A lot of this is off the top of my head, so consider it as such...the move
from 8 to 12 teams happened about 6 years ago (starting with the 1988
tourney), and I can't quite recall all the details.
 
I was always under the impression that going to 12 teams was a sort of a
compromise that took place at the time.  The independent teams were
clamoring for a bid to the tourney, claiming that they had no legitimate
way of getting in since they were not members of the four conferences that
had dominated the tourney until then (no independent ever received a bid
before 1988).  Since there were so many independents then, there was
sympathy to their cause, but many other teams seemed reluctant because of
the fear that awarding a bid to an independent would take one away from a
team that deserved to be there.
 
Adding four more teams to the tourney, along with the stipulation that one
be an independent, effectively made everyone happy.  Sort of...when
Merrimack received the first independent bid in 1988, there was still some
grumbling from the teams who were on the edge (the "edge" now being ~#12 in
instead of ~#8) since Merrimack only played about 13 DivI games, and some
of those were against so-called "minor" independents like Holy Cross and
UConn.  I have always suspected that if Merrimack had bowed out quickly
that year, sentiment would have been high to remove the automatic
independent bid even more quickly than it was removed...but Merrimack's
series win over Northeastern and near defeat of Lake Superior gave credit
to the claim that the independents could play with the big boys.
 
Also, as far as the ratio of bids to DivI teams goes, it is worth noting
that the number of DivI teams eligible has dropped by 10 or so since 1988.
When the move to 12 occurred, there was no rule that teams had to play 20
DivI games to be eligible as there is now (instituted in 89-90).  That
means that teams like Canisius, Holy Cross, Iona, UConn, Villanova, St
Bonaventure, etc. are no longer eligible by virtue of their scheduling
(this could change in the future).  UAH went to DivII, Army cut back on
their # of DivI games (only 7 or so this year), and St John's and USIU
dropped their programs.  Union has moved up, of course, but still we are
left with a significantly smaller number of eligible programs than there
was in 1987 when the tourney expanded.
 
What does all this mean?  In short, a cutback from 12 teams may be
justified, if we look at the ratio of bids to eligible programs.  I'm not
saying I'd favor it, because I'm not yet sure - it's not as if the extra 2
or 4 teams are not competitive in the tourney, not at all, but there is
still this unwritten (and apparently unknown) ratio above which the NC$$
doesn't want to allow more teams into the tourney.  The best argument that
hockey can give for allowing 12 teams rather than 8 or 10 is the excitement
that the extra teams have brought to the tourney.  But I cannot
realistically see an expansion to 16 without some further increase in
programs that would play 20 DivI games and be eligible for bids.
 
Also, if you hear people talking about the size of the hockey tourney being
reduced, it is not really an anti-hockey move...other sports face the same
problem.  Someone mentioned the baseball tourney, and I believe the field
hockey tourney was cut back.  And in 1984, the DivII hockey tourney was
wiped out altogether because of too few participating schools (the
beginning of DivII schools like UAA, UAF, Merrimack, etc. moving to full-
time DivI status).  The DivII tourney was reinstated this year, but with
only two teams (there are a dozen at the DivII level).
 
No one has mentioned this...but the idea of splitting the DivIII tourney
into two, such as DivIIIA and DivIIIB, might be an interesting one.
Schools that play in conferences like the ECAC North/Central/South never
really get the chance to play for a national title, nor do we see them
listed among the top DivIII teams in national polls.  But there are a ton
of them out there (I believe there are comparable conferences in the West)
and it's too bad those kids never get to play for a championship.  Just a
thought.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
alternate address days: [log in to unmask]             *HMN*  11/13/93
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)