Where will St. Thomas end up?

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Not the Big Ten, probably

I'm guessing that the new WCHA (or whatever it's going to be called) will play with 7 teams in 2020-21, and add UST as an 8th team in 2021.

 

[bonin21]

WCHA

 

[MplsGopher]

I'm surprised that they want to keep DI varsity hockey, including women's. (North Dakota dropped their women's program, and several of the WCHA/NCHC and even current Big Ten members don't have womens' teams)

It's a very expensive sport? I guess not as expensive as scholarship FCS (formerly DI-AA) football.


I wonder if their new NCHC connections in the Summit League (North Dakota, Omaha, Denver) would have any desire at all to bring in UST (and say Mankato) up to that league? It would be purely I think for market considerations, having a presence in St Paul and the Xcel, for some games.

 

[bonin21]

NCHC is the best hockey conference in the country. They probably wouldn't want to bring UST in and have them get curb stomped for multiple years.

 

[highwayman]

I'm surprised that they want to keep DI varsity hockey, including women's. (North Dakota dropped their women's program, and several of the WCHA/NCHC and even current Big Ten members don't have womens' teams)

It's a very expensive sport? I guess not as expensive as scholarship FCS (formerly DI-AA) football.


I wonder if their new NCHC connections in the Summit League (North Dakota, Omaha, Denver) would have any desire at all to bring in UST (and say Mankato) up to that league? It would be purely I think for market considerations, having a presence in St Paul and the Xcel, for some games.

It's cheaper to drop women's ice hockey and add field hockey or any other sport. The NCHC wouldn't be dumb enough to add either of those teams. They have SCS and UMD, which is plenty.