We Need The Pac-12 In NCAA Hockey Right This Second
This is something I have been clamoring to happen for years now. The NCAA needs to add the Pac-12 to college hockey. And while the Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott spoke on the issue saying that it isn’t coming for at least 5 years, I think the fact they are even talking about it should make hockey fans in Pac12 territory excited.
I said it once and I’ll say it again…Arizona State is changing NCAA hockey. I have dubbed it the holy grail of college hockey. We had a few of the ASU guys on Spittin’ Chiclets and they mentioned that UNLV has been studying their program and that they are essentially the next team up to make the switch from club to NCAA. UNLV will be a great fit for hockey. They have a well-run ACHA team and are playing in a city that seems to love hockey. But the 19th ranked ASU is showing everyone that making the jump from ACHA to NCAA is very doable and if done right can be something really awesome.
I wrote a blog this summer about 5 schools that should add a Division 1 Hockey Program. Two of the schools I mentioned on the list were in the Pac-12. First, USC, because duh. Who wouldn’t want to go play Division 1 hockey on that campus? And Oregon because they would have the best unis in college hockey. Both have ACHA programs and have support from the community.
We are talking about UCLA, USC, University of Arizona, Stanford, Cal and a bunch more schools that play in legit paradise getting hockey programs. And while it may not seem like paradise to most people, when you have a kid who has grew up in a small town in Minnesota his whole life and has the opportunity to wear shorts and a tshirt to practice every day, I think they are going to be in heaven. Or a kid who great up in Western Canada and the first time he leaves he is taken to an Arizona pool party. Very easy decision.
Lets not forget how kids are so influenced by social media now a days, imagine getting a letter from USC and jumping on Instagram to see this:
Or a letter from Arizona and seeing this:
Don’t think about this from your point of view now, think of making this decision when you are 16, 17 and 18 years old. Minnesota or California? Wisconsin or Arizona? Maine or Vegas? Going to play college hockey in the Pac12 would be an absolute no brainer. Being a health bomb on the weekend trips to UCLA? That’d be heaven.
There are so many reasons the Pac-12 would work in the NCAA and would not only be great for the NCAA but it would be great for the game of hockey. One of the top players in the world (Auston Matthews) is from Arizona, the upcoming potential #1 overall pick Jack Hughes is from Florida….the game is growing and this is the time we need to put our foot on the gas pedal and take advantage of it.