July 3, 2008
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Committee Recommends Denying Sub-.500 Teams From NCAAs
CHN Staff Report
Reacting to last year's NCAA tournament selections, the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee is recommending that teams must compile a record of .500 or above in the regular season to be considered for championship selection.
Last March, sub-.500 Wisconsin was selected as an at-large team to the tournament through the NCAA's objective process of pairwise comparisons. The selection drew an uproar in some circles.
The committee made the recommendation after hearing from coaches during April's convention. Most other NCAA sports have a policy that prohibits sub-.500 teams from qualifying for NCAA tournament competition.
All of the ice hockey committee's recommendations must be approved by the Division I Championships/Sport Management Cabinet. It meets in September.
The committee also recommended to the cabinet that all six conferences receive an automatic bid. That includes College Hockey America, which will compete with just four teams next season, and therefore, does not meet the NCAA's minimum requirement.
The committee said it made the recommendation "for the good of the sport and the championship." The decision will be reviewed by the cabinet in the fall.
The committee also decided the following:
- Will recommend Midwest and West regional sites for 2010 and 2011 to the Championships/Sport Management Cabinet this summer.
- Selected game times for the 2009 Frozen Four. Semifinal games will be at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Eastern time, April 9. The championship game is at 7 p.m. Eastern time, April 11.
- Decided timeouts at the championship will be two minutes from whistle to puck drop.
- Selected Steve Cady, senior associate athletics director at Miami, as committee chair.
