WCHA adding Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha starting in 2010-2011


Glad to hear this, especially for the folks in Omaha. When I was at the CWS a couple weeks ago, the city was really fired up about getting Dean Blais as their head coach. I get the feeling UNO thinks they have a chance to truly be big-time now that Blais is aboard.
 

Great news, I will get to see Gopher hockey in person a whole lot easier now.
 

Sorry, but i have to say this. When does Big Ten Conference hockey start?!

just not a fan of the direction the WCHA is going in and the teams now making up the league. bemidji state? alaska-anchorage? michigan tech? nebraska-omaha? the league and the old rivalries are just getting too watered down for my taste.

would much rather play in the same conference as wisconsin, michigan, michigan state, ohio state, notre dame and see illinois and penn state start up D1 hockey at their schools since they already have a tradition of youth hockey and have had NHL franchises for a long time.

being in the business of keeping some of these second or third-tier hockey programs afloat should not be the business of schools like minnesota, wisconsin, michigan, michigan state.
 

just not a fan of the direction the WCHA is going in and the teams now making up the league. bemidji state? alaska-anchorage? michigan tech? nebraska-omaha? the league and the old rivalries are just getting too watered down for my taste.

would much rather play in the same conference as wisconsin, michigan, michigan state, ohio state, notre dame and see illinois and penn state start up D1 hockey at their schools since they already have a tradition of youth hockey and have had NHL franchises for a long time.

being in the business of keeping some of these second or third-tier hockey programs afloat should not be the business of schools like minnesota, wisconsin, michigan, michigan state.

Sweet. So you'd rather there was just like 30 teams and 3 different power conferences? Yeah, that'd be great. Let's take away opportunities for kids, not create them.
 


Sweet. So you'd rather there was just like 30 teams and 3 different power conferences? Yeah, that'd be great. Let's take away opportunities for kids, not create them.

i would be okay with that. i believe there would be far better college hockey to watch if there were fewer teams because those remaining would be the ones with the tradition and who are/always have been on solid financial and foundational footing. i don't have any emotional connection to the nebraska-omaha's, bemidji states, alaska-anchorage, alaska-fairbanks, michigan techs, northern michigans, ferris states, western michigans, bowling greens of the world, so if those teams went away at some point i wouldn't shed a tear over it.

just how i feel. and i grew up playing competitive hockey at a long established hockey high school so i am not just saying this from an uninformed, rube standpoint. again, it is just how i feel about the over-saturation of what seem to be small-time college hockey programs cropping up and needing life-support from major conferences/teams to even stay afloat.
 

Why does Neb-Omaha have a team while Neb-Lincoln doesn't? (you know, the Huskers, with its alumni base, financial resources, name recognition, etc.) The two schools are 30 minutes apart, so what's the deal? Seriously, Gophers-Huskers would be a must-see game! I have no desire to watch us play Omaha or Bemidji.
 

i would be okay with that. i believe there would be far better college hockey to watch if there were fewer teams because those remaining would be the ones with the tradition and who are/always have been on solid financial and foundational footing. i don't have any emotional connection to the nebraska-omaha's, bemidji states, alaska-anchorage, alaska-fairbanks, michigan techs, northern michigans, ferris states, western michigans, bowling greens of the world, so if those teams went away at some point i wouldn't shed a tear over it.


That seems extremely selfish. A team can't build tradition if they can't play games, pull upsets, and win championships. How did college hockey even start expanding since no one had tradition built? I don't think YOUR emotional connection has anything to do with the other fans of these programs looking to build tradition.
 

That seems extremely selfish. A team can't build tradition if they can't play games, pull upsets, and win championships. How did college hockey even start expanding since no one had tradition built? I don't think YOUR emotional connection has anything to do with the other fans of these programs looking to build tradition.

i don't really care if it is selfish. so be it. just trying to look at the state of college hockey from an unemotional, fact based standpoint, which i am not sure you are doing. there are too many small-time teams that are not able to sustain their programs and increasing the number of those types of progams is the wrong direction for college hockey to be headed in.
 



I think small programs need to be together in their own conferences. Is there any other sport where this mixing happens? Any? Women's pole vaulting? Nope, that's Big10 still.

No Nebraska Huskers, but Nebraska-Omaha? Makes no sense.
No Colorado Buffs, but Colorado College? Makes no sense.
No Penn State, but Alabama-Huntsville? Pure insanity with crazy on top.

