Category Archives: Editorial

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Editorial: UAH should consider women’s hockey

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Let me preface this by saying I expect none of this to happen. But as we are in the fourth season in which UAH has “suspended” the men’s varsity hockey program after failing to find a conference, dreaming is about all we have.

I was looking at how the independent NCAA Division I men’s hockey teams were faring this season, and it’s not great. The independents are playing at home about 30 percent of the time, which is about how it was for UAH when it was a D-I independent from 2010-13. They are also a combined 12-32-4 so far against teams in conferences, a .292 win percentage. Last season, the independents were 35-72-14 (.347) against the six conferences.

Adding insult to injury, independent programs had an average of nine players enter the transfer portal over the summer, more than double any of the conference based teams.

It continues to make me wonder whether UAH would have been able to build a viable program if the university had decided to stick it out as an independent. Good luck building a program without a conference in this day and age, and that’s not even considering things like NIL or payments to players in Division I.

But as I looked at the NCAA college hockey landscape and the setup of one conference in particular, it occurred to me that if UAH actually wanted to get back into hockey, it stood a better shot at viability if it created a women’s hockey program instead.

NCAA women’s hockey has two levels: National Collegiate (essentially a combined Divisions I and II, commonly referred to as Division I) and Division III. UAH would be in National Collegiate. This season, there are 44 programs at the National Collegiate level in five conferences (there are no independents). Delaware will make it 45 next season.

The conference in question is Atlantic Hockey America. This season, the men’s Atlantic Hockey Association and the women’s College Hockey America, which had shared some organization and administrative roles, formally merged into one brand.

UAH was a member of the men’s College Hockey America conference from 1999-2010, when the men’s league ceased, and tried to join Atlantic Hockey in 2021 but failed, leading to the program’s suspension.

AHA women has room to grow

I have opined before that Atlantic Hockey should have split, which would have given UAH a real option for a new conference home. The problem (which I should have recognized before) is that the NCAA has a moratorium on new single-sport conferences, meaning the AHA couldn’t spin off a new men’s hockey league if it wanted to unless all that league’s members are part of the same multi-sport conference (like the Big Ten).

The AHA men’s league has 11 teams, and although it will down to 10 when American International drops its program to Division II next year, the conference has been hesitant to add any others, including notable in-region independents like Long Island and Stonehill.

The women’s league has six teams, Lindenwood, Mercyhurst, Penn State, RIT, Robert Morris, and Syracuse, with a seventh, Delaware, joining when its program starts in 2025. It has room to grow, and Lindenwood, being in the St. Louis area, is the closest NCAA women’s hockey program to Huntsville.

And, just like with the men’s program, having a conference home, a championship to play for, and a path to the NCAA tournament would be critical for any chance to build a viable program.

The time is also right because of the continued growing popularity and participation in women’s hockey in particular and women’s sports in general.

Could UAH actually do it?

(Assuming UAH is actually interested, of course.)

First, the program would require funding to start up. The most logical source would be from the UAH hockey alumni group, which had spearheaded a financing plan for the men’s team if it had joined a conference. Would they be open to kickstarting a women’s team?

Second, this new Charger team would need to decide on where to play. Returning to Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center would be great, of course. The Huntsville Ice Sports Center has a 1,000-seat rink and has funding approved by the Huntsville City Council to expand with two more rinks.

Third, UAH would have to be accepted into a conference, specifically Atlantic Hockey America. That league would have to be open to accepting a new UAH program as a travel partner for Lindenwood and provide further stability. The AHA is bringing in Delaware as that program is just starting up, so there is ppreced

So there are significant ifs to UAH to having the first varsity women’s hockey program in the South, distinguishing the university once again as it did with the men’s program for all those years.

Another consideration: There have been rumors of UAH starting a football program soon but the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees has been reluctant to give the green light. I’m not sure if they’d be gung-ho about UAH adding women’s hockey when they’ve been cool to men’s hockey’s existence before.

But if UAH is allowed to start up a football program, there will likely need to be a women’s sport added for Title IX compliance. Women’s hockey would be a nice way to do it.

I think it’d be fun. And more likely to succeed.

Photo at top: Players from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University club women’s hockey teams battle for the puck. Photo by Jaime Crawford/JC Sports Photography

Opinion: Want UAH hockey? It’s time to join the club

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Let’s be frank: The likelihood of UAH restoring the NCAA hockey program is pretty low.

UAH has maintained that conference membership is mandatory. Current Division I leagues do not seem interested in expanding or realigning even to help the independent teams that are playing. And a common refrain is: Why would any conference accept a school who isn’t even playing?

But UAH is playing hockey right now. The club Chargers have been active since 2018, and have continued to play while the varsity program has been dormant.

“We know how much hockey has meant to this university and the alumni,” UAH club team head coach Tim Flynn said. “We want to make everyone who played and supported hockey at UAH, whether it be the club days, Division II or Division I, to be able to support their old team and be proud with the product we put on the ice as well as the student athletes that graduate from it. We’re certainly not a replacement for the Division I program, nor are we trying to be.”

Perhaps that’s been a problem the past couple of years. We’ve been lamenting about the hockey we’ve lost so much that we’ve forgotten about the hockey we have.

I admit I fell into this. For the last two years, I hated checking Twitter on Friday and Saturday nights during the fall and winter because seeing updates on NCAA hockey games only brought sadness.

Over the summer, head coach Tim Flynn told me the club team was looking to get more alumni engagement and sponsorship opportunities and really grow the program.

This finally got me thinking: I could spend another season sulking, or I could spend it writing again. The student-athletes and staff are willing to put in the effort to grow hockey at my alma mater. I want to help them in those efforts.

The NCAA program isn’t coming back, at least any time soon. Don’t let this prevent you supporting UAH hockey. The sport still exists at the university. Just because it isn’t Division I doesn’t mean it can’t be good or isn’t worthy of your time.

Besides, if the club team is well supported, then the odds of bringing back the NCAA program can only go up. It would show UAH and college hockey leadership (read: conferences) that Huntsville can support a Division I program. Honestly, that’s all we have right now.

In 1985, UAH needed sports as it was joining Division II of the NCAA. With three national club championships and drawing thousands at the Von Braun Center, adding hockey was an easy choice.

