UBC has a much higher academic status than UNO: which matters to DU, CC, Minn and Wisconsin.

UBC could allow Canada-wide WCHA telecasts on Canadian cable vs what UNO brings: $'s

Without question, SCSU, MSUM, UMD, and MTU would much more favor UNO, but those schools would be by and large responsible for bringing in Bemidji despite UAA, CC, DU objections.

Based on history, UND might be the favor UNO foremost for any possible WCHA expansion. Not sure how UND would view UBC either: but it would certainly further increase UND's recognition in Canada at the possible expense of recruiting.

If UBC pulls the plug on an NCAA move this summer, it's all mute: UNO would be the choice.

[Goon]

Just FYI

CCHA travel WCHA

Notre Dame - 548 miles MN State Mankatoa - 291 miles

Western Mich - 600 miles Minnesota - 384 miles

Michigan State- 675 miles Wisconsin - 435 miles

Ferris State - 686 miles St. Cloud State - 452 miles

Michigan - 695 miles North Dakota - 500 miles

Bowling Green - 708 miles Minnesota Duluth - 534 miles

Miami-Ohio - 719 miles Denver - 539 miles

Ohio State - 790 miles Bemidji State - 555 miles

Northern Mich - 800 miles Colorado College - 609 miles

Lake State - 920 miles Michigan Tech - 747 miles

Fairbanks AK - 3595 miles Anchorage AK - 3361 miles

[The Sicatoka]

For Omaha today --

Shortest trip 548 miles.

Allow me the leeway to say 555 miles and 548 miles are insignificantly different, and that in a potential 12-team (BSU, UNO) WCHA UN-Omaha would have 8 teams in that 555 mile range. That's eight conference foes closer than their nearest conference foe today!

Better?

Tech would be their second longest trip (by miles), yet in their present conference they have four trips longer than that (OSU, NMU, LSSU, UAF) right now!

Seems "simple math" to me.

[UND92,96]

I didn't see this linked above, so here's a Schlossman blog from yesterday on Omaha and the WCHA: link

[mksioux]

Of all the teams that have been mentioned as possibilities, UNO far-and-away makes the most sense for all parties involved. UBC seems like a stretch based on the Bemidji State timetable of 2011-12 being the target year for the additions. Doesn't the WCHA require at least two years of playing an NCAA DI schedule before a school can be admitted? Would they waive that requirement for UBC? The WCHA has not been keen on waiving that requirement in the past. UNO could easily make the switch on the Bemidji State timetable. Not to mention adding a Canadian school right in the middle of fertile recruiting area is bound to be a controversial issue (not saying it would necessarily be a bad thing overall, but it would raise a few eyebrows).

Seems like it would be difficult for UBC to get the necessary 8 votes. On the other hand, UNO would easily get 8 votes and would probably get all 10 votes.

Personally, of all the options mentioned, I prefer UNO. It's a former NCC rival, a nice city, a close city for road trips, nice facility, and they seem to have a good hockey fan-base. They have all the tools to be a very good hockey program. I will definitely add Omaha to my road-trip calendar if they move to the WCHA.

[Goon]

For Omaha today --

Shortest trip 548 miles.

Allow me the leeway to say 555 miles and 548 miles are insignificantly different, and that in a potential 12-team (BSU, UNO) WCHA UN-Omaha would have 8 teams in that 555 mile range. That's eight conference foes closer than their nearest conference foe today!

Better?

Tech would be their second longest trip (by miles), yet in their present conference they have four trips longer than that (OSU, NMU, LSSU, UAF) right now!

Seems "simple math" to me.

Seems like simple math to me as well...

[star2city]

Of all the teams that have been mentioned as possibilities, UNO far-and-away makes the most sense for all parties involved. UBC seems like a stretch based on the Bemidji State timetable of 2011-12 being the target year for the additions. Doesn't the WCHA require at least two years of playing an NCAA DI schedule before a school can be admitted? Would they waive that requirement for UBC? The WCHA has not been keen on waiving that requirement in the past. UNO could easily make the switch on the Bemidji State timetable. Not to mention adding a Canadian school right in the middle of fertile recruiting area is bound to be a controversial issue (not saying it would necessarily be a bad thing overall, but it would raise a few eyebrows).

Seems like it would be difficult for UBC to get the necessary 8 votes. On the other hand, UNO would easily get 8 votes and would probably get all 10 votes.

