I'm not particularly fond of the NCAA or of their thinking about possibly
switching the Division III Final Four to a neutral site, but the move might
make a bit of sense for logistical reasons.  The site of the Division I
Final Four is known a year or two in advance, which not only allows fans
plenty of time to figure out any travel plans they might have, but also lets
the NCAA assure that there aren't going to be any scheduling conflicts at
the host arena.
 
Under the current system of having the Division III Final Four hosted by the
highest seed (more or less), the site is not known for sure until several
days before the event takes place.  This may cause some scheduling problems,
as shown by what happened with the ECAC West Final Four last year.  Mercy-
hurst was the top seed and would have hosted the tournament, except that
some rock concert already had dibs on their arena for that weekend.  Fortun-
ately, they were able to move the tournament to #2 seed Elmira's rink
without too much trouble, but I'd bet the NCAA would rather not deal with
this kind of thing.
 
However, I agree with Rob that Division III sports are a lot more local in
nature than their Division I, and even if it would solve some potential
problems, I don't think the neutral site idea would work very well with
Division III hockey -- at least not yet.  Let's leave well enough alone for
once.
 
And while we're on the subject of Division III -- has there been any further
word on Alabama-Huntsville moving from the Division I ranks to Division III
next year?  This would leave only four Division I independents:  Alaska-
Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, Air Force, and Army, and with the move away
from non-conference games (thanks to the shorter schedules), these teams are
going to be hard put to come up with opponents next season.
--
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and probably '94
LET'S GO RED!!
 
"Tips for Gals: 13 Common First-Date Warning Signs That a Guy Might Be a Jerk:
"6.  He wants to take you to a hockey game."
-- _Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex_