When the DII championship was defunct from 85-93, the DII teams were
given 3 choices: compete at the DI level and qualify for the DI
tournament, compete at the DIII level and qualify for that tourney,
compete at the DII level and not qualify for any NCAA tournament. Of
the 15 teams (or so) in DII at the time, some fell into each category.
Alabama-Huntsville chose to play up to I, Mankato chose to play down to
III, and AIC (I think) stayed at II. It is interesting, that back then
the two Alaska schools were technically DII schools competing "up",
but now they are full-fledged DI hockey programs.
 
It is important to remember that you can't just say "I wanna be
Division X in hockey". You have to meet certain qualifications for each
level, and of course, you have to fill out the paperwork with the
NCAA.  What level your hockey team can compete at depends on what the
other sports at your school are. Basically, every SCHOOL is supposed to
fit nicely into one of the three divisions. This doesn't happen very
often.  Take U. Denver--they are technically a "Division II" school but
their hockey team and women's gymnastics are DI. There are lots of
examples of DIII schools with DI hockey programs.
 
According to the same Phil from the article, the Division II teams will
be required to compete *up* next year. The latest rage in the NCAA is
to make sure that schools don't compete "down" in any sport. But there
is a chance that an exception will be made and the DII hockey programs
will be allowed to choose, as they have done in the past.
 
The elimination of the DII championship could actually be a blessing
for schools like Mankato and Mercyhurst (who want to upgrade). I think
they can stay DII "on paper" but compete for the DI championship. This
could allow them to slowly upgrade over the years until they finally
satisfy all of the DI requirements. Mankato's problem is that they
tried to jump up to DI "on paper" last year, but the state of Minnesota
wouldn't let them. They might want to even try to get into the WCHA
while still DII--they will find it tough to compete because they will
have fewer scholarships and more scheduling constraints, but it might
be possible.
 
As for Elmira, this might be a good time for them to jump up to I.
If RPI leaves ECAC I, they will be looking for a replacement team
from New York.
 
Interesting stuff. Thanks for the article, Bill.
 
Keith