NMU gets my vote.

On May 5, 2009, at 11:40 AM, Hampton, Nathan E. wrote:

> We should have a poll of some kind to guess the 12th team (which  
> reminds me of my favorite Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt movie, Twelve  
> Monkeys). We have a few candidates already mentioned - Nebraska- 
> Omaha and Northern Michigan. Plus at least one upstart in Moorhead  
> State. Was it last year by popular vote that North Dakota State was  
> going to move all sports to Division 1 and then didn't get the  
> money? They could jump into the mix, possibly. I still like Air  
> Force coming in.
>
> I wonder if anybody out there wants to take a poll of who people  
> think is most likely and then we can somehow declare a winner?
>
> Nathan
>
>
> On 5/5/09 9:45 AM, "Michael Bohler"  
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I haven't seen this news come across the list.  Passing it along.   
> From
> yahoo.com
>
> Bemidji State gets good news from WCHA
> By JON KRAWCZYNSKI, AP Sports Writer Apr 29, 12:21 am EDT
> MINNEAPOLIS (AP)-Bemidji State has been trying to get into the Western
> Collegiate Hockey Association for years, and the powerful  
> conference might
> finally be relenting for the first No. 16 seed ever to reach the  
> Frozen
> Four.
> The 10-team WCHA lifted its long-standing moratorium on expansion  
> Tuesday
> at the league's annual meeting in Marco Island, Fla. The league hasn't
> officially approved Bemidji State's application for admission, but
> Commissioner Bruce McLeod said he will be more aggressive in  
> pursuing a
> 12th school to accompany the Beavers into the mix.
> "Our issue at this point was not Bemidji State University and their
> membership," McLeod said in a teleconference. "Our issue was more  
> with the
> number. We've been through quite a few things in the last six  
> months or so
> trying to work through the number of 11."
> Unlike the 11-member Big Ten, the WCHA is firm about having an even  
> number
> of teams to make a balanced schedule.
> McLeod said he hopes to have a resolution by mid-summer.
> Time is of the essence for Bemidji State, which made a stunning run  
> to the
> NCAA Frozen Four this season. The school's College Hockey America
> conference will fold after next season.
> While the WCHA didn't hold a formal vote on the Beavers'  
> application, the
> Beavers came away with the impression that they took a huge step  
> closer to
> a new hockey home.
> "We have been patient for 10 years-what's a few more months?" coach  
> Tom
> Serratore said. "I'm confident the WCHA will be able to find a 12th
> member, and I feel very confident where we stand with the WCHA. All we
> need to do is be patient and things will work out."
> It's been a long climb up the hockey ranks for the school of 5,000 in
> northern Minnesota. The Beavers won 13 national championships in  
> Division
> II, III and NAIA before making the jump to Division I in 1999.
> It wasn't until this season that the Beavers finally caught the  
> attention
> of hockey fans across the country.
> The final seed in the 16-team NCAA tournament, Bemidji State defeated
> Notre Dame and Cornell in the first two rounds to advance to the  
> national
> semifinals in Washington, D.C. The Beavers lost to Miami of Ohio,  
> but the
> feel-good run could only have helped them in their quest to join the
> mighty WCHA.
> While McLeod said the program's success this year didn't make the  
> school's
> application any more or less attractive, the commissioner did say it
> raised Bemidji State's profile.
> "We were just real conscious of not trying to get caught up in all  
> that
> enthusiasm," McLeod said. "We were very happy for them and it  
> probably put
> a little pressure on us from a public standpoint more than anything."
> Now it seems the only thing in Bemidji State's way is the lack of  
> another
> program to reach that round number of 12. Nebraska-Omaha and Northern
> Michigan have been floated as potential members, but McLeod  
> declined to
> comment specifically on those two schools. He did say an upstart  
> program
> at Minnesota State University, Moorhead would be a "long shot."
> McLeod said he is willing to be flexible with schools to make  
> joining the
> WCHA an attractive option and is confident he will be able to find  
> a 12th
> school to make it happen.
> "We've reached a real critical point in collegiate hockey,  
> especially in
> the West," McLeod said. "The direction I've been given is we have  
> to be
> more aggressive in our approach."
>