In recent years, schools like Penn State, Arizona State, and Lindenwood took strong club teams and turned them into varsity programs. It’s also the path another school in the South wants to follow.

Just over 100 miles from Huntsville, Tennessee State will start its club program in 2024. The first hockey team at an historically Black college or university has an eye toward NCAA Division I, although there is no specific timeline to get there. A probable factor deciding when TSU will make the jump is the likelihood of conference affiliation.

Wouldn’t it be great if UAH and TSU could start a hockey rivalry at the club level? And it eventually leads to the NCAA team coming back, joining TSU in a Division I conference?

That might just be a dream, and there are no guarantees. Even if it never materializes, the UAH club hockey team is important enough to be nutured if we really want college hockey to be a part of UAH’s identity again.

Let’s start growing the club again by attending games, donating, or buying merch. Show why hockey is worth investing in at the school that holds the trademark of “Hockey Capital of the South.”

If not Atlantic, then who?

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Last week, I suggested that Atlantic Hockey split into two conferences to provide homes to the new and independent programs in Division I and to get UAH back into the game.

I’m not the first to pose an idea like this. It was just the latest proposal accounting for the recent developments of new Division I programs at Lindenwood and Stonehill and the expected addition of Utica.

Ed Trefzger, a writer and podcaster for USCHO and the voice of RIT, asked why whenever new programs show up that people expect Atlantic Hockey to accommodate them.

It’s a very valid question, and one I asked myself when I wrote last week’s column. So, I thought I would try to answer it.

It probably isn’t fair for the burden to fall on Atlantic Hockey, but the problem involves a number of these programs being in the east and how college hockey has elected to structure itself over the past decade.

First, let’s clarify that Atlantic Hockey isn’t the only conference expected to do anything to help the independent programs. With Augustana and Lindenwood in the West, the CCHA is being looked at as the likely conference to bring one or both on — not the NCHC or Big Ten.

It’s the same situation in the East, where Long Island, Stonehill, and Utica will need conferences. No one is looking at any of these schools and immediately saying “that’s a Hockey East school” or “that’s an ECAC school.”

Power conferences want power schools, and until more power schools join Division I hockey, the power conferences won’t do anything, and they won’t be expected to.

Let’s see what the six current conferences could do in this round of realignment.

Big Ten

The Big Ten is currently the smallest conference with seven teams (six regular Big Ten members plus Notre Dame as a hockey-only affiliate). Obviously, any new hockey programs in the Big Ten would go here, with Illinois likely being the eighth if and when it decides to start up.

The Big Ten could consider others to be hockey-only members like Notre Dame. Arizona State, which played nothing but road games against Big Ten teams in the 2020-21 season, might fit the bill as it’s the only Power 5 school looking for a conference. ASU is also finally building its new arena.

NCHC

The most powerful conference in the West has been eight teams since it began play in 2013. The NCHC has not announced any plans for expansion, or be any hurry to whatsoever, so the following is just idle theory.

If the NCHC did decide to expand, there are not many schools within or near its footprint that could match the high-end attributes the league would be looking for. With its aforementioned new arena and Power 5 status, Arizona State could be attractive.

Otherwise, the NCHC could look at current CCHA teams. Minnesota State was denied entry in 2016 but could get another look as it has maintained being a national power under coach Mike Hastings. Or perhaps Bowling Green, one of only two full Division I schools in the CCHA that would unite with fellow MAC members Miami and Western Michigan.

CCHA

The CCHA just finished its first season with eight teams, seven from the old WCHA and St. Thomas. Last year, the CCHA seemed content with its size and told UAH it was not interested. Since then, two new Division I programs have emerged relatively nearby: Augustana and Lindenwood.

Augustana would be the most likely addition, as Sioux Falls, S.D. is just over 150 miles away from Minnesota State (Mankato) and is building an arena. The Vikings plan to begin play in 2023.

Lindenwood formally announced it’s men’s hockey program going Division I last month, starting play this fall. Its St. Charles, Mo., location makes it a geographical fit.

There’s also the chance it considers UAH again, but based on recent history, that seems like a longshot.

Hockey East

The East’s most powerful league has 11 members, so it has room for an even 12th. But like the NCHC, it would want a program with particular qualities. The last time the men’s league expanded was 2014 with the addition of UConn from Atlantic Hockey, which put Hockey East at 12 teams until Notre Dame left for the Big Ten in 2017.

Perhaps if a new men’s program from a Power 5 school in the east emerges (like a Syracuse, for example), maybe Hockey East will make a move, but there’s nothing to suggest it will happen anytime soon.

ECAC

The ECAC is Division I hockey’s largest conference by membership with 12 teams, so whether there’s room for growth is a matter of opinion. It last expanded in 2005 with the addition of Quinnipiac from Atlantic Hockey.

The problem here, too, is that even if the ECAC was open to expansion beyond 12, it’s doubtful that it would consider the three new, would-be, and independent programs in the Northeast (Long Island, Stonehill, and Utica).

Could the Ivy League make an official split from the ECAC, which could allow the ECAC room to take programs like a Sacred Heart from Atlantic Hockey, perhaps making Atlantic more flexible in taking the new programs? They could, but it’s unlikely the Ivies would get any benefit from it.

So that leaves…

Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey is will be back at 11 teams by 2023 with the official reinstatement of Robert Morris. They could take Long Island, which has been trying to get in since they started. They could take Stonehill, which just announced it was moving up to Division I. They could take Lindenwood, who’s women’s team is in College Hockey America, which shares three teams and administration. When it becomes official, they could take Utica, which led Division III in attendance.

They could also take UAH. They could also do nothing. You know what I think they should do.

Anyone else?

I haven’t even mentioned Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks. Before the realignment of 2013, Anchorage was in the old WCHA and Fairbanks was in the old CCHA. Now there is no WCHA and the new CCHA was formed in part to get away from Alaska in the first place, so there’s no reason to think any of the current conferences will consider them.

They’re stuck until more programs start up west of the Rockies. Washington? Oregon? Simon Fraser? These plus the Alaskas and Arizona State could put something together. That would be ideal.

In the end, no conference has to do anything regarding new members. The reason many think Atlantic Hockey (and the CCHA) could — and should — do something to help new and independent programs is because we know the others won’t. It’s why UAH identified Atlantic and CCHA to be the only two possibilities in it’s attempts to join a conference.

Is it fair? No, but what else is there? It may not have always been this way, but men’s hockey has elected to structure itself like every major sport in Division I, where resources and pedigree mean just as much if not more than your geographical location. If you haven’t garnered the resources and pedigree, the options of where you can be accepted are limited. The days where a Ferris State can be in the same league as Michigan are gone.

So, Atlantic Hockey and CCHA, what will you do?

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Atlantic split necessary for UAH, new programs

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A whole college hockey season has happened since our last post, mainly because nothing has happened since last summer in regards to the UAH hockey program. It remains suspended without a conference affiliation. The situations at Atlantic Hockey and CCHA haven’t changed.

Things may be coming to a head, however. More realignment could be on the horizon, and UAH will need to pay attention if it wants to get back into the game.

The focus right now appears to be on Atlantic Hockey, which closed a door on UAH last June when it voted not to expand. Back then, UAH, Long Island, and an unnamed third school had expressed interest in joining that league.

That third school may have been Utica University. Utica currently plays hockey at the Division III level, but the whole athletic department is planning a move up to Division II (which will be voted on by the Division II body at the NCAA convention next February). The Pioneers, which have led all of Division III in attendance with over 3,000 per game this last two seasons, would have to make a decision for hockey: Play at the Division II level, which has only six other schools, or play up to Division I, which they can do because there is no Division II championship.

If Utica plays up, Atlantic Hockey would be their target. According to Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob Degregorio, the league and Utica have been talking informally for several months. The conference had this season’s tournament at the Utica Memorial Auditorium last month.

It may be a while before Utica’s move is official, but one school announced a change last week. Stonehill College, one of those few remaining hockey programs playing at the Division II level, is moving its entire athletic program to Division I and joining the Northeast Conference as its primary league. Hockey will play as an independent starting this fall.

And then there’s Long Island University in Brooklyn, which just completed its second season in men’s hockey. The Sharks had a scheduling agreement with Atlantic Hockey during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.

Atlantic Hockey’s athletic directors voted last week to reinstate Robert Morris University when the Colonials return to the ice in 2023. The presidents of the league are expected to make it official in the summer, which would put the conference back at 11 teams.

If Atlantic wanted to bring in Stonehill, Long Island, and Utica, it would have 14.

These potential and newly-announced Division I programs are fits for Atlantic Hockey from geographical and financial perspectives, but the conference may be hesitant to take them all. Aside from the lack of uniform scheduling that would come with a conference that big, that’s a lot of competition for the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which is usually its only bid to the NCAA tournament.

It would be best from a competitive standpoint if Atlantic Hockey split into two leagues. In fact, Atlantic Hockey splitting may be the only way these new programs can get into a conference at all. According to sources telling Mike McMahon in College Hockey Insider, Atlantic is very split on Utica joining.

What would the two conferences look like? Let’s start by geographically splitting the current Atlantic Hockey into west and east, separated by the Catskills, and then putting Air Force along with Army because apparently the service academies are joined at the hip. Since this new league primarily includes schools in New York and Pennsylvania, I’ll call it Mid-Atlantic College Hockey (MACH) and let someone else come up with a better name.*

Then, to the original AHA, add Long Island and Stonehill. In the MACH, add Utica and a certain school in Alabama.

Next, consider Lindenwood University, which announced in March that it’s men’s team is going varsity and Division I this fall. Lindenwood’s women’s team is in College Hockey America, which has Mercyhurst, RIT, and Robert Morris, so the men’s program can join those same schools in the MACH.

The result: Two conferences of eight. Four new programs have homes, and we get our hockey team back.

MACHAHA
CanisiusAIC
MercyhurstAir Force
NiagaraArmy
RITBentley
Robert MorrisHoly Cross
UAH*Sacred Heart
Lindenwood*Long Island*
Utica*Stonehill*
* Added teams.

A couple of things could trip this up. Utica could somehow not be approved to move to Division II, meaning its hockey program would have to stay at Division III. It’s possible Lindenwood could join the CCHA, making that conference 10 members if it brings in it and Augustana, whose program is planning a Division I start in fall of 2023. (It’s theoretically possible that the CCHA looks at UAH as that tenth team, which would be great, but I’m pessimistic about that.)

As for timing, it would be fabulous if the split was announced this summer, allowing for this dream timeline:

  • Summer 2022: The announcement of the new league featuring Canisius, Lindenwood, Mercyhurst, Niagara, RIT, and Robert Morris, with the aim of adding two more, to begin play in the 2024-25 season. Two years was the same amount of time the seven teams who broke away from the WCHA took to start up the new CCHA.
  • Late summer 2022: UAH soon applies to join the new league and is accepted. UAH immediately announces it will bring back the hockey program, playing an independent schedule in 2023-24 to get back into the swing of things and then MACH play in 2024-25.
  • 2022-23 season: Lindenwood and Stonehill begin Division I play as independents, with Long Island starting its third season as an independent.
  • February 2023: Utica is officially approved to join Division II at the NCAA Convention. Utica soon announces its men’s hockey program will play at Division I as an independent in the 2023-24 season. Utica then applies to join the new league and is approved to play starting in 2024-25.
  • By summer 2023: Long Island and Stonehill are accepted to join Atlantic Hockey beginning in the 2024-25 season.
  • 2023-24 season: Robert Morris plays in Atlantic Hockey one last time (or because they’re leaving for the MACH anyway, RMU plays as an independent to get ready, just like UAH). Utica is now a Division I independent. UAH, Lindenwood, RMU, and Utica could even schedule each other in sort of a MACH preview.
  • 2024-25 season: Let’s play MACH hockey.

Somebody with the power please make this happen.

I hope that if any split takes place, it’s done transparently and amicably among all members of Atlantic Hockey and its staff. The idea is not to tear down Atlantic Hockey but giving new programs into Division I but giving them a fair chance to succeed, while opening up an extra slice of the NCAA tournament pie for these teams to shoot for.