This is partly a result of not having enough big programs, and I think the current setup encourages small programs and discourages big ones. Bemidji State's only chance to play with the big boys is in hockey, not basketball and not even even track&field. Meanwhile, what incentive does Penn State have to start hockey if it will be stuck in a conference full of schools that its students don't care much about?

I think a Big10 (and later Big East) conference would be the best thing ever for college hockey.
 

I think small programs need to be together in their own conferences. Is there any other sport where this mixing happens? Any? Women's pole vaulting? Nope, that's Big10 still.

No Nebraska Huskers, but Nebraska-Omaha? Makes no sense.
No Colorado Buffs, but Colorado College? Makes no sense.
No Penn State, but Alabama-Huntsville? Pure insanity with crazy on top.

This is partly a result of not having enough big programs, and I think the current setup encourages small programs and discourages big ones. Bemidji State's only chance to play with the big boys is in hockey, not basketball and not even even track&field. Meanwhile, what incentive does Penn State have to start hockey if it will be stuck in a conference full of schools that its students don't care much about?

I think a Big10 (and later Big East) conference would be the best thing ever for college hockey.
Speaking of why UNO and not UNL, I am sure Title IX has as much to do with it as anything. UNL doesn't know what hockey is, no facility. UNO had facility options.
 

Speaking of why UNO and not UNL, I am sure Title IX has as much to do with it as anything. UNL doesn't know what hockey is, no facility. UNO had facility options.


UN-Omaha has the same Title IX obligations as the Huskers, only a much smaller budget. If UNO is willing to suck it up while UNL isn't, there MUST be a bigger reason than money, right?

Culture? I find it hard to believe that Omaha is so much more hockey crazy than Lincoln, 30 mins away, just like U. of Denver has a team and Colorado doesn't (30 mins away). Do Colorado, Pitt, Northwestern, Marquette, Rutgers, Villanova etc. not know what hockey is? Those are all much bigger hockey towns than Omaha, WITH facilities available, and they still don't have teams. Why?

Sacred Heart plays D-1 with a 1,000 seat arena, American International has a 1,200 seat arena, those are just the first 2 I clicked on. The Huskers have the cash to build a 1,000 seat hockey arena tomorrow if they wanted to......so it's got to be something else.

Again, my hunch is that small schools want to play hockey because it's their ONLY chance to play in a major conference with the big boys and raise their profile, so they're willing to pay whatever the costs and roll the dice. What's the Cornhuskers incentive to join the WHCA, so they can play St. Cloud and Alaska?

Now if there was a BigXII hockey conference in place I bet they'd seriously consider starting a program (UN-Lincoln, Colorado, Iowa State, Mizzou (St. Louis is a big hockey town), maybe Kansas or Kansas State)
 

UN-Omaha has the same Title IX obligations as the Huskers, only a much smaller budget. If UNO is willing to suck it up while UNL isn't, there MUST be a bigger reason than money, right?

Culture? I find it hard to believe that Omaha is so much more hockey crazy than Lincoln, 30 mins away, just like U. of Denver has a team and Colorado doesn't (30 mins away). Do Colorado, Pitt, Northwestern, Marquette, Rutgers, Villanova etc. not know what hockey is? Those are all much bigger hockey towns than Omaha, WITH facilities available, and they still don't have teams. Why?

Sacred Heart plays D-1 with a 1,000 seat arena, American International has a 1,200 seat arena, those are just the first 2 I clicked on. The Huskers have the cash to build a 1,000 seat hockey arena tomorrow if they wanted to......so it's got to be something else.

Again, my hunch is that small schools want to play hockey because it's their ONLY chance to play in a major conference with the big boys and raise their profile, so they're willing to pay whatever the costs and roll the dice. What's the Cornhuskers incentive to join the WHCA, so they can play St. Cloud and Alaska?

Now if there was a BigXII hockey conference in place I bet they'd seriously consider starting a program (UN-Lincoln, Colorado, Iowa State, Mizzou (St. Louis is a big hockey town), maybe Kansas or Kansas State)

all great points. what you described above IS the direction that college hockey SHOULD be trying to move in and not what is happening right now. if they want even less relevance in the world of college sports, casual fans minds, and TV then keep propping up teams like alaska-anchorage, alaska-fairbanks, bemidji state, nebraska-omaha, alabama-huntsville, bowling green, niagara, michigan tech, ferris state, etc.
 



