Would BSU be a bottom feeder?

This past weekend I had an opportunity to hang out with some old friend from Bemidji and the usual conversation came up about BSU's possible admittance to the WCHA. This issue seems to be almost as explosive as the gun control and the abortion debates.


As many of you know; I have been on record of saying that I am ALL for the Beavers being part of the WCHA. As the Bottom-Feeder brought up I attended BSU back in the early 1990’s. I am also not for kicking out UAA as some have suggested (Sioux7). That response seems kind of callous and crass.

I think the BSU Beavers are a great fit for the WCHA because they are in close proximity of SCSU, UMN, UMD, MSU-M and UND. By adding BSU you can also cut down on travel costs. By adding the Beavers to the WCHA the league all of a sudden would have an unbalanced and odd number of teams. Personally I wouldn't want to have an 11 team league because it doesn't work for the WCHA playoffs.

There are a couple of options to consider. You could give the league winner a bye. That option is not likely to happen since that team that won the league title would want the revenue of hosting a playoff series. Do the math that is a nice profit for you program.

So then you have the next option, leave the 11th place team home, finish 11th in the league and your done. I am not sure I like that option because someone is going to be home and left out of the playoffs. It would eliminate the possibility of giving the 11th place team a shot at making the NCAA tourney for winning the league tourney. While it has never happened to date it does give a team something to play for. So to elevate this problem I would recommend the WCHA adding the UNO Mavericks.

Here is a silly post that I found on USCHO.COM

SCSU Beat Anyone The only thing is will Bemidji beat Souix, Gophers, Badgers? The only team they could beat would be UAA.

Mixed results

That post is so far from the truth it's silly. BSU has had moderate success playing the WCHA. Mind you; this is with CHA recruits. Tom Serratore did a great job of recruiting he was an assistant at SCSU. Since 2005 BSU's record against UMD is 5-2. This season the BSU Beavers split with the Bull Dogs in a home and home series. The BSU Beavers are also 4-2 against my 2nd favorite WCHA the MSU-M Mavericks (I switched my allegiance again), this season the Mavericks swept the season series against the BSU Beavers. On the other hand since 2005; BSU has had little success against MTU 0-2 since 0-7-1 against UND. Given the chance BSU would be able to compete at high level just as the other teams in the WCHA.