Realignment has been speculated for a while, but it really is a necessity at this point. Unless you’re a school from a Power 5 conference like Arizona State, being an independent is a serious disadvantage, with added difficulty of securing home games and not having a championship and NCAA automatic bid to play for. While it’s great that these new programs are starting, if they do not find conferences to play in, they will likely be non-factors competitively.

I suspect more programs would start up if they knew they had a conference home to go to. UAH being in a conference with openings would make that feasibility study at Tennessee State look better, for example.

If you’re a UAH supporter, it’s understandable if you’re skeptical about the university even trying to find a conference and resurrect the program after all that’s happened. The upside is that there hasn’t been any indication that the advisory board has given up, which I think is important in making sure that UAH, as stated in the press release announcing the suspension of the program, continues “to advocate for conference membership” and “to promptly reinstate its hockey program” once membership is secured.

A lack of opportunities is what put things to a halt over the last year. There’s no guarantee an opportunity will appear this offseason, but if college hockey is going to grow like this, realignment isn’t just expected, it’s necessary. UAH must be ready to make that call.

* The inclination I've seen for this hypothetical conference is to call it "College Hockey America." That could happen, but I'd want a new league to have a fresh start (much like UAH itself) and not tie itself to a league that, on the men's side, never was stable enough or lasted long enough to develop a history or tradition to attach your identity (unlike what the new CCHA did). "MACH" would be interesting though. I'd think aerospace-centered UAH would love to be in a league whose tagline is "Hockey at MACH speed" and could colloquially be called "The MACH 8."

Next step unclear as UAH makes hard decision to sit out

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Perhaps in some alternate universe, UAH was accepted by the CCHA.

Not the new CCHA, the conference formed by most of the old WCHA and St. Thomas, but the original CCHA, which featured Michigan and Notre Dame and voted to deny UAH’s bid to join the league on August 11, 2009.

In this alternate timeline, the Chargers avoid playing as a Division I independent from 2010-13. UAH then joins the WCHA along with the other CCHA leftovers when the Big Ten and NCHC break off and form in 2013. Events play out as they do in this reality: Seven schools leave the WCHA to form the new CCHA, leaving UAH and the Alaska schools behind.

If UAH didn’t have to play as an independent then, would they be playing as an independent now? UAH has made it clear that it will not play as a Division I independent without a bid in tow.

The 2021-22 college hockey regular season gets under way this weekend with the Chargers sitting out after failing to secure conference membership, and the troubles that came with playing as an independent back then are a big reason why.

UAH’s previous experience as a Division I independent

UAH was a Division I independent from 1987-92, but the Chargers didn’t play a full Division I schedule. UAH played a handful of Division III and Canadian schools. There was a route to the NCAA tournament, however, with the independent teams playing their own tournament with an automatic bid on the line (UAH actually hosted this in 1991), so not being in a league was not as important as it is today.

The better comparison to today’s situation would be just over a decade ago, when the original CCHA’s decision not to accept UAH left the Chargers without a home after the 2009-10 season, the last for the men’s College Hockey America.

In the final season of the CHA, the Chargers had a 12-18-3 record, rolling with future NHL goaltender Cam Talbot and winning the final CHA tournament for their second NCAA Division I tournament berth. UAH fought hard against No. 1 Miami but lost 2-1.

There were already suggestions that the future of the program was in doubt, but UAH opted to continue the program as a Division I independent. It did not go well, as in the 2010-11 season, UAH won four games. In 2011-12, the Chargers won two.

It didn’t help that UAH played mostly on the road. In the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, the Chargers only played 20 of 63 (31 percent) games at the Von Braun Center. UAH’s home season was usually over by early January.

All that was before UAH had to be saved the first time in 2011, and the stigma of being a program on the ropes that came with it.

The 2012-13 season schedule was scrapped when the program was canceled in October 2011, and had to be built from scratch after it was saved in December. In 2012-13, UAH played only five home games (that weren’t exhibitions against club teams or the USA Under-18 team) with three against Division III opponents. The Chargers played 18 games on the road.

Even during the WCHA era, UAH had trouble bringing in non-conference opponents down to Huntsville. From 2013-20, the Chargers played only eight non-conference games (four series) at home. One of those series, against St. Cloud, was basically a favor to Huntsville native Nic Dowd, who was a senior with the Huskies at the time.

It’s extremely difficult for a program like UAH to overcome these obstacles and field a competitive Division I program as an independent. We know the funding is there, but it can be moot if you cannot build a fanbase with home games or tell recruits that they will have a championship to play for.

And this is why UAH chose to pause the program instead of going the independent route again.

Being an independent today

Would things be different for UAH as an independent now than from 10 years ago? Back then, UAH was the only Division I independent. Now there are five.

Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks, the two others the schools in the new CCHA left behind, are attempting to continue their programs as independents. Anchorage plans to resume play in 2022-23 after saving its program from the cutting block. Fairbanks is playing this season.

Fairbanks can be commended for securing 14 home games as an independent this season, already more than UAH could manage in the early 2010s. Can the Nanooks keep that up? Having Anchorage back should help, but the Seawolves and Nanooks can only play each other so many times.

Both programs last played as independents almost 30 years ago, when the economics of college hockey were more conducive for it. It will be interesting to see if they will be able to build competitive programs with the same barriers UAH had to deal with a decade ago and the additional distance from their locations.

Long Island University, which started play last season, had a scheduling alliance with Atlantic Hockey last season but has not been able to become a permanent member. This season, the Sharks will play 11 out of their 36 games at Northwell Health Ice Center, the training facility for the New York Islanders, but only five of those games are against Division I opponents (the rest being Division II).

The one program that has seen some success as an independent as of late has been Arizona State, which is entering its seventh season of play. In 2019, the Sun Devils became the first independent to make the NCAA tournament since 1992, when Alaska Anchorage got an automatic bid through that Division I independents’ tournament.

ASU has stayed independent in part because its primary facility, Oceanside Ice Arena, which has a capacity of only 747. The Sun Devils also plan to open a 5,000-seat, on-campus arena by the end of next year, and it would not be surprising to see them in a conference soon. ASU is also a Power 5 school with an enrollment and an endowment 12 times that of UAH, so it’s an unfair comparison.

What options does UAH have?

UAH needs a conference affiliation to restart the program. What options are there?

