If the rumors were true that all athletics at every school would
    have to be at the same level in the NCAA, this is just a partial list of
    the schools that would have to move their hockey programs out
    of Division I:
 
    Hockey East: Merrimack, Lowell
    ECAC: St Lawrence, Clarkson, RPI
    CCHA: not sure
    WCHA: North Dakota, St Cloud, Colorado College(?), Denver(?)
    Independent: Alaska-Fairbanks, Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska-Anchorage
 
    This is 12 of the 44 Division I teams, more than 25%, and this is
    only off the top of my head.  I do not believe we will see such a
    drastic reorganization.  The grandfather clause, which allows schools
    who have already in place Division I programs in selected sports to
    keep them, was mentioned, and my understanding is that this will
    not change.  Consider the huge expense that has been undertaken by
    these schools to develop their solid Div I programs.  They would fight
    to the end to maintain them, and you can bet that a majority of the
    other schools would support them.
 
    The real danger, in my opinion, seems to be that the schools which have
    been developing solid programs in selected sports but which are not
    already Div I, will never get the chance to move up.  This is why
    Bemidji and Mankato were mentioned as considering immediate jumps from
    Div III to Div I.
 
    Also, the cutting of scholarships and coaching personnel doesn't make
    sense, and I expect this to get voted down.  What I think will pass
    will be the 34-game limit.  This would be unfortunate because it would
    reduce the number of nonconference games teams would play and thus
    make it harder to select teams in March, but too many people are crying
    that the season is too long.  Not so in my opinion - as the Ivies have
    shown, you don't HAVE to play 38-40 games; yet, conversely I believe
    it hurts them since they don't get a chance to improve by playing many
    good teams from outside the ECAC.  But that was their call.
 
Jeremy says:
>Anyway, this is just the way I see things.  Is there any way that we, as
>fans, can show the NCAA just how we feel?  Or is this another move made in
>the name of the Almighty Dollar?
 
    The funny thing about this is that, as I mentioned yesterday, hockey
    is one of only three sports that generates revenue for the NCAA.  Why
    the NCAA would want to cut that off is beyond me.  I will believe
    it when I see it.
 
 
    - mike