Classification:
 
I'm glad John noted how interesting these games could become.  Granted the
league won't get much respect, but its teams will now get the opportunity to
compete for a league title against teams that are growing just like they are.
Indeed, the better teams in the new league might pull off a few suprises.  It
can be well documented that teams that develop a "winning attitude" will very
often frustrate the more talented team.  For any college B-Ball fans, a couple
of these "small conference" teams from years' past might ring a bell:  Richmond
(sorry SU), UWGB, College of Charleston.  All of these teams had little respect
going into the NCAA tournament (except College of Charleston who did manage to
get some with their winning streak), but managed to upset Goliath, sometimes
even twice.
 
The advantage that Union and Merrimack had is in recruiting, as they belonged
to a "major" conference.  Players that may not have received scholarships at
Cornell, Michigan, UND, or BU, might be inclined to accept an a Union or
Merrimack to prove themselves at that level of competition.
 
 
Regards,
Dan Olsen
 
IBM Global Services, Managed Operations North
CSR, Fishkill Building 504
IBM Mail:  DOLSEN @ IBMUS or IBMUSM00(DOLSEN)
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        04-07-97 01:17 PM
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To: [log in to unmask]@internet
cc:
Subject: Respect for a new D1 league
 
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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