UAH can hope Atlantic Hockey will re-open discussions on expansion. If successful in its fundraiser, a restarted Robert Morris program will apply to re-join Atlantic, and UAH could try again to become the 12th team.

The CCHA has maintained that it’s content to stay at eight teams. It’s unlikely they will listen to UAH’s proposals in the near future, but it would not hurt to try should the opportunity arise.

UAH officials and the alumni group have said they believe that further realignment is coming, which could open an opportunity for the Chargers to join a conference and resume play. It’s unknown when that realignment would take place, though, leaving options limited.

One thought is: What if the programs without a conference decide to form their own?

Not including Arizona State, which is its own level compared to other independent programs, there are four schools at this moment without a league: UAH, Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, and Long Island. There are two schools who are reportedly close to announcing new varsity hockey programs soon: Augustana (S.D.) and Lindenwood (Mo.). That’s six teams that could conceivably form a league. If Robert Morris saves its program but can’t get back into Atlantic, that’s seven.

Such an arrangement would be similar to the formation of the men’s College Hockey America in 1999, which brought in three Division I independents (Army, Air Force, Niagara), three programs moving up from Division II (UAH, Bemidji State, Findlay), and one new program (Wayne State).

The upside: It’s a league, at least. Guaranteed home games and a path to the NCAA tournament. The downside: Such a far-flung league would have serious travel costs. Like the original CHA, it would only take a couple of schools to find new conferences with better travel situations to bring it down.

Maybe that’s all this new league needs to be, though: a temporarily solution until Division I hockey figures out how to work for schools like UAH, whose only other option is to fold forever.

Or bring back the Division I independents tournament and give them an automatic bid to the NCAAs again (ha). That would solve the “something to play for” problem, at least.

This is all speculation, however. Maybe there are plans coming together that we’re not yet privy too. But whether the Chargers are playing this season or not, the future is cloudy.

Editorial: Delays in league search put UAH in a bind

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Is this the end to UAH hockey, once and for all? Some may seem to think it is, but I’m not so sure.

There’s a lot of understandable anger out there because of the university’s decision to suspend the hockey program for the 2021-22 season while it continues trying to secure a conference home.

It would be easy to use this column to rant and rave, but I’m more sad than angry. And I don’t think this was some underhanded plot to kill the program for good.

The announcement to suspend was made with top alumni donors and advisory board members Sheldon Wolitski and Taso Sofikitis, who made it clear that this isn’t giving up. They are disappointed, sure, but I didn’t get the sense that they were angry at athletics director Cade Smith and president Darren Dawson, or that they were left out of the discussions leading up to this.

The situation is complicated, with many moving parts (and people).

UAH got caught in a time crunch when it came to finding that league home. A deadline of March 1 was set in which they were to make a decision on the next season, and it passed without a conference invite.

The CCHA had told UAH early that it wasn’t interested. That has left the currently only viable option, Atlantic Hockey.

They extended the deadline by two months, and still do not have an answer from Atlantic Hockey. Now it’s May, and the student-athletes need to know now whether to stay or go.

The way things are going, it will at least the middle of summer before we know for sure if UAH is joining Atlantic. You could wait until then to make a decision, but then you’re asking the players to take a risk that there will be a roster spot waiting for them elsewhere if the answer is no.

The NCAA transfer portal is a traffic jam right now. Teams are picking up transfers right now. UAH had two players coming before the decision. That’s why David Fessenden and Quinn Green were proactive in going into the portal.

That’s the bind UAH found itself in.

Meanwhile, Atlantic Hockey is not obliged to rush a decision for UAH’s sake. The powers that be in Atlantic understand how important their decision will be to the continued existence of the program. They have seen over the last year the support given to UAH to keep going. But they have to look out for the 11 teams that are in their league right now. Getting through this past season during the pandemic didn’t help.

UAH’s offer of $25,000 per series that Atlantic teams come to Huntsville is very generous. It shows that the university is serious.

However, the concerns that Cade Smith said have been brought up to him are valid. UAH is not in the geographical footprint of Atlantic Hockey (or any other conference), and the Northeast-based AHA already has an outlier in Colorado (Air Force).

There are also the concerns about UAH’s recent history. To be blunt, UAH blew it in the WCHA under former athletic director E.J. Brophy. The program was never promoted or given the proper resources needed to build a contender, and it showed.

These questions also have potential answers. With 12 (or more) teams, Atlantic Hockey can creatively schedule so that no one in the core Northeast has to visit Alabama and Colorado in the same season, or have divisions. And the last year has shown that there are better people running the show.

Was suspending the program for next season the correct decision? Could UAH have played as an independent this fall?

Playing as an independent next season only works if we know that UAH going into a conference, and we won’t know that for a while yet. And then, you’re asking the student-athletes to risk their playing status by waiting past the time when most teams have roster spots open.

Obviously, suspending the program has its own risks. If UAH does get in Atlantic, the roster would have to be rebuilt from scratch again, although this time there would be something to sell. And of course, the public backlash.

I feel for the current Chargers. While making this decision now maximizes the opportunities for the student-athletes to play next season, those who really want to stay will have to do so knowing they won’t be playing hockey (unless playing on the UAH club team is allowed).

But UAH has made its decision, and it wasn’t taken lightly. The ship that is UAH hockey is at the mercy of the college hockey winds right now. Let’s just hope it makes it to the other side intact.

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Editorial: No matter the goal, every season ticket sold helps

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Like that Bernie Sanders meme, we are once again asking for your support.

It’s been about seven weeks since the UAH hockey program was allowed to continue thanks to a crazy week where over $750,000 was raised.

That was to keep the program afloat. Now the Save UAH Hockey group is helping UAH lay the foundation to develop a powerful Division I program and never again have to rally support just to keep it alive.

Buy or donate 2020-21 UAH hockey season tickets

The foundation includes a strong season ticket base, which will help convince the CCHA or Atlantic Hockey to take a chance on the Chargers because they are in it for the long haul.

Hence the season ticket drive, which started on July 7 and expected to go through July 20.

So far, over 300 season tickets have been bought and/or donated, which is already an increase from recent years but well short of the ambitious goal of 3,000 the Save UAH Hockey group has envisioned.

