TCF Opinion on a college team...

[fairvis]

So, if you guys haven't been following college hockey, there are 58 teams currently in NCAA Division I. However, 57 of them are in a conference, and 1 is not. The CCHA denied entrance for my current school (well, the school that decided to let me in the PhD program after finishing my MS at Ohio State) last year, and this year, they've been an independent. The season so far is a disaster, they're 2-19-2. (More games tomorrow, and I've got a free trip to Nashville next week to watch them as well.)

This is my fifth year at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. They have a devoted fan base, but it's fairly small. Do you guys think it's worth it keeping a college program in the southeast? Penn State is planning on adding a college hockey program, and they're most likely going to get the 12th bid in the CCHA, since they're in the North and a bigger total sports school. UAH is a 25+ year old college program that's going to die unless people take notice. What do you guys think? Sacrifice the old program for a potential new one? Or keep the old guard that only has this one Division 1 program because the NCAA threw out Division II hockey years ago?

[skatingtripods]

I think college hockey is an even harder sell in the south than pro hockey. Especially where college football and basketball completely dominate the landscape. The fact of the matter is that there are conference undertones from other sports to Penn State being the CCHA and it's well within reason that they go D-I and be a part of the CCHA.

It's a shame for Alabama-Huntsville without a doubt. But, it's completely logical and well within reason to move a college program to more of a hockey hotbed area.