DB Erickson writes:
>Frankly, I'm surprised to see Bill Beaney's name as a finalist -- not for
>lack of talent, or for lack of success, but because Midd is in the process of
>constructing a new, first-class arena (very similar to Dartmouth's) and I
>think is entertaining thoughts/hopes of *moving up* to Div I, which, for a
>school of Midd's academic standing and physical location, should mean a berth
>in the ECAC.
 
I am curious as to why you think the administration at Middlebury
would support such a move up to the big time, especially given that
they have been a member of a conference (NESCAC) that until a couple
of years ago didn't even want their teams competing in the NCAA DivIII
tournament.  (And the NESCACs still will not allow the teams to
compete in both a conference and an NCAA tourney - Middlebury had to
opt out of the ECAC East tourney to get to compete in the NCAA
tourney).  The NESCAC presidents' disdain for the athletic bigtime is
well-known.  I do not know how Middlebury's president feels about this,
but it seems to me that it would take a drastic change of attitude for
them to suddenly decide they want to have a big time hockey program.
 
>Parenthetically, let me add that the *Big Time* is not necessarily so
>desirable. The top echelon of Div III, of which Midd is definitely one, would
>give most of the Ivies and a good number of the ECAC a run for their money
>NOW, imho;
 
I don't know that I'd go this far.  Two years ago, DivIII champion
Plattsburgh got absolutely slaughtered by a below average Colgate
team (would finish 9th in the ECAC), 14-3, in a game that was not even
that close.  Plattsburgh had lost only 4-5 players from its 1992 team
that went 32-2-2.  They would go 25-6-2 and return to the DivIII Final
Four three months after getting smoked by Colgate.
 
Sometimes DivIII teams do fare well against average or better DivI
teams, as when Colby tied Princeton last season.  But the numbers show
that the results and scores are heavily skewed in favor of DivI.
 
>two years ago Midd had a pre- season scrimmage with Princeton
>after just a week's practice and only lost 5-3.  THIS year Holy Cross and
>Colby made good showings -- BEAT some D-I schools -- so it isn't just the
>Panthers' program that's *up there*.
 
Well, Middlebury's loss to Princeton came in a season in which
Princeton finished 9th in the ECAC and went 10-15-3 overall.  Holy
Cross's win was over a 6-28-2 UMass team.  And Colby tied Princeton
but never actually beat a DivI team (other than UConn).  Other than
Princeton, we're not talking about DivI teams that were even middle of
the road, never mind better than that.
 
My point is that even if Middlebury decided it wanted to move up to
DivI, the odds are against it giving most opponents a run for their
money for several years.  Army, Union, and Merrimack are just a few
programs whose followers thought they were ready for the bigtime and
got a rude awakening.  You've almost got to have something very key on
your side to hasten that improvement, like St Cloud had with its new
rink when it joined the WCHA.  Middlebury doesn't have anything like
that.  A couple of years of DivIII success doesn't translate into even
respectability in DivI.
 
I am always wary of the fact that as DivIII experiences ebbs and
flows, and different teams rise to dominate for a year or two or
three, the inevitable rumors arise about a move by those teams up to
DivI.  Most of the teams that are so rumored never make a move at all.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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