Had some fun and tried to realign and expand the NCAA. I know it's pretty unrealistic in its entirety, but there might be some ideas that could work (most prominently Illinois adding a D1 program). Any thoughts on this from the college hockey fans on here?

N: New
M: Moved

Big 10:
Illinois (N)
Michigan State
Michigan
Minnesota
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Penn State
Rutgers (N)
UCLA (N)
USC (N)
Wisconsin

Hockey East:
Boston College
Boston University
Connecticut
Maine
UMass-Lowell
Massachusetts
Merrimack
New Hampshire
Northeastern
Providence
Quinnipac (M)
Syracuse (N)
Vermont

ECAC:
Brown
Clarkson
Colgate
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
Pennsylvania (N)
Princeton
Rensselaer
Rhode Island (N)
St. Lawrence
Union
Yale

Atlantic Hockey:
AIC
Air Force
Army
Bentley
Canisus
Holy Cross
Long Island (M)
Mercyhurst
Niagara
RIT
Sacred Heart
Stonehill (M)
Virginia (N)
West Virgina (N)

NCHC:
Arizona State (M)
Colorado
Denver
Miami (OH)
Minnesota-Duluth
North Dakota
North Dakota State (N)
Omaha
Oregon (N)
St. Cloud State
Western Michigan

CCHA:
Bemidji State
Bowling Green
Central Michigan (N)
Grand Valley State (N)
Ferrris State
Lake Superior State
Lindenwood (M)
Michigan Tech
Minnesota State
Northern Michigan
St. Thomas

Independents:
Alaska
Alaska Anchorage


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Wouldn't Air Force be a more logical fit for NCHC?

If I had a nickel every time a California team joined the Big 10, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.

Would make sense at first glance, but I feel like they'd want to stay in a conference with Army and the other schools they have a connection with now, even though it doesn't make sense geographically. But tbh College sport in total doesn't make sense geographically (for example: UCLA and USC joining Big 10, Hockey East being comprised of teams from New England and Indiana for a few years in the 2010s).

I agree with you

Probably, geographically, but I don't know if they're cut out for that league. CC wasn't when they were inducted in

No way Air Force would hang in the NCHC and no way the league wants them. They don't add anything of value to the conference.

The 2 Alaska schools, and Arizona State seem like they could build a conference with 3 more additions: Air Force, Lindenwood, and Albama-Huntsville.

With LIU, Stonehill, and other teams trying to make the jump to D-I (Saint Anselm and Utica) already discussing an Eastern conference that probably limits what happens out west to the above.

Getting Air Force to leave the Atlantic and conference matchups with Army would be difficult; but they haven't been as competitive there recently. As a Federal institution the travel costs aren't as big of a deal to them as other schools.

Arizona State would bolt that conference as soon as a better option came along (NCHC, Big Ten, or maybe some day a PAC conference) however so not sure AFA would see it as viable long term.

Probably the only way AFA would leave the Atlantic is they convinced all the Ivy League schools to join them in a new conference with Army (maybe Navy down the road?).

Aside from that the only western teams that would have enough pull to get AFA out would be if they joined a Pac-12 type conference like Notre Dame did with Big Ten.

Since only Arizona State is D-1 and no one else is close that is long way off.

I still don't understand why BYU doesn't pursue a D-1 hockey team either.

Yo, I feel you, man. It sucks when you gotta say goodbye to one of your boys on the team. But sometimes, the business side of things gets in the way of personal relationships. In this case, it looks like the cap situation forced the team's hand in trading away one of their talented players. These guys also need to balance their education and sports. Someone is smart enough to use this source https://essaylab.com/pay_for_papers_written for it, but someone decides to stop their career. But who knows, maybe this move will end up being a blessing in disguise. Maybe it'll give some other players on the squad a chance to step up and shine. Either way, it's always tough to see a bro leave, but you gotta trust the process and keep pushing forward.

how are the bot replies are getting more and more non-sensical lmao

Would you be willing to sell me one of those nickels? I'm looking for some start up capital to move Oregon to the Big-10

I’d be more than happy to give you both nickels , on the condition that Oregon replaces Maryland

Arizona State joining the NCHC

https://thesundevils.com/news/2023/7/5/mens-ice-hockey-arizona-state-to-join-nchc-starting-in-2024-25-season.aspx

Seems to me like Northwestern and Purdue or Iowa (already Big 10 members) would make more sense than adding the two California schools.

I'd put the California schools in the NCHC Western Conference with DU, CC, and Arizona State, and leave out North Dakota State.

Well now the Big XII conference has at least ONE school with ice hockey: Arizona State

Way too early to know how it will affect college hockey, but this is an explosive development for NCAA sports:

I can't help but see the changes and litigation going on in NCAA, CHL, U-Sports, USHL and wonder if there is a path forward for amatuer hockey to retain some of the structure of Junior Hockey and College Hockey access without major disruptions throughout the evolution of NIL and Unionization of players.

Hockey, for now, seems like the one collegiate sport that can survive outside of the "Super League" structure since it already has for so long but you never want to discount how this can impact the game. For example if budget cuts are rampant for non-Super League teams how does the athletic department handle it.

The Big Ten (+Notre Dame) schools will be fine and in fact this could even grant them more advantages in recruiting if the Super League status gives them more sponsorship opportunities and exposure to maximize NIL for hockey players. But the non-Super League schools, for example Bowling Green, Miami (OH), UConn, and Western Michigan could be impacted in their athletic department and it trickle down to hockey.