Arizona State Hockey Won’t Join Big Ten | The Boneyard

Arizona State Hockey Won’t Join Big Ten

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Sources: Arizona State Hockey Won’t Join Big Ten

>>Arizona State, which played its inaugural season of Division I men’s hockey this past season and is in the process of choosing a conference, is getting closer to that decision. Two sources told WCCO that the Big Ten is no longer in the running to add the Sun Devils, and that the choice is now between the Western Collegiate Hockey Association or the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.<<
 
If (and this if a big if) North Dakota ends up getting invited to the Big 10 as a hockey affiliate as some on the Boneyard have suggested, then the NCHC would be down to seven teams and presumably looking for a replacement. I would think Arizona State would be high on the list of schools that could get the call.
 
No surprise. Most logical fit. Was hoping they can boost the WCHA.
 
Butch said:
No surprise. Most logical fit. Was hoping they can boost the WCHA.
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The WCHA is a sinking ship unfortunately, extreme travel to remote locations against at best mediocre competition. If I were ASU I'd only join the WCHA if everyone else said no. Heck, I'd call Hockey East first before deciding on the WCHA.
 
brasssbonanzaa said:
The WCHA is a sinking ship unfortunately, extreme travel to remote locations against at best mediocre competition. If I were ASU I'd only join the WCHA if everyone else said no. Heck, I'd call Hockey East first before deciding on the WCHA.
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Lake Superior State had a cool run. Michigan Tech is a historic program. WCHA has more ground to stand on than the AHA. The travel is heavy, definitely.
 
Butch said:
Lake Superior State had a cool run. Michigan Tech is a historic program. WCHA has more ground to stand on than the AHA. The travel is heavy, definitely.
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True, but both of those teams haven't had success in 20+ years and are trending downward overall. Tech had a nice year in 14-15, but other than that has been the doormat of the country. You're right that it's better than the AHA from a competition standpoint, but it's not a huge gap. From ASU's perspective, it's not an attractive option, certainly compared to the NCHC.
 
Who's going to be #12 in HE? Quinnipiac?
 
shizzle787 said:
Who's going to be #12 in HE? Quinnipiac?
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Unknown, for several reasons.

The dominant one, though, is that Hockey East does not necessarily need to backfill to 12. Scheduling at 11 is doable if a little rough around the edges, and while ND was a good team, Hockey East remains an elite conference without them. Meaning HE can wait for the right candidate to come to them, if they really do want to go to 12.
 
kingdobbs said:
Unknown, for several reasons.

The dominant one, though, is that Hockey East does not necessarily need to backfill to 12. Scheduling at 11 is doable if a little rough around the edges, and while ND was a good team, Hockey East remains an elite conference without them. Meaning HE can wait for the right candidate to come to them, if they really do want to go to 12.
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No, they need 12. 11 is very, very unsuitable as it means you either play a 20-game schedule, 30-game schedule, or an unbalanced number of games against everyone in your conference - none of which is a good idea. It also makes the playoff structure unbalanced as well. There most definitely will be a team 12 before ND leaves. At this point, QU is the favorite. Other options would seems to include Holy Cross or RPI - neither of which are good imo.
 
I've heard rumblings of RIT, but I forgot where I saw that. They had a decent following of fans when I saw them for the 1st time against QU in the regionals. UConn will play them @ RIT next yr. Rochester is some distance away so I could see someone closer. We shall see
 
ct06111 said:
I've heard rumblings of RIT, but I forgot where I saw that. They had a decent following of fans when I saw them for the 1st time against QU in the regionals. UConn will play them @ RIT next yr. Rochester is some distance away so I could see someone closer. We shall see
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They'd be a dark horse choice for sure, perhaps if QU doesn't materialize, everyone realizes Holy Cross would be a terrible choice (it would) and they decide against RPI then RIT would come into play. They do have a really strong following up there and a new arena, but travel would be a bit annoying.
 
I'm hearing a lot of love for RPI. Heard it when UConn joined too. I don't get it. Lousy fit in my view.

Would a trip to RIT be worse than Maine or ND?
 
freescooter said:
I'm hearing a lot of love for RPI. Heard it when UConn joined too. I don't get it. Lousy fit in my view.

Would a trip to RIT be worse than Maine or ND?
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Maine, yes. It's another 100+ miles. Better overall destination I suppose. ND, a wash. The problem is they'd be another outlier, though not as much. They'd also not have the same overall athletic budget as a QU or even Holy Cross as they're primarily a D3 school. RPI is also a D3 school, though closer geographically, so I agree itd be a less than ideal fit. QU is obviously choice #1. If that doesn't work, I think it'd take a hell of a presentation from Holy Cross to convince HE that they'd actually give a crap about hockey (they don't currently) including the building of a new facility, as the DCU Center is an absolute dump and WAY too big for them. I've heard some rumblings about Bentley, but that'd be a hell of a stretch. I just can't see HE not going all-in on getting QU as #12.
 
Just curious, why doesn't the SEC football model apply here?

By that I mean, Florida St sits well within the footprint and clearly has the FB quality to be in the SEC (and ethics, but I digress). But in that sense it adds nothing -- the conference is already overstocked in terms of quality and has that geographic territory covered.

Isn't Quinnipiac like FSU here? Wouldn't a non-New England team expand the conference's influence to new turf?

I'm sure it has something to do with the way in which hockey is oh so different from FB, but wanted to ask.
 
Pecknold might take recruiting to a new level in the HE. Glad Yale got their championship in 2013. Amazing how lop-sided the War on Whitney is otherwise.

Pecknold is dirty, I'll give people that. I need my hand sterilized now after shaking his.
 
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