North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver, Colorado College, Michigan and Michigan St. should make their own elite conference.

(Also I know it wouldn't work to just kick out Alaska Anchorage but I think the WCHA should replace them with a greater asset in MSUM. Alaska Anchorage is too far away no one attends the games there is no rivalry. If MSUM was to replace them, more people would be able to watch games hockey games. Location Location Location, I guarantee you that every MSUM home game against UND and U of M game would sell out. Also Bemiji St., St. Cloud, Duluth are all with in reasonable driving distance to attract fans. Also the UP center is newer built in 2008 and much better arena than what AA has. Although UP only holds 5,000 to AA 6,000. Of course this is nothing but a pipe dream because I don't think MSUM will ever get D1 hockey. Just a thought)
 

North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver, Colorado College, Michigan and Michigan St. should make their own elite conference.

(Also I know it wouldn't work to just kick out Alaska Anchorage but I think the WCHA should replace them with a greater asset in MSUM. Alaska Anchorage is too far away no one attends the games there is no rivalry. If MSUM was to replace them, more people would be able to watch games hockey games. Location Location Location, I guarantee you that every MSUM home game against UND and U of M game would sell out. Also Bemiji St., St. Cloud, Duluth are all with in reasonable driving distance to attract fans. Also the UP center is newer built in 2008 and much better arena than what AA has. Although UP only holds 5,000 to AA 6,000. Of course this is nothing but a pipe dream because I don't think MSUM will ever get D1 hockey. Just a thought)

your second paragraph completely contradicts your first sentence! ;)
 

UN-Omaha has the same Title IX obligations as the Huskers, only a much smaller budget. If UNO is willing to suck it up while UNL isn't, there MUST be a bigger reason than money, right?

Culture? I find it hard to believe that Omaha is so much more hockey crazy than Lincoln, 30 mins away, just like U. of Denver has a team and Colorado doesn't (30 mins away). Do Colorado, Pitt, Northwestern, Marquette, Rutgers, Villanova etc. not know what hockey is? Those are all much bigger hockey towns than Omaha, WITH facilities available, and they still don't have teams. Why?

Sacred Heart plays D-1 with a 1,000 seat arena, American International has a 1,200 seat arena, those are just the first 2 I clicked on. The Huskers have the cash to build a 1,000 seat hockey arena tomorrow if they wanted to......so it's got to be something else.

Again, my hunch is that small schools want to play hockey because it's their ONLY chance to play in a major conference with the big boys and raise their profile, so they're willing to pay whatever the costs and roll the dice. What's the Cornhuskers incentive to join the WHCA, so they can play St. Cloud and Alaska?

Now if there was a BigXII hockey conference in place I bet they'd seriously consider starting a program (UN-Lincoln, Colorado, Iowa State, Mizzou (St. Louis is a big hockey town), maybe Kansas or Kansas State)

UNO is no different than ST Cloud, Duluth, North Dakota and so on. Hockey is their only D1 sport. I don't know why they chose hockey as their sport other than interest. I have lived in Lincoln for over 25 years now and the difference in hockey culture is huge, believe me or not. At times Omaha has supported UNO, an USHL team, and a minor league team. Lincoln thinks about one thing and one thing only-football. Football is the headline in the paper 4 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Hell, their basketball team barely makes money at the D1 level. Their USHL team has been successful, started out with years of sellouts, serving alcohol is a big part of the interest when the Stars started, but now just the core fans show up. That is about it for hockey in Lincoln.

UNL will not spend money on a hockey arena of any size. UNL has been discussing a new basketball arena for several years now and they can't pull the trigger on it. They continuely put money into football facilities, because that is where the interest is. You mention they would play if the some of the Big 12 schools formed a conference, again I seriously doubt Iowa State, Missouri, and the Kansas schools have any interest in hockey what so ever. It is basketball and football in Big 12 country and baseball for a few that carries the interest of the fans. Colorado and Iowa State didn't even have the money or interest to keep college baseball.
 

UN-Omaha has the same Title IX obligations as the Huskers, only a much smaller budget. If UNO is willing to suck it up while UNL isn't, there MUST be a bigger reason than money, right?

Culture? I find it hard to believe that Omaha is so much more hockey crazy than Lincoln, 30 mins away, just like U. of Denver has a team and Colorado doesn't (30 mins away). Do Colorado, Pitt, Northwestern, Marquette, Rutgers, Villanova etc. not know what hockey is? Those are all much bigger hockey towns than Omaha, WITH facilities available, and they still don't have teams. Why?

