Purple Mavs and Red Mavs...

Nice article by Purple Mav's blogger Shane Frederick in yesterdays Mankato paper. Interesting take on BSU, UNO and MSU-M. One of the things that hasn't come up much during the realignment was that UND, MSU-M SCSU, UNO and for a few years UMD were in the now defunct NCC conference and that these schools had a history together in Division II sports such as baseball, basketball and football.

The last time the WCHA added a team was in 1999 when Minnesota State joined the league.

That was a much different situation 10 years ago, as the local, purple Mavericks were making the transition from the dying Division II ranks to Division I.

Minnesota State’s short stint as a D-I independent involved a sort of initiation process, playing in the nine-team WCHA’s conference tournament as the 10th seed for two years before becoming a full-fledged member of the fraternity. Even then, Minnesota State had to pay an expansion fee and not share in the conference tournament and Final Five money.

Like MSU, Bemidji State jumped from Division II to Division I. In 1999 it left the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association behind and helped found the now nearly defunct College Hockey America conference. Omaha started its program from scratch and began playing in 1997. After its overtures to the WCHA were turned down, it joined the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in 1999.

Both schools’ stock jumped up recently, as the Beavers shocked the college-hockey world by advancing to the NCAA Frozen Four in April and, a month ago, the red Mavericks hired ex-North Dakota coach Dean Blais, who won two national championships with the Sioux, to run the program.

The WCHA certainly isn’t adding a pair of powder-puffs, and all 10 of its current members might be just a tad nervous right now.

While the addition of those two schools will give the WCHA a much different look in a couple of years, it might not be too strange for Minnesota State and its fans.

The purple Mavericks practically have considered the schools their D-I cousins and have maintained rivalries with both. A longtime D-II rival with Bemidji, Minnesota State has played the Beavers every year since 1998, going 14-5-2 against them in that span. MSU has played Omaha, an old North Central Conference rival in other sports, every year but two since 1997 and has a 14-6-4 all-time record against the red Mavs.

Minnesota State and Nebraska-Omaha have played for the “Spirit of the Maverick” trophy every year since 2001-02. Come 2010, the WCHA will undergo a spirit of change. [Mankato Free Press]