Big Ten Officially Announces Hockey Conference

[roxfan00]

PARK RIDGE, Ill. ? The Big Ten officially announced today its decision to form a Division I hockey conference, to begin play in 2013-14.

The league will include the six Big Ten that will be playing D-I hockey by then ? current WCHA schools Minnesota and Wisconsin; current CCHA schools Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State; and newcomer Penn State, which will begin play as an independent in 2012-13.

The teams will play a 20-game league schedule, with each team playing each other four times. That would leave each team with at least 14 non-league games per season to fill. No formal scheduling agreement with the remaining CCHA and WCHA members is expected at this time, but the Big Ten said it was in discussions to do so. There will be a standalone conference tournament at the end of the season, though details were not announced at this time.

The Big Ten was ready to make an announcement as early as last week, following meetings among athletic directors at the league's basketball tournament. But it was convinced to wait as to avoid overshadowing the current conference's championship tournaments.

Technically, the decision still needs to be approved by the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors, which next meets in June.

The catalyst for the formation of the conference was Penn State's decision, announced last September, to start a Division I men's hockey program in 2012-13. The Big Ten requires six member schools sponsoring a sport in order to form an official conference, and Penn State makes six. The NCAA also requires a six-team minimum for a conference to qualify for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

After the Penn State announcement, a Big Ten Hockey Conference was looking likely for 2014-15, but the timeline was moved up when construction on Penn State's arena started coming in ahead of schedule. With the arena now expected to be completed by the start of the 2013-14 season, the Big Ten decided then was the time to start Big Ten hockey. Penn State is currently looking for a head coach for the program.

?Adding hockey to the Big Ten Conference helps keep the sport moving in the right direction,? Mark Osiecki, Ohio State men?s ice hockey head coach, said. ?Having even more games on the Big Ten Network will raise awareness both of Ohio State?s program and college hockey in the United States and Canada. It will make it even easier for our alumni to follow the team throughout the year. It is exciting both for our program, and for Ohio State fans, hockey is going to become a part of the great tradition of the Big Ten Conference.?

This possibility has long been feared by many in the hockey community because of the potential ramifications across the board. It remains to be seen what will happen to the remaining CCHA and WCHA schools.

The WCHA was riding high just last year when it decided to accept Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha as new members, with UNO jumping from the CCHA. Now, things will go the other way, with the league losing two flagship members ? Wisconsin and Minnesota.

?It?s worth celebrating that a BCS conference institution in Penn State has joined the great landscape of college hockey. We are also pleased that the Big Ten has embraced this move by recommending that men?s hockey be added as an official conference sport,? Minnesota director of athletics Joel Maturi said. ?At the same time there are some mixed emotions for us, as Minnesota is an original and proud member of the WCHA. We would depart with fond memories, and the sincere belief that many of the great WCHA rivalries that the Gophers have been a part of will continue through non-conference play.?

The College Hockey Showcase was held in recent years, pitting Wisconsin and Minnesota against Michigan and Michigan State. Wisconsin decided to pull out of that arrangement following this season, in hopes that a formal conference would soon come to be.

?We are excited about the possibility of a Big Ten hockey conference beginning with the 2013-14 season,? Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. ?Our rivalry with Wisconsin is well documented and it will be nice to play Michigan and Michigan State more than once a year. It will also be exciting to create new rivalries with Ohio State and Penn State. Right now we enjoy playing in the WCHA and will work with the league and WCHA schools to maintain established and traditional rivalries to ensure a competitive and entertaining non-conference schedule.?

The CCHA, meanwhile, will be harder hit, after already losing UNO last year and now three more schools. In addition, most of the eight remaining CCHA schools are smaller than the ones in the WCHA, and rely more heavily on the revenue that schools like Michigan and Michigan State bring into the league. Western Michigan and Bowling Green, for example, had just gotten themselves back on solid footing as programs. Ferris State and Lake Superior State could also be negatively impacted.

There have been numerous discussions at the league level already as to how to react to the creation of a Big Ten Hockey Conference. But it will be up to each individual school to decide what it wants to do, if anything, and nothing is close to being worked out.

Big 10 Hockey

[walkerws]

I see some other schools going to the B10 as affiliate members in hockey if the B10 wants them or maybe some more schools will take the oppurtunity and add hockey for men and women. I would like to see Kent State field a varsity team again but that's more of a personal pipe dream.

[Sport]

I wonder if this is the catalyst for other big ten schools to add hockey.

[rams80]

I see some other schools going to the B10 as affiliate members in hockey if the B10 wants them or maybe some more schools will take the oppurtunity and add hockey for men and women. I would like to see Kent State field a varsity team again but that's more of a personal pipe dream.

The latter is far more likely than the former. With the Big Ten schools playing only a 20 game conference slate, there is plenty of opportunity for them to schedule their former conference foes for non-conference games.

[roxfan00]

I don't even know who would be a power in that conference, Penn State will be horrible for who knows how long, Minnesota has been down, Ohio State has never been a big power house...Michigan fields good teams every year...so I guess Michigan will run that conference.

[RyanMcD29]

I don't know about that. If the Big East adding a lacrosse conference taught us anything, the Big Ten hockey league can become a very good one quite quickly.

