On Mon, 25 Jul 1994, Mike Machnik wrote:
 
> It does seem like Point has not played many DivI teams.  It has been
> a while (1990-91) since they played a DivI team (independent Notre
> Dame, a split) and going back through 1986-87, UWSP has never played a
> DivI conference team.  I wonder whether it is Point that does not want
> to play those games or that other teams don't want to schedule them.
 
Without being privy to the inner workings of Pointer scheduling, I can
only speculate (but when has that ever slowed any of us down  :-)).
 
I do know that the year the Pointers and Badgers won the Div3 and Div1
championships, respectively, a game between the two was to be scheduled
for the following season ... a perfect PR opportunity.  However, the
Badgers backed out, probably figuring that they had nothing to gain and
everything to lose.
 
The multi-year arrangement Point has had with Mercyhurst would also have
hampered Point's ability to schedule Div1 games.  Compounding the
problem, of course, is the difference between Div1 and Div3 regarding
allowable number of games.
 
Point also took on a Russian team from Metalurg and, unlike almost all of
the Russians' other competitors, beat them quite handily.
 
[the following really isn't a cop-out]  Based on the rumblings from our
beloved state capitol, proposed reductions to the state university system
budget in upcoming years will probably seriously inhibit travel to
distant Div1 sites.  Since the two closest Div1 conferences are the WCHA
and CCHA, I would wonder at the psychological wisdom of attempting
to schedule games against teams such as LSSU, Minnesota, etc.
 
On a semi-related matter:  Is the rationale for Elmira moving to Div1
primarily based on the seating capacity of their arena and their ability
to draw large crowds?  I seem to remember discussion about the potential
for that move at the end of last season but, since I deleted all those
messages, I don't remember what other elements supported that move.
 
Debbie
 
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Debbie Somers                                NCAA Div III National Champs
UW-Stevens Point                        1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91,1992-93
email:  [log in to unmask]
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