I know it's the B1G, but a 6 team league?

Otis

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I almost think the B1G should lose it's automatic berth in the tournament. The WCHA was so much deeper and harder to win. I really get no sense of pride in winning the B1G in hockey. It's basically us vs. Wisconsin.
 

I agree that the WCHA was better than the current B1G but we add Notre Dame next year, a decent team. We have 4 of the 6 ranked in the top 18 and Notre Dame is also ranked. The B1G will get better and hopefully expand more but I agree that now the WCHA is better.
 

I almost think the B1G should lose it's automatic berth in the tournament. The WCHA was so much deeper and harder to win. I really get no sense of pride in winning the B1G in hockey. It's basically us vs. Wisconsin.

You're forgetting we're Gopher fans who are forever cursed. Any setup that allows us 4 straight titles is a good thing that shouldn't be changed...

That said, I miss the WCHA and I hate the Big Ten Conference.

But not as much as I hate listening to Clymer.
 

You're forgetting we're Gopher fans who are forever cursed. Any setup that allows us 4 straight titles is a good thing that shouldn't be changed...

That said, I miss the WCHA and I hate the Big Ten Conference.

But not as much as I hate listening to Clymer.

I like Clymer
 

I almost think the B1G should lose it's automatic berth in the tournament. The WCHA was so much deeper and harder to win. I really get no sense of pride in winning the B1G in hockey. It's basically us vs. Wisconsin.

ok? It's going to be the Gophers vs whoever is good that year. It is what it is. Keep in mind Ohio State beat Denver this year, the Gophers and Spartans beat UND, and the conference is number 2 in win % in interconference record with the only losing record vs the NCHC (which the Gophers had a big hand in losing twice to St Cloud and to UMD). The conference is improving and will get better due to the resources. Yes I agree that the old WCHA was better, but this is college hockey now and I'd rather make the best of it than bitch about the old days.
 


IMO they need to get to 8 teams pronto. Notre Dame is a good add, hopefully another existing B1G school will step up and get it done. Penn State was able to build a solid program in figuratively no time, I imagine if an Illinois or Rutgers or Maryland had a cash infusion and the will to do it they could as well.

Once you're at eight, you don't need the majority of your conference to have great years to feel like it's competitive. IMO, the conference needs at least three top teams every year to make it feel like a major player. To date, it has usually been one or two, and it'd be that much easier with the addition of two cash-healthy programs.
 

IMO they need to get to 8 teams pronto. Notre Dame is a good add, hopefully another existing B1G school will step up and get it done. Penn State was able to build a solid program in figuratively no time, I imagine if an Illinois or Rutgers or Maryland had a cash infusion and the will to do it they could as well.

Once you're at eight, you don't need the majority of your conference to have great years to feel like it's competitive. IMO, the conference needs at least three top teams every year to make it feel like a major player. To date, it has usually been one or two, and it'd be that much easier with the addition of two cash-healthy programs.

I still feel that if they can make an exception for Notre Dame and their politically incorrect leprechaun, they should be able to make room for The North Dakota Fighting Sioux!
 

I still feel that if they can make an exception for Notre Dame and their politically incorrect leprechaun, they should be able to make room for The North Dakota Fighting Sioux!

Lol no. Just no. I'll stick with scheduling them for a home and home.
 

B1G Conf Members through history

23 Natl Titles and 64 Frozen Fours.

Michigan = 9 Titles and 24 Frozen Fours
Minnesota = 5 Titles and 21 Frozen Fours
Wisconsin = 6 Titles and 9 Frozen Fours
Michigan St = 3 Titles and 9 Frozen Fours
Ohio St = 0 Titles and 1 Frozen Four
Penn St = 0 Titles.


And with as well as OSU is playing this year, and with how quickly PSU has built up a winning program, even with just 6 teams, the B1G is a very formidable league.



There is an outside shot of 4 B1G teams out of 6 getting into the tourney this season.


But I do agree that another 2 teams would help a lot towards making it easier for 3 or 4 teams to regularly get into the tourney.



Was the WCHA of old kick arse? Totally. And I probably preferred it, but honestly, change was bound to happen and for the growth of college hockey, were almost required, and that growth could only really have happened with big money schools, like B1G schools, and since PSU started up, we've since got Arizona St started up now, but are schools with the funds to fully support hockey, and with what we see having happened as quickly as it has with PSU, other schools like Arizona St may be encouraged to follow suit.