Sacred Heart plays D-1 with a 1,000 seat arena, American International has a 1,200 seat arena, those are just the first 2 I clicked on. The Huskers have the cash to build a 1,000 seat hockey arena tomorrow if they wanted to......so it's got to be something else.

Again, my hunch is that small schools want to play hockey because it's their ONLY chance to play in a major conference with the big boys and raise their profile, so they're willing to pay whatever the costs and roll the dice. What's the Cornhuskers incentive to join the WHCA, so they can play St. Cloud and Alaska?

Now if there was a BigXII hockey conference in place I bet they'd seriously consider starting a program (UN-Lincoln, Colorado, Iowa State, Mizzou (St. Louis is a big hockey town), maybe Kansas or Kansas State)

Not sure if you forgot, but the Omaha Mavericks play in the Qwest Center Omaha, which seats ~16,800 for hockey. That said, I don't think there is really any worry about the facilities not being there for Nebraska-Omaha (although, they will need to get something sorted out in the upcoming years for their practice facilities, etc.).

I agree with some of the sentiment on here about wanting to have just a "Big Ten" league and dropping some of these other schools from the league, but that isn't reality and probably won't happen for some time. I think Bemidji and Omaha are great fits for the WCHA and are both going to be good fits for The U and for Gopher fans... Two more teams and away game spots that are within a six-hour drive of The Cities -- should keep travel costs low for the team. The inclusion of Omaha will help WCHA teams attract more of the Omaha youth hockey players, as it has been growing in recent years. Omaha has 1.2 million people living within 50 miles of the city center.

I for one cannot wait to watch the Gophers come to town, so I can cheer on the Maroon and Gold! Then, have Becky come to town and root for the Mavs. It's going to be a lot better than watching Ferris State and the other MAC teams that are in the CCHA.

Ski-U-Mah!
 

Lincoln Gopher:

I believe you that Omaha likes its hockey, but isn't Omaha also made up of almost 100% Husker supporters and/or alumni? If hockey fans in Omaha had the option of driving 30 minutes and supporting their beloved Huskers play hockey, or staying in Omaha and watching UNO, why not go watch the team you grew up rooting for in every other sport?

I agree with you that a BigXII conference is a longshot, I was just dreaming. And I see why UNL and Colorado don't invest in basketball, because it's tough for them to win recruiting battles against Kansas, Mizzou, Texas and OU. But the difference between basketball and hockey is that both UNL and Colorado could field some competitive hockey teams, very quickly, simply on the recruiting power of name recognition alone. Play for the Huskers or Buffs, or play for Mankato? I think I've made my decision.


Omaha Gopher:

I was aware of the arena, but my point was in response to why UN-L doesn't have a team, due to no facilities and no hockey culture in Lincoln. My point was that even if UN-Lincoln DID have new facilities and DID have a hockey culture, it still might not have a team. Why? Because it's a major university, and the current college hockey structure provides little incentive for major universities to join, while smaller universities have lots of incentives.

The schools I listed are MAJOR universities, WITH facilities, WITH hockey culture, that still don't have teams (Colorado, Pitt, Rutgers, etc), while the small schools down the street DO have teams (Colorado College). Why? What's stopping them? My theory is that MAJOR schools don't see a benefit from D1 hockey, because their only conference options are filled with non-traditional opponents, while SMALLER schools see D1 hockey as a unique way to raise their profile and play with the big boys, because the BCS conference structure doesn't exist.

How else do explain the bizarre fact that Penn State doesn't have a teams but Alabama-Huntsville does?

If someone else has a better theory as to what the hell is going on, I'm more then open to hearing it.

A Big 10 hockey conference would be a first step in providing a real incentive for Penn State, Illinois, maybe even Iowa and Northwestern to make the move.
 

The incentive would be if a school could make money by adding hockey, and most must not think they can. I would imagine hockey would be by far the most expensive non-revenue sport... so if there are no crowds, then there is no way you'll see a program.

This article does a good job of talking up the WCHA and why it is the place to be:

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/132339616
 

The incentive would be if a school could make money by adding hockey, and most must not think they can. I would imagine hockey would be by far the most expensive non-revenue sport... so if there are no crowds, then there is no way you'll see a program.

This article does a good job of talking up the WCHA and why it is the place to be: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/132339616


Thanks for the link.

