I have read many times about the pending end of the Division II
championship by the NCAA.  Some of the teams are considering a move to Div.
I and others to Div. III.  Some that have been mentioned as possible
upgraders to the top division have included North Dakota State and Mankato
State.  State politics may interfere with the construction of new arenas
(here at UW it is favorable, but that is another topic that I will brief
you all on when final information is available).
 
I recently read an article on football teams considering, or working on, a
move from Division I-AA to I-A that included current Div. II hockey school
Alabama-Burmingham.  If they made such a move in football, one might think
that they were also thinking top rank in hockey (unless the kill it :-(,
but I have heard that it is quite popular :).
 
If anyone with close ties (geographic, alumni, student, employment, etc) to
any of the Division II schools would be willing to post information or
speculations about the current status of future plans of your hockey
programs I (and perhaps others here) would be grateful.
 
On a related topic, there are several posters who have indicated that their
club teams have a pretty good following (people attend fairly well the
games in their small rinks).  What seem to be the posibility of starting
varsity teams at these schools.  I am particularly interested in the BigTen
schools, as with a few more the conference could sponsor a hockey league
and championship.  The BigTen added a championship in Women's Crew and a
Women's Soccer tourney this year as the number of schools participating in
those sports have recently grown.
 
There has also been talk of UNLV and possible So. Cal. schools starting
teams from scratch.
 
Any substantiation to such rumours is appreciated for the general knowledge.
 
It seems to me that an increase in the number of teams by just two or three
could help lead to the creation of a new league(s).  This would allow all
teams to play a *full* round robin schedule and still have a few
non-conference games outside of tourneys.  A Far-West or Pacific league
with:  Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, Colorado College, Denver
University, a southwestern school, North Dakota, North Dakota State(??) and
Air Force would keep natural and existing rivalries and would not be with
out strong programs.  Likewise pulling the five BigTen (ya, they can't
count) with a few BigTen newcomers would relieve the scheduling stress in
the West. I'm not sure how the East could re-align as I am not very
familiar with the current schools or possible changes.
 
Will they upgrade?  The biggest down side here is the initial investment in
scholarships and the need for a bigger or modern rink.  On the upside an
upgraded program (esp. with larger rink) would on the long haul increase
revenues and could help support smaller sports.
 
Anyone care to start from scratch?  There is the need for an arena as well
as scholarships, coaches, equipment, and hockey fans.  (Note: UW has
*NEVER* had its own rink owned by the university, this should change by
2007, so don't let this stop you!)  The biggest stopper here is probably
gender equity and Title IX requirements.  Since most schools have atheletic
programs with proportionally more male to female atheletes than the general
student populations they are looking to add women's sports (if the have the
$$) or cut men's sports.  The obvious answer here on Hockey-L is just to
add Women's hockey at the same time.  But again there is the cost of start
up and the likelyhood that the team will have a net finacial cost for a
much longer period of time.  There is also a much smaller pool of girls
playing hockey in HS.  In general, I find it unlikely that more than one or
two new Division I men's ice hockey teams will be announced by the end of
century if there are any at all.  Our best hope for expansion of Division I
is to rely on the upgrading of Division II/III programs.
 
Why are more teams needed at this level.
 
  ** Better national prominence (see non DI area papers, ESPN flac, etc)
  ** Better political support at the NCAA (stop coaching/scholarship reduc)
        If college hockey coaches had threatened a stoppage of play with out
        scholarship reinstatements would anyone in Overland Park cared?
  ** It aids in the popularity of hockey.
 
And most important of all....
 
There'd be new (and helpless) schools to play (read: pummel).
 
--eric