But one problem that the formation of the B1G solved, is that there were seasons when really good WCHA teams got left out of the tourney because there were just too many good WCHA teams and they beat each other up.

So what the creation of the B1G conf did, along with the end of the CCHA and the creation of the NCHC, is it effectively spread out the wealth of the former WCHA into 3 different conferences, the B1G, the NCHC and the now weakened WCHA.

But I know that few chk fans care about that, they are pissed about the storied rivalries that no longer get played each and every season. I understand this. So the conference matchups may have suffered, but the end of season NCAA tournament fields should be stronger because of this.


And the only teams I can see that would work in the B1G conf, right now, would be Notre Dame unfortunately. I hate the idea of ND joining the B1G, but under the circumstances I guess it is the only option. After ND, I honestly think Arizona St might work the best? Unless a school like Illinois somehow comes up with the cash to give it a go, but I just don't see it happening.


So there are so many of you out there who hate the B1G and loved the old WCHA, well, that is the way of the world, things have to evolve and change over time, adapt or they won't survive in the long term, and I personally think that the B1G was the best thing that could have happened to college hockey, and I hope I'm not wrong because its something that we are stuck with now.
 



take this with a grain of salt, but hearing rumblings that BIG money talks, and it is currently talking to the North Dakota Fighting Hawks to join in 2018.

IF it happens, i might actually be a fan of the BIG hockey conference.
 

UND would love nothing more than to come into our new conference which was supposed to faze them put and win it. Would be very interesting to say the least.
 

Adding UND and UMD would be awesome!
 

I am hearing UND is priority numero uno, with duluth being a fall back option.
 



Hi All,

I've never been a fan of the idea of UND to the Big Ten, but I am starting to warm to the idea. After the WCHA changed, I really liked the NCHC. It has been a great conference, with plenty of competition. I think there were a lot of jokes being thrown towards the Big Ten because of a few of the perennial powers have a down year or two (Not bad years, but certainly not as dominant as we are used to). We all knew that those teams were going to bounce back. MN is way too historic of a program to not be dominant (playing very well this year). Wisconsin needed to drop Eaves (they are on the right track). Michigan had a great season last year, but lost a lot of talent.

If UND does make the move, I just hope we continue to schedule annual non-conference games with Denver, and possibly SCSU or Duluth (maybe alternating years). If UND can keep a few of those rivalry games, and add some of their bigger rivals (MN and WI) in conference games, I would probably enjoy seeing UND in the Big Ten.

Not sure if this offer will actually happen, but UND would certainly have to look at the offer if it does. The move could certainly benefit everyone involved. UND would bring a hockey program that is consistently strong, and top notch facilities. The Big Ten would align UND with some big strong schools, which is never a bad thing. Especially if UND gets some additional revenue from the Big Ten. I like the NCHC, but if we made the move to Big Ten, I'd hardly be upset. It will be interesting to see what happens.
 

Question for gopher fans, when your games are not broadcast on Big Ten Network or Fox Sports North, are all other games available on the Big Ten App? I assume that is available on Roku?

We currently get some games on CBS Sports or Fox College Sports, but all other games are on the NCHC app, which has been awesome. I would assume there would be no step back in terms of streaming capability in the Big Ten.
 

Well, the WCHA fan in me loves the idea of Notre Dame and either UND or UMD being in the same conference with the Gophers. And either combo will really strengthen the conference, possibly making the B1G the #1 conference in mens chk.


But the geek and B1G fan in me, feels a little uncomfortable with the lowering of academic standards. If UND had NDSU's fb program, I could see the potential for the state, with all of its new oil money and growth, to get behind the school and for the school to then make a push to improve their research rankings and funding in an effort to join the B1G in every sport and academically, etc..

Geographically a North Dakota school would make sense, but not sure it would add much of a media footprint?


If the conference ever does go to 16 teams, who else would fit the bill? The only schools I can think of with the potential and who would want to join the B1G, would be Boston College or Boston University, though not sure if BU even has fb?, and UConn. UConn has hockey, INCREDIBLE basketball, crappy fb, and is weak in the area of academics and research. BC has a great media footprint with decent athletics, but not sure if their academics and research cut the mustard or not? But I am sure they could work on that. Also not sure if BC would want to leave the ACC?

