A couple of thoughts on schedules:
 
    - a balanced schedule is best
 
    - if using divisions within the conference, the divisions should be
      meaningful: winning the division should be worth something. So
      there should be more division games than non-division games. But
      not *too many* more, or (as has been pointed out), the records
      can be very distorted.
 
    - Teams in the WCHA really like the two-game series format. Nearby
      teams (CC and Denver, MTU and Northern Michigan) have been known
      to play home-and-home on consecutive nights.  I don't know what
      fans and teams think about that.
 
    - With the vast distances in the WCHA, travel partners and next-day
      or even friday-sunday games may not be practical.  Not to mention
      the ticket headaches at places like Wisconsin (which sell SERIES
      not season tickets due to high demand).
 
I started typing in part of the WCHA history here, but it is long
and will be in a separate message.
 
        --david