You say "no crowds, no way you'll see a program" but then please explain how "American International" manages to field a D1 team that averaged 207 fans per game last year (yes, two hundred seven).

I think the most telling quote from that article is from Maturi: "And the great thing about college hockey is that where else in college sports can you have a Minnesota with a $74 million budget competing against a Colorado College with 2,000 students and a ($6 million) budget, and they can beat you?"
 

Lincoln Gopher:

I believe you that Omaha likes its hockey, but isn't Omaha also made up of almost 100% Husker supporters and/or alumni? If hockey fans in Omaha had the option of driving 30 minutes and supporting their beloved Huskers play hockey, or staying in Omaha and watching UNO, why not go watch the team you grew up rooting for in every other sport?

I agree with you that a BigXII conference is a longshot, I was just dreaming. And I see why UNL and Colorado don't invest in basketball, because it's tough for them to win recruiting battles against Kansas, Mizzou, Texas and OU. But the difference between basketball and hockey is that both UNL and Colorado could field some competitive hockey teams, very quickly, simply on the recruiting power of name recognition alone. Play for the Huskers or Buffs, or play for Mankato? I think I've made my decision.

The Husker fans from Omaha don't drive 45 miles to Lincoln for anything but football. They don't support Husker basketball or baseball. They support Creighton in basketball. It is amazing to me how many people in Omaha support Husker football and Creighton basketball. For something like this to happen at Nebraska, the athletic department and to have some interest and there is none. Its not that UNL and Colorado don't invest in basketball, it's that there is no fan interest, so they can't even make money on the sport. I do understand the point you are making about hockey, I just think that Nebraska is a terrible example of a school that should have hockey.
 

Thanks for the link.

You say "no crowds, no way you'll see a program" but then please explain how "American International" manages to field a D1 team that averaged 207 fans per game last year (yes, two hundred seven).

I think the most telling quote from that article is from Maturi: "And the great thing about college hockey is that where else in college sports can you have a Minnesota with a $74 million budget competing against a Colorado College with 2,000 students and a ($6 million) budget, and they can beat you?"

American International fields a D1 team because the rules allow them to...and it's probably their only D1 sport. Most college hockey teams are their school's only D1 sport. I believe there are only 13 schools that play D1 football, basketball, and hockey (Minnesota, Wisky, Mich, Mich St, tOSU, Notre Dame, BC, Uconn, Army, BGSU, Miami, Air Force, Western Michigan)... If you look at that list, most of those schools are mediocre in all of their sports at best.

For a big school, the incentive to add D1 hockey would only be to make money. Schools don't add non-revenue sports. The only school that I think may be able to add hockey and be really successful would be Penn State. But, as my link shows, their is nobody looking to break up the WCHA because it is the ultimate power and revenue conference.
 

American International fields a D1 team because the rules allow them to...and it's probably their only D1 sport. Most college hockey teams are their school's only D1 sport. I believe there are only 13 schools that play D1 football, basketball, and hockey (Minnesota, Wisky, Mich, Mich St, tOSU, Notre Dame, BC, Uconn, Army, BGSU, Miami, Air Force, Western Michigan)... If you look at that list, most of those schools are mediocre in all of their sports at best.

For a big school, the incentive to add D1 hockey would only be to make money. Schools don't add non-revenue sports. The only school that I think may be able to add hockey and be really successful would be Penn State. But, as my link shows, their is nobody looking to break up the WCHA because it is the ultimate power and revenue conference.

have to disagree. i would have to believe over time that schools such as illinois, penn state and perhaps even an iowa (i cringe) could field men's hockey programs that would be bigger revenue generators than existing sports they support such as: gymnastics, soccer, rowing, track & field, etc.
 

Illinois and Penn State have established club teams, but there's a big difference between fielding a competitive club team and generating revenue as a D1 sport. Without a TV deal or a big conference tournament, there is very little revenue in college hockey. If there was revenue, schools would have teams. The fact is that college hockey is popular in Minnesota, Michigan, and Massachusetts and has very little interest in the rest of the country. There are also Title IX issues to consider, which makes adding new sports a little more complicated.
 

Lincoln Gopher:

I believe you that Omaha likes its hockey, but isn't Omaha also made up of almost 100% Husker supporters and/or alumni? If hockey fans in Omaha had the option of driving 30 minutes and supporting their beloved Huskers play hockey, or staying in Omaha and watching UNO, why not go watch the team you grew up rooting for in every other sport?