It’s understandable. It’s much easier to get thousands to simply pitch in $10 or so to immediately save the program than it is to get thousands to pay $162 or more and commit eight weekends heading down to the VBC.

It doesn’t help that the 2020-21 season is by no means guaranteed to happen because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The thing is, UAH need those season ticket sales now. While not hitting the 3,000-ticket goal won’t kill UAH’s chances of getting in a conference, the more sold the better.

And the sooner the better. UAH plans on discussing membership with the CCHA and Atlantic Hockey later this summer and, as they say in golf, post a number they cannot ignore.

Conferences begin preparing their schedules several months in advance, taking into account arena availability and existing non-conference commitments. You can bet 2020-21 schedules are already in the molding process.

If UAH wants to avoid being an independent, it needs to do this now. And this drive is to let those leagues know that the Chargers are in it for the long haul and can be a valuable asset.

Times are tough, but if you really want to help Charger hockey reach the next level and have the means, please consider getting season tickets, or donating season tickets if you know you won’t be able to go to the games should they happen.

If the pandemic cancels this season, the tickets will go to 2021-22. You will get hockey regardless.

Whenever you do come back to Charger hockey, the experience will be different. UAH and the advisory board are planning to make the experience at the VBC a lot more energetic and exciting, a lot closer to what you expect at a Huntsville Havoc game.

Plus, you can bet Lance West’s roster is going to be hungry. Expect an effort to be proud of every night.

More season tickets sold means more consistently larger crowds, which contributes to the experience further. There’s nothing like a big, boisterous college hockey crowd.

And the more season tickets are sold, the more of a cut UAH gets thanks to a renegotiated deal with the VBC. That’s more funds to put into a competitive program with designs on championships.

And then UAH can truly again be the “Hockey Capital of the South.”

There’s some excitement brewing with this newly restructured program. UAH hockey can be something truly special. This is another chance to be a part of it.

Reaction to the cancellation of the UAH hockey program

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Here is some reaction to the news that UAH is cancelling the varsity hockey program:

I have put 18 years of dedication into this sport through blood sweat and tears to play Division I hockey and that was ripped away from me. I no longer have a team to play for and am disappointed.

Ayodele Adeniye, incoming freshman

My initial reaction is to think about the kids. They made a commitment to the school, community and team and to have this decision slapped in their face doesn’t seem right. Plus to drag tennis into this is ridiculous.

What makes it worse for me is I coached several of the kids, from recent grads to commitments that are still a year or two away and guys in between. Naturally, the Preds and NHL are readily available for most to watch, at least on television, but UAH was the college team kids from Tennessee, Georgia and naturally Alabama could relate too, where they could really put their dream into a vision to drive them forward. This decision leaves a huge void for youth hockey in America now.

To the UAH hockey family, there have been a lot more sour days than great days recently, but anytime I was at the rink, regardless of the score, everyone always had a smile on their face. Our experiences together made my time as a player and fan so memorable and fortunately the trustees can’t take away.

I hope there is an opportunity to give the program a legitimate shot. Taso, Sheldon and others have been tremendous supporters of the team and more importantly the entire athletics department. For leadership to treat those pillars with very little regard makes writing this note a little easier.
Unfortunately, this horse has been shot at many times, hopefully these chargers are able to get out of the stable once again.

Cheers to Charger Hockey.

Steve Milosevski, forward (2000-04)

It’s hard to put into words how sad, angry, disgusted (and any other synonyms) I am with what has transpired with the University of Alabama-Huntsville president and athletic director in their move to disband the Chargers hockey program. It hurts because I was there at Day One, a summer afternoon in 1979 when it was announced UAH would have a club hockey program. It hurts because I played two years for the Chargers. It hurts because I know how much the community embraced the Chargers. It hurts because some young men – as recent as Thursday – were making plans to come to Huntsville to be UAH student athletes. It hurts because the 28 current players are having to find other schools if they want to continue playing collegiate hockey. And it hurts because the announcement came late Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend, aka “Friday news dump.” There was no press conference even though eliminating the sole NCAA Division I program at a NCAA Division II institution is pretty important news – especially because of how the Chargers hockey team is part of the fabric that is Huntsville. Hell, the announcement was on a news statement halfway down the home page of uah.edu with the headline: “COVID-19 forcing UAH to take steps for more budget reductions”. There was no meeting with alums or community leaders to discuss options and alternatives to cutting the program. The administration cold-blooded axed a 41-year-old program that has produced the school’s only NCAA national championships – yes, two national championships; a program that brought national acclaim to UAH; a program whose alumni have become presidents and CEOs of national and international businesses; a program that saw its alums raise some $225K annually – no other UAH team comes near that. And now it’s gone. I can state that I am proud to be a former Charger hockey player and I am proud to call my former teammates and other former Chargers my brothers. But I am not proud of UAH, and that really hurts.

Bud McLaughlin, goaltender (1980-82)

UAH hockey has always been my Alabama football or Auburn football. Growing up here in Huntsville I was certainly an anomaly in the ’90s by being able to play for UAH hockey. I have always taken pride in the program and done my best to support it. For the administration to completely dismiss it every year for so long is just ridiculous. No program in the country has fought as hard just to exist as UAH hockey. Yhere are so many quality individuals that have been a part of this program in varying capacities (players, staff, volunteers, etc). 

I have many questions, but the first is why didn’t the administrators reach out to the alumni and boosters prior to making this decision? Did they not learn anything from 2012? Do they think we didn’t deserve the chance to try and save the program?  Sure maybe it isn’t possible but let us try. Everyone I know equates UAH athletics with hockey. That has to mean something, or maybe not.

Matt Parker, forward (1994-98)

Sad and disappointed to hear of the University’s decision to cut the hockey program at UAH. They gave me the opportunity to continue my playing career after juniors and the platform to achieve my dream of playing in the NHL. I wish all the students athletes affected by this all the best and hope they can find a new home to continue to follow their dreams of playing hockey at the collegiate level.

Cam Talbot, goaltender (2007-10)

UAH needs to be prepare for the WCHA’s looming demise

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College hockey realignment is happening again. Is UAH ready?

On Friday, seven WCHA schools announced they plan to break away and form a new league that would begin play in the 2021-22 season, leaving UAH, Alaska, and Alaska Anchorage. Barring getting a handful of new members, the conference’s days are effectively numbered.

