We got a request via email the other day to publish what the conference structure will look like in 2013-14, when the Big Ten and National Collegiate Hockey Conference begin play. The situation is still fluid, of course, but let’s take a look at what we have at the moment.
One caveat: I left the CCHA as it stands even though you have to think the likelihood that the league exists in 2013-14 is smaller than small. I did that because I don’t want to assume anything with the three CCHA teams that have yet to announce their intention. (We all know that Notre Dame won’t be there, but bear with me.)
So here it is:
ATLANTIC HOCKEY (12 teams, unchanged)
Air Force *
American International #
Army *
Bentley #
Canisius *
Connecticut *
Holy Cross *
Mercyhurst #
Niagara *
Rochester Institute of Technology ^
Robert Morris *
Sacred Heart *
BIG TEN (6 teams, new)
Michigan (from CCHA) *
Michigan State (from CCHA) *
Minnesota (from WCHA) *
Ohio State (from CCHA) *
Penn State (from independent) *
Wisconsin (from WCHA) *
CCHA (3 teams, loses 8)
Bowling Green *
Notre Dame *
Western Michigan *
ECAC HOCKEY (12 teams, unchanged)
Brown *
Clarkson ^
Colgate *
Cornell *
Dartmouth *
Harvard *
Princeton *
Quinnipiac *
Rensselaer ^
St. Lawrence ^
Union ^
Yale *
HOCKEY EAST (10 teams, unchanged)
Boston College *
Boston University *
Maine *
Massachusetts *
Massachusetts-Lowell #
Merrimack #
New Hampshire *
Northeastern *
Providence *
Vermont *
NCHC (6 teams, new)
Colorado College (from WCHA) ^
Denver (from WCHA) *
Miami (from CCHA) *
Minnesota-Duluth (from WCHA) #
Nebraska-Omaha (from WCHA) *
North Dakota (from WCHA) *
WCHA (9 teams, loses 7, adds 4)
Alaska (from CCHA) #
Alaska-Anchorage #
Bemidji State #
Ferris State (from CCHA) #
Lake Superior State (from CCHA) #
Michigan Tech #
Minnesota State #
Northern Michigan (from CCHA) #
St. Cloud State #
INDEPENDENT (1 team)
Alabama-Huntsville #
* – Schools at Division I level in all sports (38, 64 percent)
# – Schools at Division II level in most sports but Division I for hockey (15, 25 percent)
^ – Schools at Division III level in most sports but Division I for hockey (6, 10 percent)
Something jumped out to me in compiling the NCAA divisions for the schools, and that’s the remarkable change in structure that the WCHA is facing. As it stands today, it has five Division I teams, six Division II teams and one Division III team. All nine of the schools that have to date confirmed their place in the WCHA of the future are Division II members that play Division I men’s hockey. My friend Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press wrote about that here, and it’s pointed out that the WCHA needs Division I members Bowling Green or Western Michigan to keep its vote at the Division I table.
There’s no sense using concrete terms yet, though. This summer is bound to give us another twist or two.