I agree with you that a BigXII conference is a longshot, I was just dreaming. And I see why UNL and Colorado don't invest in basketball, because it's tough for them to win recruiting battles against Kansas, Mizzou, Texas and OU. But the difference between basketball and hockey is that both UNL and Colorado could field some competitive hockey teams, very quickly, simply on the recruiting power of name recognition alone. Play for the Huskers or Buffs, or play for Mankato? I think I've made my decision.

The Husker fans from Omaha don't drive 45 miles to Lincoln for anything but football. They don't support Husker basketball or baseball. They support Creighton in basketball. It is amazing to me how many people in Omaha support Husker football and Creighton basketball. For something like this to happen at Nebraska, the athletic department and to have some interest and there is none. Its not that UNL and Colorado don't invest in basketball, it's that there is no fan interest, so they can't even make money on the sport. I do understand the point you are making about hockey, I just think that Nebraska is a terrible example of a school that should have hockey.


I agree completely with you Lincoln Gopher and then throw in the fact that Omaha and Lincoln have a heated competitition with one another for everything, whether it be the university, high school state championships, etc. I know that John Breslow had talked about throwing in several million towards an ice arena attached to the proposed new basketball arena in the Haymarket district of Lincoln, but we will see if they can actually get the funding for the new basketball facility first. I think atleast at this time it makes sense for UNO to be the only hockey team in Nebraska as they already have one of the nicest arenas around in the new Qwest Center and would be self destructive for the University of Nebraska system to put a team in Lincoln to compete for the fans of the state against one of their own schools. You have to throw UNO a bone on something that they don't have to compete again UNL on to give them a chance.
 

Omega, I hate to rip your posts, but I think you're off on pretty much everything.


American International fields a D1 team because the rules allow them to...and it's probably their only D1 sport.

Before you said "with no crowds, no way you'll see a program." So big schools need crowds, but small schools don't? American International averaged 207 (two hundred seven) fans per game last year and 173 fans/game the previous year.

Here are some random teams attendance figures (finding club attendance is difficult, but I think Penn State and Illinois both average anywhere from 1 to 3 thousand based on some articles out there)

CLUB TEAMS:
-East Carolina (400/game) http://www.ecuicehockey.com/recruits.php
-Missouri State (800/game) http://missouristatehockey.com/history.php
DIVISION II TEAMS:
St. Thomas (586/game)

What if St. Thomas wants to join the WCHA? Or maybe Hamline, or Carleton? No crazier than Bemidji State or Moorhead, and certainly much more local interest. Big 10 conference would be our ticket of that mess.


Most college hockey teams are their school's only D1 sport.

Incorrect. There are 58 D-1 hockey teams. At least 34 play D-1 basketball (and likely more D1 sports).

(Air Force, Army, UConn, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, Ohio State, Western Michigan, Michigan State, Bowling Green, Niagara, Robert Morris, Yale, Cornell , Princeton, Dartmouth, Harvard, Quinnipiac, Colgate, Brown, Boston University, Northeastern, New Hampshire, Vermont, Boston College, UMass, Maine, Providence, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Denver, and soon North Dakota)


I believe there are only 13 schools that play D1 football, basketball, and hockey Minnesota, Wisky, Mich, Mich St, tOSU, Notre Dame, BC, Uconn, Army, BGSU, Miami, Air Force, Western Michigan... If you look at that list, most of those schools are mediocre in all of their sports at best.

??? Who's mediocre in "all their sports"? Maybe W. Michigan and a couple others, but Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, UConn, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Boston College, are not. If that's what you meant, it's incorrect.


Illinois and Penn State have established club teams, but there's a big difference between fielding a competitive club team and generating revenue as a D1 sport.

Penn State and Illinois are more popular as club teams than quite a few current D1 programs, and would be very attractive to conferencs. IIRC, Penn State and Illinois currently average MUCH more than American-International's 207 (perhaps as much as 2 or 3 thousand). Someone posted here earlier that his Illini friend told him club hockey is the 3rd or 4th most popular sport on campus.


The fact is that college hockey is popular in Minnesota, Michigan, and Massachusetts and has very little interest in the rest of the country.

Somewhat true, but that doesn't explain why American-International--in MASSACHUSETTS--averages a pathertic 207 (two hundred seven) fans per game.....while Alabama-Huntsville, which doesn't even play D1 basketball, averages 2,600 fans/game which is more than Air Force, Michigan Tech, Bemidji, UConn, and a bunch of others.