The “Runaway Seven” are tired of having to travel to Alabama and/or Alaska (sometimes twice) every year, even though UAH, UAA, and UAF were providing them subsidies. They are also tired of UAH and the Alaska schools dragging the league down, wanting to play with members who display “a level of institutional investment that demonstrates significant commitment to their hockey programs and facilities.”

It was inevitable, when you think about it. The current WCHA was a forced marriage of leftovers from the WCHA and CCHA following the formation of the NCHC, and UAH. Bowling Green is the biggest of the lot, the only full Division I university. This setup was going to tax budgets and schools were going to be unhappy.

UAH interim athletics director Dr. Cade Smith, who took over for E.J. Brophy last month, released a statement on Monday, saying the news came without warning and that the university is “committed to hockey, and we want to do what it takes to give our program what it needs to be successful.”

I do not doubt Dr. Smith, but the administration must step it up to make UAH attractive to potential conference suitors.

Last year, I wrote about how the UAH hockey program had improved since joining the WCHA, but risked stagnation without a proper boost in support.

I listed a number of areas of focus, from increasing marketing and promotions (a notorious problem), raising the recruiting budget, growing booster club membership, increasing student involvement, and improving media production.

Since then, the Doug Ross Hockey Suite and a brand new weight room opened last fall thanks to the generosity of UAH hockey supporters.

However, those same issues are still prevalent, especially compared to the many peers in the WCHA. And, whatever you think of his coaching record, puts Mike Corbett at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting and reduces UAH’s image in the eyes of the WCHA and the college hockey world.

Going forward, UAH has the potential to be in good shape with the proposed multi-use facility that would be Charger hockey’s new on-campus home. However, that’s still just an idea that certainly won’t be ready by 2021 and it’s unknown whether the looming breakup of the WCHA will affect the project.

For now, UAH must expect to go above and beyond what was necessary to get into the WCHA in 2013.

A critical factor: Who UAH hires as its next athletics director.

Brophy is no longer the AD, being reassigned within the university. Smith, who is also the Charger volleyball coach, is serving as AD on an interim basis. UAH probably won’t hire a permanent AD until Brophy’s contract expires next year.

UAH might consider posting the position right away.

Dr. Darren Dawson, who recently became UAH’s new president, will be making the hire. Dawson succeeded Dr. Robert Alterkirch, who made the decision to save the hockey program in 2013 and was the proponent of the proposed new arena.

Optimally, UAH needs someone with administrative experience in hockey, someone who knows the college hockey landscape and has trust within it, and someone who will find innovate ways to raise funds, increase student and community involvement.

The current and future leaders of UAH athletics must see the potential and act on it.

UAH hockey simply can’t be an independent program again. In this round of musical chairs, just getting by isn’t going to cut it.

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Editorial: Widespread conference schedule exemption

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It is time for a new exemption in college hockey: If you play in a geographically diverse conference, all non-Alaska members can play one home series each season that can be exempted from the visitors’ schedule maximum.

The Alaska Exemption

College hockey fans generally know about “the Alaskan exemption” if you schedule games at either Alaska or Alaska-Anchorage, those games do not count against your 34-game maximum, and as such you can schedule 36 games against Division I opponents.  For men’s ice hockey, the relevant section of the 2017-18 NCAA Division I manual is 17.13.5.3 Annual Exemptions, item (i).

(i) Hawaii or Alaska.  Any games played in Hawaii or Alaska, respectively, against an active Division I member institution located in Hawaii or Alaska, by a member located outside the area in question;

which is to say that UAA and UAF can’t exempt their four games against each other.

This rule exists to maintain NCAA member school viability in far-flung locales (Puerto Rico is often included in these exemptions despite its geographic proximity to Florida).  The thinking goes that a team that makes the trip to Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico can then schedule an extra home game (or weekend), allowing it to recuperate some or all of the cost of the travel.  For the remote schools, it allows them to play a fuller Division I schedule without saddling them with a travel budget many times what their continental counterparts would require.

The Alaska Concentration

College hockey fans generally know that both UAA and UAF are in the same conference, which wasn’t the case as recently as five years ago, when the CCHA still existed and hated biscuits.  Now the WCHA has the worst far-flung travel schedule of all of the conferences, and it’s frankly not even close.  Behold:

Atlantic Hockey’s geographic midpoint is in Allegany, NY.

Atlantic Hockey Geographic Midpoint

The Big Ten’s geographic midpoint is in Climax, MI.

Big Ten Geographic Footprint

The ECAC’s geographic midpoint is in Rensselaer, NY.

ECAC Geographic Footprint

Hockey East’s geographic midpoint is Windham, NH.

Hockey East Geographic Footprint

The NCHC’s geographic midpoint is in Webb, IA.

NCHC Geographic Footprint

The WCHA’s geographic midpoint is Falcon Beach, MB.

WCHA Geographic Footprint

The Far-Flung Problem

The WCHA has all three of the longest road trips in the country: Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Huntsville.  Furthermore, all four Michigan schools are far from well-traveled airports, and Bemidji State is equidistant from Winnipeg and Minneapolis.  Only one WCHA member school — UAA — is served by a large airport with regularly scheduled flights capable of easily carrying a full hockey team and their gear.  If you travel to most any other school via air, you’ll be riding a bus for a couple of hours at minimum to and from the airport.  (Yes, this is true of Huntsville: despite being the conference’s largest metropolitan area, proximity to Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham means that HSV is pretty small.)

In theory, each non-Alaska WCHA school can exempt two games a season, and in some years, you get to exempt four. WCHA schools have had an issue getting home dates to make use of the exemption, largely nullifying the value of being in a conference with UAA and UAF.  The WCHA will have 63 (up to 65) non-conference games in 2018-19, and just 25 of those are at home.  The breakdown of those 25 games are: AHC (3), ASU (2), Bi7 (5), ECAC (2), HE (4), NCHC (9).  Just four of those (SCSU @ UAA 2x, CC @ UAF 2x) are exemption-sourcing games.

