While waiting down a thunderstorm in Toronto last week, I found this
article in the Toronto Library:
 
CCHA May Jump to 12 Teams With Eye on NCAA Playdowns
 
The Central Collegiate Hockey Asspcoatopm could expand from five to as many
as 12 teams next season with a new organization structure and a comissioner
as its top administrator.
 
Athletic directors and faculty represenatitives from more than 10 schools
met in Chicago during the mid-January NCAA convention to establish the
CCHA as a conference governed by faculty representatives from each school
and a commissioner.  The conference, currently consisting of defending
champion Ohio State, Bowling Green, St. Louis, Ohio University and this
year's newcomer and leader, Lake Superior State, will eventually request
the right to have its post-season tournament champion receive automatic
qualification in the NCAA hockey tournament.
 
The present NCAA tournament format consists of two teams from both the
Western Collegiate Hockey Assn. and ECAC Division I.  In 25 years, no
team outside those leagues haas received a berth in the tournament.
 
"From our discussions in Chicago," explained Dick Young, Bowling Green
Athletic Director, "it was decided that the CCHA would be a conference
of schools with compatible interests who do not aspire to rival the
high powered hockey programs at some of the schools in the WCHA and the
top division of the Eastern Collegaite Athletic Conference.
 
It was the belief of those present that the CCHA should seek a level of
competition comparable to the one that the Mid-American Conference enjoys
when compared to the Big Ten.  This does not mean that any of the current
hockey programs among our CCHA members would be curtailed in any degree
from the level at which they are now operating."
 
Young indicated that the conference structure next year would feature
two divisions and be dependent upon the caliber of hockey played at the
competition schools.
 
The first division would be for schools that currently fund their hockey
programs with 16 or more scholarships with a maximum of 20 full scholar-
ships over four years as the only limiting factor.  The WCHA permits 24
full scholarships over four yeaars, but the NCAA recently ruled that the
total be lowered to 23 in another year.
 
Based on the information meeting, Young said that Bowling Green, St.
Louis, Lake Superior and possibly Ohio State would be teams competing in
Division One during the 1973-74 season.
 
Schools definitely interested in forming Division Two include Buffalo,
Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
Illinois-Chicago Circle, Ohio University, Iowa State and the Air Force
Academy.
 
The WCHA currently consists of 10 teams-Denver, Michigan Tech, North Dakota,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Minnesota-
Duluth and Colorado College.  THe WCHA voted at its last meeting in April,
1972 to freeze further league expansion.  Bowling Green had applied for
membership and both Lake Superior State and St. Louis had shown interest.
 
--Hockey News, February 10, 1973
 
 
Interesting to see how times of changed.  24 scholarships.  Interested
in being a lower league.  This never came to pass.  The Division I schools
played in the league, with Western Michigan joining in 1977 and UIC
(then Chicago Circle) in 1981.
 
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Mike Burger  |  [log in to unmask]  | Univ. of Mich.-1990, Colo. State-1993