CCHA, meet the WCHA (and Huntsville and Robert Morris)

It's another day, another super league rumor, this time from the Duluth News Tribune and Omaha World Herald. Both are reporting that the seven or eight team league is set to be announced either this month or by Labor Day and would start play in the 2013-14 season.

The conference?
UMD
UND
Denver
CC
UNO
Miami (OH)-from CCHA
Notre Dame-from CCHA
Western Michigan-from CCHA

This is not only bad news for those who remain in a very skeleton WCHA, but for our brethren in the CCHA as well. If Western Michigan makes the jump, each conference would be left with 5 teams each, one below the 6 minimum for the NCAA to recognize you as an official conference. Before we try to put together this very delicate puzzle, let's see what we have.

CCHA remainders:
Alaska-Fairbanks
Bowling Green
Ferris State
Lake Superior
Northern Michigan

WCHA remainders:
Alaska-Anchorage
Bemidji
Michigan Tech
Mankato
St. Cloud

Independent:
Alabama-Huntsville

The solution is simple: Merge the CCHA and the WCHA into two, name TBD. The divisions, named the East and West divisions (Not that creative but in my estimation it beats “Legends” and “Leaders” out behind the woodshed). The only exception in the naming would be the Alaskan schools being split up so that all schools can take advantage of the rewards the Last Frontier reaps (Namely, road games in Alaska don’t count against the number of games you can play in a regular season among others). To make things everything round and even at 12 teams, let’s bring Robert Morris into the picture. This brings the rabid hockey market of Pittsburgh into things and gives RMU another shot at full scholarship hockey.

East Division

Alaska-Fairbanks
Bowling Green
Ferris State
Lake Superior
Northern Michigan
Robert Morris

West Division

Alaska-Anchorage

Alabama-Huntsville

Bemidji
Mankato
Michigan Tech
St. Cloud

Teams would play two series (one home and one away) against their divisional opponents putting things at 24 games, 22 games against your 34 games if you leave the Alaskan trip out of the equation. Additionally, you would play two games against an intra-divisional “rival”. With 10 games to work with, this gives you two non-conference series, which sets the stage for the conference tournament. The tournament would take the format that both conferences are familiar with: a best of three series at the higher seed, top 6 teams earn home ice. The 6 winners advance to a neutral site (My bet? Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena) to see who earns the NCAA’s automatic berth. The real question that is left to be answered though is if there will be any casualties by the shakeups. I tried to make the divisions as travel friendly as possible, but I find it very likely that a school or two may drop because they don't have or want the money to keep up with the Joneses of college hockey.

-Andy Sorensen, CHW Blogger