John Haeussler writes:
 
>  The points that threw me are the playoff format and the crowning of a
>conference wide regular season champion.  I don't have the solutions, but I
>do believe that something equitable can be worked out.  One idea for the
>regular season title is to adopt the system used in the Central States
>Collegiate Hockey League, which is split into two divisions with a similar
>schedule.  Since non-divisional opponents only play each other twice a
>season, each game counts for four(4) points in the overall conference
>standings.  Hence, each season series is worth eight points, whether the
>series is two games or four.  This system can also be used for playoff
>seeding.  If implemented, the 28-game WCHA schedule would have a possible 88
>points rather than 56.  Please note, I'm not advocating this as the best
>solution, simply as one available option.
 
This could work, though it would be a bit confusing for the casual fan.  The
WCHA did something similar in the 1970's when the league played an
unbalanced schedule.
 
>  I for one hope that the details can be worked out and that UAF (and MSU)
>do join the WCHA as full members in the near future.
 
Sorry, you can't get rid of the Spartans that easily!  :-)
 
-- Erik