Melanie writes:
>Greg mentioned his opinions on the Alaska Schools being admitted to two
>different conferences.  I would like to say that at first I didn't think
>it was very bright, but after reading what one of the coaches from the
>WCHA said about only wanting one team, and that one team would probably
>UAA, then UAF would have been stupid to apply.  The reasoning behind
>this is, if the WCHA wants to let someone in, it would be UAA, and then
>UAF would have wasted efforts to get in that conference.
 
It seemed to be to both schools' benefit to agree to apply to one conference
and not the other, as you quoted earlier from the Doyle Woody article.  But
if the WCHA only wanted to admit one team, why does it sound as if they will
likely admit Mankato in four years?  We haven't heard anything from the WCHA
on Mankato's plan to go Independent for four years and then apply to the
league, but being from Minnesota, I can't see Mankato being turned away if
the logistics can be worked out.
 
I wonder if they haven't yet decided to admit UAA as a full-fledged member or
as an affiliate member similar to UAF and the CCHA.  That may be why the
decision was put off a few months.  The CCHA apparently had no trouble
choosing to admit UAF, but the WCHA may be seriously looking at closer ties
with UAA which is the reason for the delay.
 
Even if UAA becomes an affiliate member like UAF, it is still to the advantage
of both of the schools to be affiliated with a conference that receives an
automatic bid.  This gives them two chances to make the NC$$ tourney.  They
could have a good enough season to earn an at-large bid, with the automatic
Independent bid being eliminated after this season, but no Independent has
ever been awarded an at-large bid so the Independents are clearly concerned
that they won't get a fair shake from the selection committee.  But they could
also win the conference tourney and get the conference's bid to make the NC$$s
that way.
 
>The way has worked out so far is that if UAA beats UAF, then UAA gets to
>play in the CCHA playoffs.  This is not only good for UAA, but the
>CCHA as well.  Reasoning, if UAA can beat UAF, who would want to play them
>in the playoffs?  Wouldn't it be better to have the better team compete?
 
Yes, but as things stand, there isn't yet an agreement to have UAA play UAF
for the right to make the CCHA playoffs.  UAF is the only team admitted and
so UAA would have to apply and go through that process.  It sounds like the
two schools have agreed to go separate ways on their own rather than have
both be left out in the cold.  I think they should be applauded for this display
of teamwork.
 
>The University of Alaska, Anchorage and possibly Fairbanks, (don't know
>for sure) have promised teams 25 tickets to Alaska, so outside teams would
>not have that added expense.  This will probably help Anchorage.  One of
>the local commentators mentioned the ease of getting to Anchorage compare
>to getting to Marquette.  This is another plus.  It's not like Anchorage
>doesn't have it's own airport.  We also have one of the ten largest arena,
>and MAJOR support from the community.  I believe that all but 5 or 6
>games this season have been sell out crowds.  But Greg, you're right, it does
>seem strange, but there is a reason behind it, and I am positive that
>everything will work out.
 
On the plane tickets, haven't both Alaska schools been offering this to
teams who come to Alaska for a number of years?  UAF was still admitted as
only an affiliate member to the CCHA.  I'm not sure how much of an effect the
other things you mention will have on admission as a full member, that may
depend on whether the WCHA is willing to surrender some of its league games
against other teams because they already have 32 league games.  They would
need to restructure their league schedule and we haven't yet heard any
indication that they are willing to do that - they'd have to work that out
before admitting any other teams, let alone UAA.  Of course games in Alaska
wouldn't count towards the limit, but UAA will have to travel to the WCHA
teams unless the WCHA surprises us and allows UAA to host all of their league
games!
 
UAA definitely deserves to be in a conference and I hope it works out, but
unfortunately it doesn't completely depend on what UAA can offer and bring
to a league like the WCHA.  Hopefully they will decide that the benefits of
having a high-quality program like UAA join the WCHA is worth going through
the efforts to restructure the league schedule and everything else.  And even
if UAA is admitted as an affiliate member, it will still be an improvement
over the current situation.
---
Mike Machnik        [log in to unmask]       [log in to unmask]