Bill Fenwick writes:

> I was being facetious about the Ivy auto-bid; fact is, if the ECAC were to
> split in two, it might be a long time before either new conference would gain
> an autobid.  The MAAC and CHA had to wait only two years, but I believe the
> NCAA now has a rule in place stating that newly-formed conferences won't be
> eligible for an autobid for something like eight years.  (As I recall, there
> was some concern that the CHA was going to be affected by this rule, due to the
> status of Findlay as for-real Div. I or not)


I think this means that we won't see any more leagues (e.g., the long-rumored
Big Ten league) established in the forseeable future.  The number of autobids
is effectively capped at six.  This should present an incentive for league
jumping in pursuit of autobids.  Northern Michigan, for example, jumped from
the CCHA to the WCHA and back again.  The CCHA autobid seems unavailable to
them due to the continuing dominance of Michigan and Michigan State.  Wouldn't
a jump to the CHA be a good move?

-- Erik