Always thought of Oakland as a potential natural hockey school. The Detroit Red Wings apparently do too. No timing on the addition yet and no league yet. There is no DI womens program now in Michigan.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/...106716122/

There was also an announcement that the NHL will perform a feasibility study for Oakland.

http://www.nhl.com/news/ncaa-feasibilty-...-291981750

So Illinois and Oakland are the first two of five. Expecting Pitt, Lindenwood and maybe UNLV or Buffalo.

Good addition!

(10-16-2017 05:24 PM)BePcr07 Wrote:  Good addition!

They haven't added it yet. They are talking a new arena on campus which is a lot of cost. Wayne St dropped both M/W hockey largely because they didn't have a home rink and their rentals were too small or too large. A league was also a problem.

Oakland women would be accepted into the CHA almost immediately, but the men would not have a natural conference spot.

I always thought Oakland would bring in football first. They would be the first Michigan school to have that sport in FCS which could lead for the top D2 Michigan football schools to move up. Oakland do have a club football team that won the championship in their first or second year in existence.
Oakland could join the WCHA with Michigan Tech, Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan. Could have a new football FCS conference with a balance of Michigan schools from these schools.

(10-16-2017 05:30 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(10-16-2017 05:24 PM)BePcr07 Wrote:  Good addition!

They haven't added it yet. They are talking a new arena on campus which is a lot of cost. Wayne St dropped both M/W hockey largely because they didn't have a home rink and their rentals were too small or too large. A league was also a problem.

Oakland women would be accepted into the CHA almost immediately, but the men would not have a natural conference spot.

Oh okay. I misread. But northern midwestern schools are likely good schools to add hockey.

(10-17-2017 03:27 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  I always thought Oakland would bring in football first. They would be the first Michigan school to have that sport in FCS which could lead for the top D2 Michigan football schools to move up. Oakland do have a club football team that won the championship in their first or second year in existence.
Oakland could join the WCHA with Michigan Tech, Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan. Could have a new football FCS conference with a balance of Michigan schools from these schools.

Oakland doesn't want to tangle with EMU football, which is all the rage in Detroit.

A new CCHA would have to form. Bowling Green wants out of the WCHA badly and may be some Atlantic Hockey schools in the Great Lakes region like Robert Morris, Canisius and Niagara could be enticed too. Have to think Buffalo will get a study too, maybe Pitt.

USA Today says Oakland has been pondering hockey for a while. At least hockey can have future NHL stars as a normal. FCS there won't..

It will be interesting to see. Unlike Illinois, Oakland doesn't have the financial resources of a P5 athletic department or a large pool of potential high net worth alumni donors (at least on paper). The Illinois goal would be to mirror Penn State (both in terms of success on-the-ice and off-the-ice), which would be unrealistic for a school like Oakland. On the flip side, though, Oakland is located in the middle of a wealthy suburban area with an existing high level of youth hockey participation, which means that an ice arena can be financially viable (once again, at least on paper) by renting ice time out to youth teams and programs (which is always in high demand in areas like suburban Detroit) as opposed to being more of a sunk cost. (There's a definite need for a new ice arena in the Champaign-Urbana area from a community perspective regardless of whether Illinois adds D-1 hockey, but it still wouldn't get the usage that one in the middle of Oakland County would instantly receive.)

I think the other question is what is/are the best women's sport(s) to add in order to balance out the addition of a men's hockey team. When a school like North Dakota can't support women's hockey, that's not a great sign for its viability as an additional sport. It seems like women's lacrosse and beach volleyball (which has the potential advantage of doubling up on participation numbers with crossover players from an indoor volleyball program and if Nebraska can have a beach volleyball team with its location, *anyone* can have a beach volleyball team) are the most cost effective growth sports to add from a Title IX compliance perspective.

(10-17-2017 03:27 AM)DavidSt Wrote:  I always thought Oakland would bring in football first. They would be the first Michigan school to have that sport in FCS which could lead for the top D2 Michigan football schools to move up. Oakland do have a club football team that won the championship in their first or second year in existence.
Oakland could join the WCHA with Michigan Tech, Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan. Could have a new football FCS conference with a balance of Michigan schools from these schools.

Once again David tries to hijack another thread.

(10-17-2017 08:58 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  It will be interesting to see. Unlike Illinois, Oakland doesn't have the financial resources of a P5 athletic department or a large pool of potential high net worth alumni donors (at least on paper). The Illinois goal would be to mirror Penn State (both in terms of success on-the-ice and off-the-ice), which would be unrealistic for a school like Oakland. On the flip side, though, Oakland is located in the middle of a wealthy suburban area with an existing high level of youth hockey participation, which means that an ice arena can be financially viable (once again, at least on paper) by renting ice time out to youth teams and programs (which is always in high demand in areas like suburban Detroit) as opposed to being more of a sunk cost. (There's a definite need for a new ice arena in the Champaign-Urbana area from a community perspective regardless of whether Illinois adds D-1 hockey, but it still wouldn't get the usage that one in the middle of Oakland County would instantly receive.)