There are also Title IX issues to consider, which makes adding new sports a little more complicated.

No dice. American International and Sacred Heart have the same Title IX obligations as Penn State and Illinois, with even smaller budgets and worse attendance.
 

I got this off the Navy website... they approved funding for a hockey arena a few years ago:

Ask the AD -- Ice Hockey
Q: An April 8, 2004 article on USCHO.com mentioned the Naval Academy recently received funding for a new hockey arena. This appears to be a big step in the direction of hockey becoming a varsity sport at the Naval Academy. In a previous response to a similar question, you said "...the two biggest hurdles we have to cross are finding appropriate resources and an adequate facility." With the facility problem out of the way, what else stands in the way? Is there a possibility of fielding an NCAA Division I hockey team for the 2005-06 season? I would be interested in any information you can give me on your progress. Thank you. - asked by: Lance Wheeler -

A: Lance, the biggest hurdle we have is generating the annual resources necessary to sustain a competitive Division I hockey program. The operating budget can be close to half-a-million dollars for travel, uniforms, equipment, staff, supplies, and other related expenses. One thing we don't want to do is field a varsity team without a chance to succeed.

I'm not into doing anything half way, and supporting 30 programs at this time is a real stretch on our resources. Taking on the addition of ice hockey would be another stretch, and the money would have to come from existing allocations. Unless we can find a way to generate supplemental funding in a realistic and legitimate way, we're going to have to continue to study ice hockey as a potential varsity sport. I am, however, ambitiously approaching this project in hopes that varsity status could become a reality somewhere down the road.


The AD's answer explains everything... It's all about MONEY.

http://www.navysports.com/ot/ask-the-ad-ice-hockey.html
 

The AD's answer explains everything... It's all about MONEY.


Somehow Sacred Heart, Holy Cross and American International find the cash.....and their athletic budgets have got to be tiny compared to Navy's. So it looks to be really more about PRIORITIES than money.

D1 hockey seems to be a PRIORITY for more small schools than large schools, due to reasons talked about elsewhere.
 

I think a Big10 (and later Big East) conference would be the best thing ever for college hockey.

A Big East conference would be fantastic......your members would be Notre Dame and????????

I can't wait for the Big XII conference would get fired up as well. And hopefully the SEC will follow suit. I can't wait to watch their brand of hockey with all the SEC speed & athletes.

I will say this only once: a Big Ten hockey conference would be one of the WORST things that could happen to college hockey. I only say "one of the worst" instead of "the worst" so I'm able to leave the door open for such suggestions as "unleash tigers in the rink during the 2nd period" and "change from using a puck to a beach ball."

North Dakota hockey is a bigger rival to Minnesota than anything Ohio State or Michigan State could ever dream of being in any sport, regardless of Big Ten affliation.
 

A Big East conference would be fantastic......your members would be Notre Dame and????????

What, you can't remember the other 2 Big East members that already have teams???????

3 Big East members already have teams (Notre Dame, UConn and Providence)
5 are in big hockey towns already (Syracuse, Pitt, Villanova, Rutgers, St. Johns)
1 (Marquette) would be good fit. You think their alumni wouldn't love playing UW?

That's 9, and 6 would be probably enough for a conference, seeing as how the CHA only had 4 members in their conference this year.

If Providence has a team, why is it so hard to imagine Georgetown (10), Cincy (11), Depaul in Chicago (12) or Seton Hall in New Jersey (13)?

I can't wait for the Big XII conference would get fired up as well.

The BigXII North isn't totally crazy, but would take time.

Iowa State (1) has already been pushing to go D1. (see link) http://iowastate.scout.com/2/600303.html
Colorado (2) has no excuse not to have a team (CC and Denver next door & Colorodo State looking to do D1)
Mizzou (3) is close to St. Louis (big hockey town)
Kansas (4) (Kansas City market)
K State (5) (Kansas City market)
Nebraska (6) (discussed previously with Omaha having a team)


And hopefully the SEC will follow suit. I can't wait to watch their brand of hockey with all the SEC speed & athletes.

What's your point? Alabama-Huntsville has a D1 team, wouldn't you rather watch the Gophers play the Crimson Tide than some school from Huntsville?


will say this only once: a Big Ten hockey conference would be one of the WORST things that could happen to college hockey.

Only if you're a Mankato or St. Clown fan.
 




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