In regards to Clarkson's (and most likely other team's) scheduling of
non-league opponents, the majority of the schedule is hammered out a
year in advance.  So it is kind of hard to predict which team is
going to be good next year.  Clarkson and Saint Lawrence have had
rotating agreements with Northeastern, Lowell, BC, BU, UNH and the
Syracuse and Dexter Tournaments.  BU pulled out this year while BC
came up here.  BU went to play RPI and another ECAC, missing two of
the top four ECAC teams.  It looks like BU opted for an easier
schedule.  As for Concordia, I'm pretty sure that Clarkson has played
them every other (at least) for a long while, 9 years or more.  Since
Concordia is a Canadian team, and doesn't figure into TCHCR or the NC#^
seeding, what's the big deal?  The two schools have established a
series and it shouldn't be dropped just because Concordia isn't good
enough for some people.  Is there going to be more declarations of
schedule padding when Clarkson plays the SIT because Ohio State and
Army are going to be there?  Actually, I don't think Clarkson has any
say in who gets invited to that (or the Dexter) tournament.  Who does?
The host team?  I do believe that strength of schedule is important,
but teams should not go searching around for the best teams to play,
especiallywhen a repertoire has been established.  Also, what will
the lower teams do when no one schedules a game against them, and
how does one expect them to have any motivation to improve?  Too
bad Clarkson can't take the three worst teams in Div I and go to
Hawaii and have a tournament just like Georgetown does in basket-
ball. :-)
 
Mike Zak
Clarkson '87, '91, '92