(06-30-2019 10:11 AM)CoastalVANDAL Wrote:  Looks like combining the two schools like LIU and UTRG did makes sense.
Keeping everything but hockey in Anchorage and placing hockey in Fairbanks would work.
The PAA center holds 1300 and can be expanded according to fans.

What makes a merger appealing in a "one gets hockey, the other gets BBall" deal is that a school needs 5/5 or 4/6 M/W sports in Division II. Division I Men's Hockey in Fairbanks with Division I Skiiing, and Division I Gymnastics in Anchorage with Division II Basketball, Track & Cross Country and Women's Volleyball and as a single institution for sports purposes, you've got 6/6.

One thing about the approach that the 7 WCHA schools are taking is that if they are willing to make one long conference trip every year, but not three, this process puts them in a position to audition one of the three "long trip" schools for that spot.

A process of voting schools out doesn't put you in good position to have an audition between them for one spot ... but we've seen from a number of conference "audition" processes how easy it is to organize an audition for an open spot.

On conference performance, Fairbanks was 12-14, UAH was 8-18 and Anchorage was 2-23, so Fairbanks would have the inside track.