The availability of WCHA schools to schedule two or four extra games hasn’t proved to make it easier to get home dates.  Furthermore, the current constitution of the WCHA as the leftovers thrown into one western conference means that seven schools are saddled with the difficulties of traveling to three programs, costs that are difficult to offset without an incentive for schools to visit them (or to offer lucrative pay dates).  For the three eastern conferences: the three AHC games are with teams in the western half of the conference (MC, RMU); the HE trips are BU and Merrimack, and the ECAC trip is Cornell to NMU, which isn’t an arduous journey.  It’s telling that the two top-flight trips — BU-MSU, CU-NMU — are to teams at the top of the WCHA last season.

Proposed Solution

Simply put: Rather than a state-based solution, make it a geographic-based one.

  1. If you are at least 1,000 miles from your conference’s geographic center, you can award all visiting schools a one-series, two-game exemption from their schedule maximum.
  2. If at least half of a conference’s member schools are at least 500 miles from that conference’s geographic center, all non-Alaska schools can award one visiting school a one-series, two-game exemption from their schedule maximum.

The net effect of this proposal is as follows:

  1. Air Force and Alabama-Huntsville would additionally be able to enable visiting schools to exempt games as long as conference affiliations are in their current configuration.
  2. Atlantic Hockey and WCHA schools would become able to designate one home, non-conference series as eligible for exemption each season.
Rationale

If the goal is to increase the amount of teams playing Division I sports in general, including supporting programs outside of the traditional geographic footprints of those sports, schedule exemptions are a great way to increase travel to these far-flung member schools.  Adding Air Force and UAH to the list of schools that grant exemptions not only allows them to schedule more home games, but it allows members of their parent conferences to offset the costs of having a distant member in their midst.  The costs of travel to these distant destinations can be offset with a home weekend, but if your program struggles to get home weekends — and AHC and WCHA schools do — this gives you another arrow in your quiver.

Let us again consider this season.  Would WCHA schools be seeing just 18 games against top-four leagues, most of those between in-state teams that are long-standing foes?  If you’re Ohio State, don’t you consider a two-and-two rather than a one-and-one with BG because you could pick up another three home games out of the deal?  If you’re Western, don’t you try to play Ferris State every year?

Exemptions for all WCHA and AHC members allow them to get bigger schools to schedule them for games.  While these two leagues are pretty widespread, the hearts of each league are near hockey hotbeds, so getting exempt games generated locally will help these schools.

As for Air Force and Alabama-Huntsville, they both benefit greatly.

Air Force would cement its place in AHC, because it moving somewhere else collapses the league into a footprint centered on Binghamton, NY, one that takes the exemption away from all of those schools.  Air Force would be virtually guaranteed home games with in-state foes DU and CC every season, and it’s likely that some schools would make a Colorado trip and do single games with Air Force and either Denver or Colorado, using the exemption on the other in-Colorado game and keeping a home seris in pocket.

Alabama-Huntsville has historically struggled to get quality home opponents; its best such series came only when local boy Nic Dowd was a senior at St. Cloud and got Bob Motzko to bring him down.  A full-exemption home non-conference slate would likely see the team playing 18-20 home dates a season, which would greatly help attendance and send a message that Huntsville is a home for hockey.  UAH could even have seasons where its only road series were in conference play.

Atlantic Hockey members would benefit as well, as many of these schools are short bus rides away from HE, ECAC, and Bi7 schools, who would be much likelier to schedule road dates to those schools.

A Survey of the Distances of Each School to their Conference’s Geographic Midpoint

All distances courtesy of Daft Logic’s Distance Calculator.  They are direct-line distances between each and do not reflect road availability or travel times.

In short, four schools (Air Force, Alabama-Huntsville, Alaska-Anchorage, and Alaska) are more than 1,000 miles from their league’s geographic midpoint, and two conferences (Atlantic Hockey, WCHA) have at least half of member schools playing at least 500 miles from the geographic center.

Atlantic Hockey (average distance 648 miles, standard deviation 333 miles)

  • Air Force, 1,398 miles
  • American International, 302 miles
  • Army, 239 miles
  • Bentley, 372 miles
  • Canisius, 763 miles
  • Holy Cross, 402 miles
  • Mercyhurst, 825 miles
  • Niagara, 769 miles
  • Robert Morris, 855 miles
  • RIT, 700 miles
  • Sacred Heart, 507 miles

Big Ten (206, 157):

  • Michigan, 82 miles
  • Michigan State, 55 miles
  • Minnesota, 431 miles
  • Notre Dame, 61 miles
  • Ohio State, 199 miles
  • Penn State, 400 miles
  • Wisconsin, 215 miles

ECAC (108, 52):

  • Brown, 132 miles
  • Clarkson, 153 miles
  • Colgate, 92 miles
  • Cornell, 141 miles
  • Dartmouth, 104 miles
  • Harvard, 136 miles
  • Princeton, 165 miles
  • Quinnipiac, 97 miles
  • RPI, 6 miles
  • St. Lawrence, 153 miles
  • Union, 15 miles
  • Yale, 101 miles

Hockey East (65, 59):

  • Boston College, 33 miles
  • Boston University, 32 miles
  • Connecticut, 84 miles
  • Maine, 195 miles
  • Massachusetts, 69 miles
  • Massachusetts-Lowell, 12 miles
  • Merrimack, 11 miles
  • New Hampshire, 30 miles
  • Northeastern, 32 miles
  • Providence, 68 miles
  • Vermont, 150 miles

NCHC (398, 183):

  • Colorado College, 586 miles
  • Denver, 563 miles
  • Miami, 584 miles
  • Minnesota-Duluth, 301 miles
  • Nebraska-Omaha, 126 miles
  • North Dakota, 358 miles
  • St. Cloud State, 185 miles
  • Western Michigan, 482 miles

WCHA (877, 733):

  • Alabama-Huntsville, 1125 miles
  • Alaska-Anchorage, 2207 miles
  • Alaska, 2138 miles
  • Bemidji State, 155 miles
  • Bowling Green, 804 miles
  • Ferris State, 623 miles
  • Lake Superior, 552 miles
  • Michigan Tech, 357 miles
  • Minnesota State, 387 miles
  • Northern Michigan, 425 miles
What about realignment?

Discussions of the effects of this proposal on realignment (or realignment on this proposal) might be done at a later date.