>The NCAA limits Div I teams to 34 regular season games, HOWEVER, games played
>in Alaska don't count toward the limit.  That's why the WCHA teams all have
>36 games (the two @ Alaska-Anchorage "didn't count").  If the ADs saw merit in
>playing the extra game or two, they could get them easily by admitting UAF.
 
First, not *all* WCHA teams go to Anchorage each year. They have an
unbalanced schedule.
 
Second, I was just talking with a CCHA coach this weekend. He was
complaining about how long the season was already, with 34 games. Some
schools would rather have a week off than go to Alaska. Plus, the trip
up north would mean they got to play 2 more games, so that would be 2
lost weekends of rest. Pity the poor athletes who have to endure the
road trips.
 
Third, the CCHA has a pretty good deal going right now with its 30-game
schedule. Four NC games makes virtually all of the schools happy. Some
schools would like 6 or more, some want zero. Adding anybody as a 12th
team screws this up. Adding UAF as the 12th team REALLY screws this up,
since it doesn't fit into the home-away model currently used ("play 1
team at home tonight, another on the road tomorrow" is the preferred
weekend for most teams).
 
Fourth, UAF fits in with the WCHA much better, geographically and
theoretically. Heck, UAF could apply for membership in Hockey East,
and probably spend less time in total travel to CCHA sites. Is is
faster to fly into Detroit and then bus to Ferris, or just to fly to
Boston?
 
 
The CCHA has been known as the home of refugees lately, with the
addition of Notre Dame and Kent. But those made geographic, monetary and
scheduling sense. I can't make such sense out of adding UAF. The ONLY
reason for adding them is to "save them from extinction".
 
Yes, I want UAF to join a league. But I don't think they fit in with
the current CCHA structure. They fit in better with the current WCHA
structure. Now, if the structure of the CCHA were to change
drastically, perhaps by playing an interlocking schedule with the WCHA,
or by stealing NMU and Tech (14 teams = 26 league games), or whatever,
then I think UAF could be included. But not the way things work now.
 
Keith