>First of all, I haven't seen this reported anywhere else.  Nothing on the
>NCAA website, nothing in the Globe, nothing on USCHO.  Did I miss it, does
>the Herald have a scoop, or are they being sloppy?  The fact that the writer
>immediately assumed that the Fleet was a logical candidate (it my opinion it
>ain't) for an NCAA Regional suggested to me that the writer may not know
>what he's talking about.
 
Maybe.  But it was reported Friday in the Ann Arbor News.  The Championships/
Competition Cabinet (the group that rejected expansion last year) gave
preliminary approval to tournament expansion in Men's Hockey, Lacrosse and
Soccer and Women's golf and lacrosse.  They also gave preliminary approval
to begin tournaments in Women's hockey and water polo.  These must all be
approved by the Management Council (who will look more closely at financial
issues).  The Management Council level is not a rubber stamp, but the fact
that the tournament expansion has made it past this level is a good sign for
those who want the tournament expanded.
 
The article you read did have one thing wrong:  the 2001 West regional is in
Grand Rapids, not Ann Arbor.
 
The Ann Arbor News article about the approval:
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/hockey/index.ssf?/sports/stories/20000205apuxnote05.frm
 
And an article written about the efforts of the hockey committee to get
approval for the expansion:
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/hockey/index.ssf?/sports/stories/20000202ahcknote02.frm
 
>To me, playing games on-campus is too much of an advantage to the higher
>seeded team, and it's especially unfair since seeding is such an inexact
>science.  It also smacks of a Division 3 or minor sport type concept.  NCAA
>D1 hockey is big time now.
 
So is D1 baseball (championship game on CBS; entire 15-game College World
Series on CBS, ESPN and ESPN2; 20,000 people plus at the College World
Series games).
 
Baseball has all of its 16 regionals and 8 super-regionals at the home field
of one of the participating teams.  This may be necessary for western
hockey...and I'm not convinced that it's a huge advantage for the home
team.  Of the 4 times a Western team has played a regional on its home
ice, only once has it advanced to the Frozen 4.
 
Perhaps the hockey committee already has a format in mind; have any
reporters asked them?
 
Alton
 
 
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