[Sport]

Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan State all have historically good programs. Ohio State has a Frozen Four appearance and a fairly recent CCHA tournament championship (if you call 2004 recent),and they have all the resources to be a solid team again. We're not Bowling Green here. OSU's problem has always been recruiting talented players away from Michigan, Michigan State, et al. That probably won't change with those same teams in the conference along with Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Penn State will probably be the doormats for the foreseeable future.

It'll be weird to be in a league with only 6 teams, but I guess the NHL made it work just fine.

[roxfan00]

I can see the WCHA going after Notre Dame and Miami(Ohio). That would make the WCHA a very solid conference.

[the admiral]

I wonder if Illinois or Northwestern could get a program going through a generous grant from the Wirtz family. It'd be good to establish more sub-NHL hockey in the area so there's a more solid base. High school hockey is already fairly big in spots.

[Bmac]

I can see the WCHA going after Notre Dame and Miami(Ohio). That would make the WCHA a very solid conference.

I think that is reasonable. I just don't see 3 conferences lasting so well. Big 10, CCHA, WCHA, one might have to go. I see the Big 10 slowly adding new programs, while the WCHA stands as the powerhouse. I'd say the CCHA is falling apart. I predict it will lose most of it's strong teams and become a smaller, not as powerful conference.

[Sodboy13]

I wonder if Illinois or Northwestern could get a program going through a generous grant from the Wirtz family. It'd be good to establish more sub-NHL hockey in the area so there's a more solid base. High school hockey is already fairly big in spots.

It would take a hell of a grant in Champaign, I know that much. They don't have anything remotely approaching a D-I facility for ice hockey. The club team sure as hell packs 'em in to that tiny, smelly gym at 4th & Armory, though, and I'm sure Northwestern could establish a similar fanbase in short order.

[dfwabel]

I wonder if Illinois or Northwestern could get a program going through a generous grant from the Wirtz family. It'd be good to establish more sub-NHL hockey in the area so there's a more solid base. High school hockey is already fairly big in spots.

Even if someone endowed money for a program, the additional 18 scholarships would have to be addressed in terms of Title IX. One may also have to add a women's team in terms of compliance.

[Joshawaggie]

PARK RIDGE, Ill. ? The Big Ten officially announced today its decision to form a Division I hockey conference, to begin play in 2013-14.

[DDR]

I wonder if Illinois or Northwestern could get a program going through a generous grant from the Wirtz family. It'd be good to establish more sub-NHL hockey in the area so there's a more solid base. High school hockey is already fairly big in spots.

Even if someone endowed money for a program, the additional 18 scholarships would have to be addressed in terms of Title IX. One may also have to add a women's team in terms of compliance.

That's what I've heard, too. In the case of Illinois, it's probably more likely that a women's hockey program gets going by itself as opposed to both men's and women's programs launching.

That's a shame, too. Illinois' club hockey program is somewhat successful, and the games were more fun than football or basketball games (2004-2005 season excluded) in my opinion.

[Gothamite]

Guess I'll wait to buy one of these until they put the Big 10 logo on it:

[TheOldRoman]

I wonder if Illinois or Northwestern could get a program going through a generous grant from the Wirtz family. It'd be good to establish more sub-NHL hockey in the area so there's a more solid base. High school hockey is already fairly big in spots.

From what I read, they were talking about building an "Olympic sport complex" on the southwest edge of campus which would have a hockey arena. However, that is far down on the list behind: renovating AssHall/building a new basketball arena; finishing renovations on Memorial Stadium; finding a new Chancellor; and having said Chancellor hire a new Athletic Director to replace the retiring boob. So, yeah. It's not happening for a while.

[Sport]

Isn't club hockey fairly popular at IU?

[rams80]

Isn't club hockey fairly popular at IU?

I doubt it. FWIW I spent 2 years in Bloomington and still have no clue where they played.

Just corrected that. Far south side of town (for reference, Indiana University is the Northeast part of Bloomington). Given its status as a community ice rink, somehow I doubt it would qualify for NCAA caliber. And I doubt you could shoehorn a rink into Assembly Hall.

[dfwabel]

I wonder if Illinois or Northwestern could get a program going through a generous grant from the Wirtz family. It'd be good to establish more sub-NHL hockey in the area so there's a more solid base. High school hockey is already fairly big in spots.

From what I read, they were talking about building an "Olympic sport complex" on the southwest edge of campus which would have a hockey arena. However, that is far down on the list behind: renovating AssHall/building a new basketball arena; finishing renovations on Memorial Stadium; finding a new Chancellor; and having said Chancellor hire a new Athletic Director to replace the retiring boob. So, yeah. It's not happening for a while.

I remember some sort of "rumored ice facility" in Champaign/Urbana ever since 1998 (and I know those who still work in the area know that it even goes back further). Whether it was a university facility, privately funded, or a combination or university/public partnership. It still has not occurred and would not address the title IX unless 18 female scholarships were added through another sport. Could it be in the university's Master Plan, sure, but even Master Plans change every 10-15 years.

[Sec19Row53]

Isn't club hockey fairly popular at IU?

I doubt it. FWIW I spent 2 years in Bloomington and still have no clue where they played.

Just corrected that. Far south side of town (for reference, Indiana University is the Northeast part of Bloomington). Given its status as a community ice rink, somehow I doubt it would qualify for NCAA caliber. And I doubt you could shoehorn a rink into Assembly Hall.

Oh man - that correction is just begging for it :-)