Just don't count on it! Indiana, Penn State, and Illinois have well supported club level teams (re: Big Ten hockey conference), but Title 9 WILL KILL any serious discussions. The athletic budget just isn't big enough to offer two scholarships for every Men's Div I hockey program (one for the program; one for the corresponding Women's program), and IMHO, there just aren't enough popular women's sports to attract the athletes (mainly because every female sport has it's male equivalent ALREADY and male football sucks up a HUGE amount of budget and scholarships). It just ain't gonna happen! From the "let's expand the ECAC" front, and the discussions about travel partners and costs to the WCHA, start by reading the above paragraph. It ain't gonna happen! Even if it did (women's rodeo, lacrosse, and cross-country skiing) happen, the fact that travel among ECAC partners isn't as much as their western counterparts ISN'T IMPORTANT; what IS important is that travel will be *MORE* than they're now experiencing. If the added cost is $20,000/yr, where is it gonna come from? And how many other organizations will vie for it? Can your school justify a single scholarship or professorship less to let your team travel more? What about every handicapped-equity, gender-equity, sexual-preference-equity, minority-equity, native-american-equity, angry-white-male-equity group wanting any "fall-out" $20,000 from the budget? It just ain't gonna happen. Lesson: we're lucky. We get to watch, enjoy, and support college hockey, whether Div I, Div III, or ACHA. Do it. Steve the Pessimist (or is it realist?) HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.