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Okay, folks, let's see if we can address this without cheap shots. I think that we all need to think very hard about what we are getting ourselves into before we willy-nilly endorse every school that comes along to join Division I hockey and become a part of established conferences. And before it comes up, I'm not simply trying to exclude any small school and I'm not trying to horde all of the hockey excitement for those privileged few who already have it. If your responses can't rise above that level, then kindly butt out of the discussion. In any system, you need to maintain a balance between changing to keep fresh and holding on to some tradition and continuity. Ezactly what that balance is, well that can be hard to determine. The way people are talking, though, we should be willing to accept 15-25% expansion in DivI hockey and anyone who stops to question if this is a good idea is shouted down. Well, I'm saying that I'm not sure that this is a great idea, at least not if the plan is also to fit the new schools into existing conferences. The first problem I see is dilution of talent. If such a dilution was spread equally among the teams, this wouldn't cause me a lot of grief; I'd still find the game exciting even if the average talent level was lower. Unfortunately, it won't be spread evenly. In the WCHA, Minnesota and Wisconsin won't feel the pinch nearly as strongly as anyone else. Already, the Gophers have a huge edge in recruiting the players they want; if you don't think that this causes a lot of resentment, ask the folks in Duluth how they feel about Dave Spehar going from Duluth East to Minnesota next year. St. Cloud State joining the league has hurt the Bulldogs recruiting. This problem will only become worse if they are also competing with Mankato, Bemidji, NDSU and Nebraska-Omaha. Professional sports get around this problem by holding a draft; this forces the opportunities to acquire talent to even out (though those of us who skip past Timberwolves headlines every day can testify to the fact that these opportunities are not always seized upon). This is not to say that the smaller schools will remain perpetually uncompetitive. But it will reinforce the big schools ability to be at or near the top every year. Either that, or you'll get a number of schools whose programs more closely resemble that of Ferris State (never better than mediocre) or Kent State (crash and burn) than those that resemble Lake Superior State. We already have programs that are struggling to cope with the changes in Canadian Junior hockey that are keeping more top players up there. (At least that's the reason given by some of the Northern Michigan people for what has happened to the Wildcat program.) One way to avoid some of these problems is to expand more slowly. If you flood the pool of teams, all of this is magnified. Give the hockey world a chance to absorb the new entrants before flooding more in. Eric Burton's comment about Nebraska-Omaha not building a football program was not well phrased, and I don't know anything about the situation there to know if what I'm about to say fits them specifically or is just good to keep in mind generically. If they don't even have club hockey yet, I don't think that it's at all unreasonable to ask them to step up in increments. Dragging in information form another thread, we seem to have established that this is precisely what Lake State did. Again, build slowly. There has been a lot of comment about how the competitive balance in the CCHA is tightening up. In addition to the fact that we ought to wait and see if we have a one or two year phenomenon on our hands, take a close look at the developments. UIC and Ferris are still struggling and Miami has regressed since Gwozdecky left. The major improvement has been by Notre Dame and Ohio State. These are not exactly small schools. They have made a committment that involves resources that a lot of smaller schools will have trouble matching. This brings us to the subject of unintended consequences. On the surface of it, expanding hockey so that there are more fans enjoying it sounds like an unimpeachably good thing. But I wonder if NHL fans in Quebec and Winnipeg (and perhaps Edmonton and Ottawa and here in Minneapolis) still think so. If college hockey really takes off, some of the same financial pressures are going to be brought to bear. It will open the sport up to people who have no idea who Mass-Lowell, Lake Superior State or Colorado College are. But boy do they know Michigan and Notre Dame and Wisconsin; these schools are on TV all the time. Sure, it's a different sport, but they have name recognition. I think that we are already nearing the point where the six really big western schools (Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Minnesota) might be better off financially if they split into their own super-conference. They might soon be able to secure a TV contract on the strength of their names. If those of out there don't like this idea, then you ought to be careful about pushing changes that make it more likely. Weakening the competition in the established leagues and diluting the traditional bonds while at the same time expanding the amount of interest in college hockey in general may be a step in the wrong direction. As I said, I think everyone needs to step back and really think through the consequences of rapid expansion. You might not like where it heads. J. Michael Jackson HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.