[Timothy Newman asks why Middlebury does not accept NCAA tournament bids.]
 
Middlebury is a member of the New England Small College Athletic
Conference (NESCAC).  NESCAC is really not a conference (i.e. there is
no NESCAC champion or computed NESCAC standings).  It is mainly just
an agreement between a group of schools pertaining to athletics versus
academics.  (sort of like the Ivy League of division III ;-))  I
forget the exact content of the NESCAC rules, but they set limits on
practice time, how soon practice can start before the season, how many
games may be played, etc.  Due to these regulations, there can be no
NCAA tounament play for any NESCAC school's hockey programs.
 
If people are interested, I can try to find out what NESCAC rule
pertains to this and which schools are affected by it (i.e. members
of NESCAC).
 
Pete