3 things:
1)You're forgetting the CCHA is considering letting UNO in. Which would make
this almost moot, since the CCHA would have 12 teams, WCHA letting in MSU
would give them 10. This is probably the most likely of all plans (with a
probability of what, 10%?), but no one really knows for sure what the hell
is gonna happen
 
2) assuming this plan does happen, I'm curious, who's to say the new western
conference would want to add otehr emerging programs? Hell teh WCHA doesn't
want to add any, in this plan the CCHA probably wouldn't either, so if those
2 conferences can tell teams they're SOL, why can't the NWC. Bitterness has
a tendancy to spread.
 
3) and finally, I don't like any plan that would give a new conference a
birth in another conference's tourny. It's one thing to give an independant
who has no post season tourny a playoff birth, but another when you have a
seperate conference asking for a birth.  That's like saying upfront "we're
not good enough to be considered your equal, so thanks alot for letting us
small worhtless shcools gain a 10 and 9 seed in your tourny where we have no
chance of winning it." Hell no, any conference who wanted to be respected
would never agree to that. I don't exactly see mid-major conferences like
the Missouri Valley asking for spots in the Big 12 basketball tourny.
 
________________________________________________________________________________
>> WCHA (8 teams)         CCHA (10 teams)        New Western Conference (NWC)
>>
>> North Dakota           Michigan               Neb-Omaha
>> Minnesota              Michigan State         Mankato State
>> Wisconsin              Ferris State           Bemidji State
>> St. Cloud              Western Michigan       Alaska-Anchorage
>> Michigan Tech          Northern Michigan      Alaska-Fairbanks
>> Denver                 Ohio State             Air Force (?)
>> Colorado College       Lake Superior State    Other Emerging Programs (?)
>> Minn-Duluth            Bowling Green
>>                        Notre Dame
>>                        Miami (OH)
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.