I think the other question is what is/are the best women's sport(s) to add in order to balance out the addition of a men's hockey team. When a school like North Dakota can't support women's hockey, that's not a great sign for its viability as an additional sport. It seems like women's lacrosse and beach volleyball (which has the potential advantage of doubling up on participation numbers with crossover players from an indoor volleyball program and if Nebraska can have a beach volleyball team with its location, *anyone* can have a beach volleyball team) are the most cost effective growth sports to add from a Title IX compliance perspective.

See a 4k on campus arena being sufficient for Oakland, but Illinois needing 6-8 k. But Champaign seems to have developers that are interested both downtown and on campus.

A big issue for Oakland that Illinois doesn't have is a conference. Bowling Green would jump, but not sure that Miami or WMU would go for a new CCHA unless a big player like Pitt or Syracuse jumped in too.

The most likely scenario if Oakland fields men's hockey is joining the WCHA with the boatload of Michigan schools already there, at least to start. To reconstitute the CCHA, you'd need more than one new program in the region - either Kent State or Buffalo, or possibly both, in addition to Oakland - to get the Michigan schools plus Bowling Green on board. I have a really hard time believing anyone currently in the NCHC would leave that conference to join this hypothetical CCHA revival; it would be a huge step down. The only way I think that changes is if the MAC reaches critical mass for its own hockey championship, which it isn't at all close to.

Will be interested to see who the remaining schools in the feasibility study are. I really, really hope UNLV is one, not just because of the momentum the sport has in that market, but because it would potentially accelerate the growth of the sport out west.

(10-21-2017 01:08 AM)Mister Consistency Wrote:  To reconstitute the CCHA, you'd need more than one new program in the region - either Kent State or Buffalo, or possibly both, in addition to Oakland - to get the Michigan schools plus Bowling Green on board.

Make that Buffalo, then ... if Kent State were to add a Men's sport, it seems a heck of a lot more likely to be Lacrosse, unless an alumni writes them a check to build a hockey arena & endow a chunk of hockey scholarships.

A reconstituted CCHA will be BGSU, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Canisius, Nigara and whoever starts hockey that is close to Lake Erie.

The DII GLIAC schools need to stick together, but wont be invited to a new CCHA.

UNLV and Utah have nearby rinks that would be acceptable, but they still need hockey endowments. Still waiting for an Ariz St arena announcement.

Having grown up in Oakland County Michigan, I think that hockey at Oakland University could also draw Michigan and Michigan State hockey fans. Oakland County is a HUGE source of alumni and students for both schools. If i were home and they were playing hockey i would definitely go to a game. I also think that some of the big local highschools will use the arena.

UB just cut soccer. Doubt they'll start hockey.

(10-21-2017 08:53 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  UB just cut soccer. Doubt they'll start hockey.

The Bulls cut baseball, m soccer, m swmiming, and w rowing to get rid of the burden of non revenue sports under the guise of budget cuts.

They are in a world class recruiting area for M/W hockey and m/w lacrosse. It's practically criminal that Buffalo doesn't sponsor those sports and I think the earlier cuts were a prelude to adding them. It makes perfect business sense as they would be potential national champs in all four. The MAC required them to start baseball which was so wrong.

Mike McMahon of College Hockey News has tweeted that two more schools are undergoing NHL sponsored feasibility studies anonymously. Up to eight to ten more schools might also study it, and the NHL is looking to expand the funding beyond five studies.

(10-17-2017 08:58 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  It will be interesting to see. Unlike Illinois, Oakland doesn't have the financial resources of a P5 athletic department or a large pool of potential high net worth alumni donors (at least on paper). The Illinois goal would be to mirror Penn State (both in terms of success on-the-ice and off-the-ice), which would be unrealistic for a school like Oakland. On the flip side, though, Oakland is located in the middle of a wealthy suburban area with an existing high level of youth hockey participation, which means that an ice arena can be financially viable (once again, at least on paper) by renting ice time out to youth teams and programs (which is always in high demand in areas like suburban Detroit) as opposed to being more of a sunk cost. (There's a definite need for a new ice arena in the Champaign-Urbana area from a community perspective regardless of whether Illinois adds D-1 hockey, but it still wouldn't get the usage that one in the middle of Oakland County would instantly receive.)

I think the other question is what is/are the best women's sport(s) to add in order to balance out the addition of a men's hockey team. When a school like North Dakota can't support women's hockey, that's not a great sign for its viability as an additional sport. It seems like women's lacrosse and beach volleyball (which has the potential advantage of doubling up on participation numbers with crossover players from an indoor volleyball program and if Nebraska can have a beach volleyball team with its location, *anyone* can have a beach volleyball team) are the most cost effective growth sports to add from a Title IX compliance perspective.

If you're trying to add a women's sport as cheaply as possible, bowling. You don't need a dedicated facility (most any alley will suffice) and equipment costs are pretty cheap (balls, shoes and shirts).