I track with you 100% except I can’t see any way Saylor could talk our way into being a Summit affiliate if the MAC sponsors hockey. What is the argument Miami (and Western for that matter) could make where we aren’t in a MAC hockey conference? Would Steinbrecher really sign off on something like that? I think if this really does blow up (and I have my doubts) and the MAC ends up doing hockey we aren’t going to have a choice in the matter.
And if the problem for the last 7 years is talent and if for the last 4 years the current coaching staff hasn’t recruited any talent, isn’t the real problem the current coaching staff? Sorry…I couldn’t pass up the opportunity…I mean, you just laid it out there for me to swing at
Back to lurking.
Edit: Might as well throw Bobby Mo into the MAC/MAAC mix.
This talk of differing conference levels reminds me of my days as a team manager for Seattle Junior’s peewee and bantam teams - especially during the fall Tiering in the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association in the BC Lower Mainland. During October and early November you played about six games against random teams to see who you match up the best against on a relatively equal footing. At the conclusion, you always wanted to be placed in a regular season tier where you could standardly either win 4-2 or lose 2-4, not one where you’d consistently hammer other teams 6-0 or get hammered 0-6. It’s amazing how much college hockey is now a mirror image of minor hockey in that area.
Lurker kinda mentioned the “white elephant in the room” w his last paragraph…we keep hearing how our recruiting talent would greatly suffer if we left for what is perceived as a lesser league, but at the same time our recruits of the last 7 years have not been able to make us even remotely competitive in our current conference. Realize a new coaching staff was brought in to address and that takes some time…there have been glimmers of hope this year but we still look to be a second division NCHC team again.
Yeah, regardless of conference realignment, we just need to have a better team. Debates over the value of 19 wins in the NCHC vs. 25 in the CCHC are pointless when we currently have 7 wins.
I think a MAC hockey league with 6-8 teams would be fine. We would probably have a recruiting advantage like people said, and could accumulate some silverware and tournament appearances quickly. Our chances at a national championship would be much lower, but a full arena and more winning seasons would make for happier fans. I wouldn’t be too unhappy with that trade off.
If rules oversight ends up driving realignment I could see small groupings breaking out in the midwest based on larger conference affiliation. Less work for the conference to absorb, better odds of making the NCAA tournament, more flexibility to schedule non-conference games.
MAC/GLIAC: Miami, BG, Western, Ferris, N. Michigan, Lake State, Michigan Tech
Northern Sun: Duluth, St Cloud, Bemidji, Augustana, Minnesota State, Lindenwood
Summit: Omaha, North Dakota, Denver, St. Thomas, CC, Arizona St
If the MAC decides to sponsor hockey, there’s no way we don’t join that conference. (There’s also no way the MAC sponsors hockey without the three hockey schools voting yes.)
If they could negotiate a scheduling alliance with the Big Ten it would be good for both sides and college hockey as a whole. So you can be assured it wouldn’t happen lol.
Out of curiosity, what do you think the MAC schools would bring to B10 hockey in a scheduling alliance? I know what we’d get out of it: regional rivalry games OOC and access to their network. I don’t see what we’d bring to the table to leverage it into a win-win.
Balanced scheduling, OOC regional games, no financial guarantees to be paid out.
The BTN only carries 23 games and the rest are streaming. In any deal I would assume they would keep all of the BTN games and non conference goes to streaming. Assuming our streaming deal with ESPN carries over to hockey so they get access to having OOC games on ESPN. Network access becomes a wash if not tilted in their favor due to standalone subscription nature of BIG+
Not sure how it would impact things financially, but just as a fan, moving from NCHC TV to ESPN+ in a MAC hockey scenario would be a huge win in terms of accessibility of games.
Well, maybe by force, a future change to a MAC-based hockey league will save us from the exit fees of the NCHC…lately our hockey fortunes seem to have been actually been declining as the season progresses.
