Richard Hungerford <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
> I disagree that the leagues shouldn't get two automatic bids.  The regular
> season titleholders, to me, are the most deserving.  They put up the
> numbers over the long haul.  The playoff champion should also get the nod,
> because obviously they're the hot team.  Two auto bids makes sense.
 
It is my understanding that when the NCAA gives you an automatic bid, it
is up to the league to decide how that automatic bid is determined.  It can
be the regular season champion, the tournament champion, a special shootout
competition, anything.  It is up to the league to decide.
 
In my mind, the ONLY reason leagues in all sports choose the tournament
champion is because it makes the tournament important.  If a league chose
the regular season champion and still had a tournament, there would be a
lot less people who care about the tournament except for the bubble teams.
There is no "grand reward" at the end.
 
Many conferences, like the Ivy League in basketball, do not have a season
ending tournament at all.
 
And one tidbit about the MAAC getting an auto bid -- to the person who said
they should not get one this year -- I don't thing anybody is proposing they
should have gotten an auto bid in their first year.  Heck, half the teams
are not even eligible to make the tournament due to various probationary
periods for moving their programs up to Div. I.  But, I do believe one day
they should get an auto bid.  Remember, the CCHA used to be considered a
"worthless" league at the time of it's creation...
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russell Jaslow        |       Potsdam College Bears Hockey       |My employer
Rochester, New York   |   ****** 1996 SUNYAC Champions ******    |has nothing
[log in to unmask]      | Publisher and Editor - SUNYAC Newsletter |to do with
[log in to unmask]      |1981, 1986 NCAA D-III National BB Champs. |my drivel.
**** Free The Indy 500 -- Institutionalize Tony George **** -----------------
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.