Paula Weston writes:
 
>However, I think there is a good deal of dismissiveness underlying these
>comments.  There's a certain amount of thinking that any new conference
>would just not be as good as existing conferences, that any D-I team that
>plays for a new conference would not be as good as teams currently aligned
>with conferences.
 
        The fact is that the teams that would make up the new
conference are not currently as good as the teams in the four
established conferences.  None of the ten division I independents had
a winning record in D1 games this season.  Of the schools potentially
making up the new conference, only Army plays enough D1 games to be
compared with the "major D1" set, and they rank below everyone but Air
Force in most ranking systems.  (Of course, this doesn't mean they
can't upset the "big boys" as their 1-0-1 record against the ECAC
playoff champions the last two seasons indicates.)  So I think it's
reasonable to assume that when they start out, the teams in the new
conference will not be as good as those in other conferences.  But I
don't think it'll stay that way; just look at the improvements in
Union and Merrimack since they went Division I.
                                        John Whelan, Cornell '91
                                        <[log in to unmask]>
        <http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jtw16960/jshock.html>
 
Cornell Men's Ice Hockey: Back-to-back ECAC and Ivy League Champions
 
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