Personally, of all the options mentioned, I prefer UNO. It's a former NCC rival, a nice city, a close city for road trips, nice facility, and they seem to have a good hockey fan-base. They have all the tools to be a very good hockey program. I will definitely add Omaha to my road-trip calendar if they move to the WCHA.

You're right. The timeline is a major problem for UBC. With the latest year delay in filing the NCAA paperwork, they'd still need at least until 2012-13 before begining DI play (they'd have to play at the DII level first, or keep hockey in the CIS before that time). Even then, they'd have to wait 2 more years before being playoff eligible.

The major benefit of UBC would be millions of potential eyeballs it would bring to NCAA hockey and another outpost to expand western hockey.

As far as voting, UNO is by far the least objectionable, UBC is the most interesting and has the most ardent backer (UAA and maybe DU and CC). BU only gets in because of the admission partner (UNO or UBC) - Bemidji doesn't have a chance partnered with NMU or MSU-Moorhead.

[tnt]

Nevermind the fact that some schools wouldn't be thrilled about competing with UBC for British Columbia talent when they are so close to home. Probably wouldn't change every kid's mind to stay close to home, but it would be an Ace in the hole for UBC.

[Goon]

Nevermind the fact that some schools wouldn't be thrilled about competing with UBC for British Columbia talent when they are so close to home. Probably wouldn't change every kid's mind to stay close to home, but it would be an Ace in the hole for UBC.

I think UBC was in the WCHA they might compete for talent with the Vancover Giants of the WHL maybe a kid would decide they might want to go to school in play in college as opposed to playing in the WHL. While I can't think it would be a lot they could pick off a few the UBC thunderbirds play in a very nice arena that is going to be used for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

[Goon]

Nevermind the fact that some schools wouldn't be thrilled about competing with UBC for British Columbia talent when they are so close to home. Probably wouldn't change every kid's mind to stay close to home, but it would be an Ace in the hole for UBC.

I don't know if they would compete with UND for talent because I can't remember the last time we got a player from the BCHL. Wasn't Kozek, Duncan and Watkins the last ones from UND to play in the BCHL?

[zqglmtv]

I don't know if they would compete with UND for talent because I can't remember the last time we got a player from the BCHL. Wasn't Kozek, Duncan and Watkins the last ones from UND to play in the BCHL?

I don't know if they would compete with UND for talent because I can't remember the last time we got a player from the BCHL. Wasn't Kozek, Duncan and Watkins the last ones from UND to play in the BCHL?

BCHL connections: Genoway, Martens, Kozek, Zajac, Duncan, Trupp, Watkins and Hextall.

[Goon]

BCHL connections: Genoway, Martens, Kozek, Zajac, Duncan, Trupp, Watkins and Hextall.

So we haven't had that many lately.

[brianvf]

From Brad's twitter:

Northern Michigan says it won't apply for WCHA membership, confirming that the WCHA's target is Omaha.

[AZSIOUX]

So we haven't had that many lately.

no we havent and we have zero for the future as of right now. they have dipped into the AJHL like the recruited from BCHL about 5 years ago

[SiouxMeNow]

From Brad's twitter:

it was ALWAYS Omaha! But you have to admit...no one wants to say they're allowing a mediocre team into their league. The kicker is....Omaha is the mediocre team! BSU has a great shot to host a 1st round playoff series every year...going premature here but WELCOME BEAVERS!!!

[redwing77]

it was ALWAYS Omaha! But you have to admit...no one wants to say they're allowing a mediocre team into their league. The kicker is....Omaha is the mediocre team! BSU has a great shot to host a 1st round playoff series every year...going premature here but WELCOME BEAVERS!!!

Sorry, but I think of the three out there (long shots or otherwise): UNO, UAH, and NMU, I'd rather have UNO.

NMU does have an NC in their history and has also been in the WCHA, sure, but they've been a virtual laughing stock in the CCHA yet BGSU, and to a certain extent WMU are the shakey ones.

[Goon]

Sorry, but I think of the three out there (long shots or otherwise): UNO, UAH, and NMU, I'd rather have UNO.

NMU does have an NC in their history and has also been in the WCHA, sure, but they've been a virtual laughing stock in the CCHA yet BGSU, and to a certain extent WMU are the shakey ones.

Funny yet some scoff at the idea of UAH being in the CCHA but they are on better footing than some of the same CCHA teams that are

struggling.

[minnysioux]

http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/news/spo...chooses-bsu-105

it looks like they've added Fisher from the Gophers.

[Ray77]

http://www.ifallsdailyjournal.com/news/spo...chooses-bsu-105

it looks like they've added Fisher from the Gophers.

Very interesting...