(07-29-2013 09:59 PM)chargeradio Wrote: If the WAC wants hockey, it will probably have to go through the NCHC. Getting Denver back will be the toughest part given their remarks on the way out the door. The Mountain West or American would need to make Air Force a football-only member. North Dakota would need a home for its FCS football program. Omaha would probably just need assurance it has a home for hockey.
Once you have those four, Colorado College, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota-Duluth probably fall in line and effectively kill the NCHC. The only question is who is number eight (if not nine and ten).
The conference that could start sponsoring hockey next year is the Ivy League, which has six of the 12 members of the ECAC Hockey League.
Conferences that are actually closer than the WAC to pulling it off are America East (UMass-Lowell, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine) and the Patriot League (Boston University, Army, Colgate, Holy Cross).
If EIU is moving up soon, the best geographic fit is the NCHC, but Hockey East or Atlantic Hockey may be the only ones willing to look at a new program.
The hockey conference demarcation lines are often more historical and local support-based than for conference basketball/football alignments.
America East hockey schools aren't going to pull themselves out of Hockey East, with BC, BU, and now Notre Dame and UConn. The Patriot League hockey conference would be the are equivalent to a group of FBS, FCS, and non-scholly football schools banding together: not happening.
Miami (O) and W Mich didn't want to stay with the remains of the CCHA, because most of those schools lack hockey budgets, facilities, and are mainly DII schools that were powers in a bygone era. Miami (O) especially had developed into a national power and didn't want to lose that momentum.
If a new league forms, think it would come from a split from Atlantic Hockey (Robert Morris, Mercyhurst, Canisius, Niagara) joining with Bowling Green, Ferris St and maybe UAH. (There was talk of this a couple of years ago when Buffalo was evaluating DI hockey, but their AD moved on to UConn where he upgraded that program to a higher level). Miami and W Mich could join that too if the NCHC moves in a direction not to their liking. Atlantic Hockey could respond by adding St Anselms (DII in NH), plus URI, and maybe Navy and Liberty.
The good thing about the change in conference structures is that hockey can actually grow again. When the WCHA, CCHA, ECAC, Atlantic Hockey, and Hockey East were essentially full, there wasn't any conference openings for schools wanting DI hockey.