"Moller, Edward N." wrote:

> The NCAA won't grant an autobid to the Ivies now, but perhaps they should.
> With a six team league in place, and reports the the tournament will expand
> to 16 teams, this may be the time for the ECAC to break up.  The MAAC and
> CHA autobids have forced the NCAA's hand in expansion, but the Ivy is a
> long-established association with a tremendous history.  And with all the
> criticism the ECAC has taken lately, splitting off for the purpous of an
> autobid looks mighty attractive.

I was being facetious about the Ivy auto-bid; fact is, if the ECAC were to
split in two, it might be a long time before either new conference would gain
an autobid.  The MAAC and CHA had to wait only two years, but I believe the
NCAA now has a rule in place stating that newly-formed conferences won't be
eligible for an autobid for something like eight years.  (As I recall, there
was some concern that the CHA was going to be affected by this rule, due to the
status of Findlay as for-real Div. I or not)

The Ivy League itself has been around for a long time but it hasn't had its own
conference for hockey since the formation of the ECAC, if ever.  I strongly
suspect the NCAA would consider them a "new" league and would enforce the new
autobid limit, whatever it is.  Plus, most, if not all, of the non-Ivy ECAC
teams seem to like being associated with the Ivies.  I doubt you'll see a split
any time soon.

--
Bill Fenwick                            Email:  [log in to unmask]
Digicomp Research                       Voice:  (607) 273-5900 ext 32