At 9:33 AM -0500 2/11/97, Alan Harder wrote:
>On Tue, 11 Feb 1997, Stickney Brian CDT wrote:
>
>>I have two points to raise for possible discussions..
>>
>>1)  Unlike the other major college sports, in college hockey it is almost
>>impossible for an independent to make it to the big show.  While one may
>>argue
>>that the level of competition would drop...I don't think that is the case.
>>Teams like Mankato St., Air Force, and Army have all played their
>>division one
>>leagued opponents tough at times.  Wouldn't it make the tourney a bit more
>>interesting if even one of these independents had an at large bid into the
>>tourney (based on best record of the independents).  Perhaps we would see the
>>same sort of upsets in the college hockey as we see in College basketball
>>(Princeton upsetting UCLA, etc...)
>>
>
>If an independent that wouldn't normally get in is selected, then someone
>more qualified gets bumped.  I don't like that idea.  If an independent
>is good enough to get in, then they should have the record to make it in the
>first place.
 
I don't think there's anything that would prohibit the selection committee
from choosing an independent team; but there would be problems going back
to the system of giving an automatic bid to an independent team. Many of
the formerly independent programs are now in leagues-- St. Cloud State,
UMass-Lowell, Merrimack College, etc. While the military academies have had
good years, I think with Army's decision a few years back to leave the ECAC
was perhaps an indication to some that the program was moving away from
being competetive in Division 1 rather than towards it.
 
However, I would hope if they or any other team played enough games against
tough division 1 teams and won more than some second and third-place league
teams, that they would get a bid.
 
 
David M. Josselyn, Desktop Publishing Technician, The Lowell Sun.
Merrimack College '93, Syracuse University '95
 
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