Having watched all the recent mail about conferences, RPI, Ken State, Syracuse,
etc, I have a proposal for a new New England-based, all-sports college athletic
conference.
 
School          Hockey  Football        Basketball      Notes
BU              Y       Y               Y               Charter member
Northeastern    Y       Y               Y               ditto
UNH             Y       Y               Y               ditto
Maine           Y       Y               Y               ditto
Vermont         Y       N               Y               Doesn't have football
UMASS-Amherst   Y       Y               Y               Leaves the Atlantic 10
URhode Island   ?       Y               Y               Leaves the Atlantic 10
UCONN           ?       Y               Y               Leaves the Big East
Providence      Y       ?               Y               Ditto
Holy Cross      ?       Y               Y
BC              Y       N               N               Hockey-only
UMASS-Lowell    Y       ?               ?
Merrima{c|k}    Y       ?               ?
 
0. This conference exists primarily for Hockey, of course. The other sports
   are to maintain the rivalries during off-season :-)
1. I like the idea of unifying all the New England state schools in one
   conference.
2. PC and UCONN have to leave the Big East. However, the Big East is going
   Big Time for football, and increasingly, the non-1A football schools are
   being left out in the cold.
3. UMASS and URI have to leave the Atlantic 10. However, three A-10 schools
   (with 1A football) recently bolted for the Big East and the A-10 is reeling.
4. In any event, this conference will have to upgrade its basketball to attract
   PC, UMASS, URI, and UCONN.
5. I like the idea of uniting Holy Cross and BC. This was once a great rivalry.
6. Lowell and Merrimac are "legacy" schools, and are welcome to upgrade their
   other programs.
7. BC is also a legacy school, and is welcome to leave the Big East :-)
8. Shoot-outs are forbidden :-)
 
Let's call this conference the North Atlantic Conference. As a World War II
history buff,I've always liked that name. "HockeyEast" sounds like a BU
marketing major's senior thesis. The "Yankee Conference" is tainted so long as
there exists a New York American League baseball franchise.
 
Other notes.
1. It would be nice to see Penn State and Syracuse go D1 in hockey. Syracuse
   would be a natural for the ECAC. However, Penn State belongs in the CCHA.
2. As a New Jersey resident, I would like to see the ECAC expand southward to
   give Princeton some company. A team in New York City (St. Johns?) or
   Philadelphia (Villanova or Penn?) would improve the "visibility" of the ECAC.
 
Ken Kretsch             | "Coach, my Mom wants me to live for my Bar Mitzvah"
BU '79                  | "Goldberg, this is your Bar Mitzvah. Today you
[log in to unmask]        |  become a man!"