>As to why teams may schedule weaker DivI teams or DivIII teams, > I come back to what Merrimack coach Ron Anderson said after >MC beat up on AIC one night a few years ago. He said that no >matter who you play, the atmosphere around the locker room is >always better when you win. And so it makes sense for teams to >schedule some "easy" games to boost the morale, especially if you >are a team that is struggling to establish itself. True, but if you lose, it can have a devistating effect. I remember Kent coming to the RIT Tournament a few years back - they thought they'd start off the season with a couple of easy wins and ease back into D-I play (this was the year they came back from suspension). They finished last, losing to RIT and then Brock (ONT). Ouch. Not a good way to start off the season. It's interesting to see that lately the D-I teams that are still playing D-III opponents rarely play the really *good* D-III teams like Elmira or Point. Instead you see Air Force playing St. Olaf and St. John's from the MIAC, one of the weaker D-III conferences, and Army playing Scranton, who went 0-23 in D-III last season. UMass-Amherst lost their final game of the season last year to a D-III team. That certainly isn't the jumping off point they'd like to have into their first season in Hockey East. Chris Lerch EDS RIT '84 & '91