Craig,
 
Thanks for posting this. Some comments:
 
>Although it made no recommendation to the NC$$ Executive
>Committee, the ice hockey committee discussed the issue at length
>and agreed to study further the concept of implementing
>geographical ratios for at-large participation in future
>championships.With schools in the East outnumbering those in
>the West by more than a two-to-one margin, the committee
>agreed to gather input from coaches and administrators as to
>whether a geographical ratio should be implemented for at-large >selection.
 
We talked about this on hockey3 this past season. Things recently
got more unbalanced now that the 8 NESCAC schools have been
granted permission to participate in the 1994 tournament. I now
count 15 elligible teams from the ECAC East, 7 from the SUNYAC,
4 from the ECAC West, and 18 from the ECAC North/South/Central
for a total of 44 D-III teams in the East. The West has a total of 14
teams (9 from the MIAC and 5 from the NCHA).  The ratio is therefore
3.14 to 1
 
However, one could argue for the exclusion of the ECAC
North/South/Central as they practically never get a bid. That would
make the ratio 1.86 to 1. Also, there's the arguement that the West
 is stronger and deserves an equal number of teams - a Western
team has won something like 5 of the last 6 NCAA D-III
championships. Perhaps the large number of D-III and club teams
in the East dilutes the talent there.
 
>* Voted to conduct the 1994 Division III championship semifinals
>And final on the campus of one of the competing institutions. The >committee
is in the process of securing a predetermined site
>for the 1995 championship.
 
Was last year's neutral site considered a success? Anybody know
why we're going back to campus sites for just 1994?
 
> Agreed to explore options that will allow Division II institutions to
>participate in the Division III championship if the Division II championship
>is eliminated at the 1994 NC$$ Convenention
 
There's probably a good chance that it will be. Having a 2 team
tournament just doesn't make sense. I can understand that with only
12 or  13 D-II teams a big tournament isn't possible, but just 2 teams
makes a joke out of awarding a championship.
 
>* Voted to recommend to the NC$$ Executive Committee
>that automatic qualification be granted to the Minnesota
>Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the State University of
>New York Athletic Conference for the 1994 Division
>III championship.
 
Ugh. Who keeps voting for this? At least 6 times in the past
10 years, an upset has occurred in the SUNYAC playoffs resulting
in a team getting an automatic bid that otherwise wouldn't get
selected (usually Oswego State). A more deserving team from the
ECAC West or ECAC East is then locked out.  From what I can see,
the only reason why the SUNYAC and MIAC get an automatic bid
is because both conferences are comprised entirely of D-III schools,
and the ECACs and NCHA are not. I oppose automatic bids for any
conference when only 8 slots are available.  Perhaps if the field was
increased to 12 this would be acceptable. After all, there are more
D-III schools than D-I schools, and the D-I tourney has 12 slots.
 
>* Voted to conduct the first round of the 1994 Division III
>championship March 11-12, 1994, and voted to propose an
>open weekend between the first round and the semifinals and
>fianl of the championship.
 
Why have an open week in the middle of a national tournament?
The only reason I can think of is to give exposure to the D-II
championship which will be played on the open weekend. Still,
this forces an almost 2 week layoff for the final 4 teams, which up
until then were in the heat of conference and NCAA semifinals. Talk
about a momentum breaker.
 
Sorry if I rambled...thanks again, Craig.
 
Chris Lerch
Xerox
RIT '84 & '91