BU probably has the best academics and research of them all, and would probably jump at the opportunity, but their sports are not good.


Any thoughts?
 

I could see Kaler pushing for UMD. He would be president of 25% of the conference schools for hockey.
 

As a UMD fan, I think if UND left for the B1G, UMD would probably be really interested in following. The likelihood that they would be accepted probably isn't that high though.
 

take this with a grain of salt, but hearing rumblings that BIG money talks, and it is currently talking to the North Dakota Fighting Hawks to join in 2018.

IF it happens, i might actually be a fan of the BIG hockey conference.

Please God let this be true. It would make the conference so much better.

Is there any possibility that the Big Ten could eventually add two more teams to get to ten for hockey and add Duluth and St. Cloud as well? That IMO would make the conference better than the old WCHA.
 

Not having Denver and CC in the B1G would still keep it below the old WCHA in my opinion, but you can easily make the argument that Michigan, Ohio State and PSU easily are improvements over Lake Superior State, Anchorage.
 

I forgot to mention that Arizona St was mentioned awhile back as a possibility.


If the conference had serious plans of expanding to 10 teams, with Notre Dame getting them to 7, that leaves 3 spots, and I just can't see the B1G being open to having 40% of the conference being schools that will never become a part of the B1G in all sports. But I guess if enough money is involved, its a possibility.


So who would be the 3 most likely schools in my opinion? In no particular order, here are the schools I think are possibilities

UND, UMD, Arizona St, Illinois, Rutgers, Nebraska, Boston College, Boston Univ, UConn, SCSU & Mankato.


I'd guess that UND will be the #1 target for the 8th team.

UMD seems to Gopher hk diehard fans to be a natural option, but what other than hockey do they have to offer?

I listed Illinois and Rutgers because both used to have hockey. I listed Nebraska because they've been mentioned in the past because of having a natural rival and also having facilities and built in fan base potential.

I listed Arizona St because they need a home and they have been mentioned before.

I listed BC, BU and UConn because my personal, uneducated opinion feeling is that these are schools that could eventually become full on members of the B1G conference in all sports, and that has to be something B1G officials are considering, to strengthen the value of the BTN and their strength in the area of academics and research as well, where the big money really comes into play.

Arizona St is already in a decent conference and I don't see them wanting to move to the B1G, especially with the major travel issues it would create. So they would only be a hockey only addition, so why not bring in UMD if getting another hockey team is the only goal, but if they already are at 8 and need 2 more, then I suppose Ariz St could be the 10th team brought in, if SCSU or Mankato are not seen as adding more of a footprint and all they want is to fill up the ten spots with legit hockey programs that will add to the value of the BTN.

UMD will add a high quality and successful hockey team to the league and would make the league stronger. Arizona St would help expand the B1G footprint, and is a program that will try to do the same thing PSU did, and the warmer climate schools that tried hockey in the past succeeded in drawing northern hockey players who liked the idea of going somewhere warm to play their hockey. So they could quickly add another very strong team to the league.


If they want to focus on schools that will end up playing every sport in the B1G, then I think the combo of UConn and one of the Boston Schools is the only combo that would make sense, unless UND is seen as a legit possibility in the future? Then UND-UConn would work since there just seems to be too many obstacles in the way of getting one of the boston schools on board. And if they go with UND-UConn, then I'd see UMD or Arizona St as the 10th team.


One last idea could be bringing in a 3 team combo of UConn-UND-and a boston school with the idea that in time the 2 schools that show the biggest effort to make themselves B1G conf worthy would end up as the 15th and 16th teams let into the B1G as a full member?
 

I agree that the WCHA was better than the current B1G but we add Notre Dame next year, a decent team. We have 4 of the 6 ranked in the top 18 and Notre Dame is also ranked. The B1G will get better and hopefully expand more but I agree that now the WCHA is better.

I'd like to see them add BC and BU. Make a east vs. west. PennSt.,OhioSt., BC, BU, and ND vs. MN,MI,Mich St.,WI and NoDak. That would be some fun hockey
 




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