Mike was wondering what the situation is in Connecticut and how the
football program's potential upgrade might interact with the hockey program.
 
     All of us in Connecticut are wondering the same thing ourselves.
  Football can't go D-1A without a suitable stadium.   At the moment,  the
pols have said no stadium unless there is also a viable professional tenant.
  I suspect given any opportunity at all,  that the word "viable" will be
very loosely interpreted.
 
     So far,  no feasible scenario has been identified to get the stadium
built.   The Patriots and the Buccaneers remain long shots,  but perhaps not
as long as you might think.   The Big East has given UConn until 1999,  I
think,  to declare their intentions.    Obviously,  Skip Holtz (son of Lou
Holtz,  Notre Dame) has not been brought in to maintain the status quo;
 and,  I think we are about to see some very creative proposals to get a
stadium built as the deadline approaches.   What are the odds?   Probably
around 50-50 without another recession in the state (or,  I should say,  a
further deepening of the one we've had for 5 years).
 
     If the stadium is built,  I agree that we can probably kiss the idea of
D-1 hockey in the new UConn rink  good-bye because of gender equity  --
 unless one more of the Ivies decides it wants to go up to D-1 in the ECAC.
  Then UConn would be tempted to try the ECAC (as a counter-vailing non-Ivy)
using leveraged need-based aid to drive the program.   I don't think that
UConn would be tempted to try that in HE  --  they'd get their head handed
to them.
 
     -- Dick Tuthill
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.