Eric Burton wrote:
 
 "      HOWEVER BY letting MSU and NDSU or an OMAHA NE you are going to weaken
the league and the League Schedules and then your going to get games like the
Dartmouth VS UND 8-2,or games like the U of M and NMU 10-0 and 7-0 and at what
expense to the bigger schools making who are trying to place high in the
seeding for the NCAA's or how about teams on the Bubble Like UND because they
played a Darthmouth during nonleague play they are going to be punished and
because of the unbalanced schedule and by virtue of not getting CC twice this
year, they have to win the league championship, its that fair probably not.
Now you are going to have team that may have to run up the scores like
Football......"
 
Now, Now.  I fully agree that NDSU would make a lot more sense than Neb-Omaha,
but the rest of this is garbage.  You cite NMU.  Have you forgotten the
success that program has had in the past?  Just because they are patsies this
year does not mean they will remain so.
 
Your suggestion is sort of like saying we shouldn't allow North Dakota to have
a Div I football team because they can't keep up with Nebraska.  Hockey is
helped by having more and more colleges and universities add Division I
programs.  Some will prosper (in terms of success) and some will not.  But we
most definitely do NOT want to keep this a closed group.  And as the numbers
rise, we will either form more leagues (look at football or basketball) or
split up leagues we now have.  Balanced schedules are the least of our
worries.
 
Finally, I wouldn't worry about a dilution of talent, either.  Yes, in a
period of rapid expansion, there will be a watering down of some programs
(probably more so in Div III than I) and an inequity in talent such that
big name programs will do even better at recruiting (not that that isn't
already a problem), but these negatives pale in comparison to the positives.
And, as demand for players increases, more and more HS programs will prosper,
etc.  The players will eventually show up.  It will all even out in the long
run.
 
Tom Rowe                                 Internet:  [log in to unmask]
 
Department of Psychology                 ***********************************
U. of Wisconsin - Stevens Point          Home of Division III National
     Go Point!                           Champions '89, '90, '91, & '93
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.