Unfrozen: College hockey waters never 'truly calm' as landscape ever-changing

MINNEAPOLIS -- In a world where (Big) Ten equals six (hockey-playing members in the conference) and (Final) Five amounts to four (teams in this weekend's WCHA semifinal), nothing's quite as it appears on the surface.

With conference tournaments commencing this weekend -- two of them in the Twin Cities -- the makeover of NCAA Division I men's hockey is almost two full seasons in. Casual fans have had another year to figure out which sextet of Big Ten schools have varsity pucks programs, what teams are still in the WCHA and what NCHC stands for.

But those on the inside of #cawlidgehawkey, as SportsCenter anchor and ESPN hockey analyst John Buccigross likes to get trending on Twitter, think this could be the eye of the storm, not its outer edge.

"I don't know if the waters are ever really, truly calm," first-year WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson said. "I think there's been a settling right now for a bit, but I do see more changes arising in years to come in college hockey. I don't think this is the last shift we'll ever have, that's for sure."

That's because even with 2013's creation of the Big Ten and National Collegiate Hockey Conference, which precipitated Robertson's league losing and adding schools, another round of expansion and potential realignment looms.

There's a big, maroon-and-gold domino with a pitchfork emblazoned on its front sitting in Tempe, Ariz. With Arizona State announcing in November its intentions to shift from highly successful club hockey to the Division I ranks, a whole platter of possibilities arises.

Once the Sun Devils decide on facilities, a financial model and other various start-up initiatives, they'll need a conference. Robertson bullishly proclaimed his desire to add Arizona State to the WCHA's already-massive footprint, and the Big Ten and NCHC are possibilities, as well.

Their reasons for being interested are manifold. Arizona State's Tempe campus is the nation's largest in terms of enrollment and features an expansive alumni base. It'll boast Division I hockey's only program in the American west or southwest, where the game is growing exponentially. It's a part of the Pac-12, which has its own TV network.

And it could open the door to more programs in its neck of the woods adding Division I pucks.

"I think the bigger piece of it is it's a Power Five conference school, No. 1," said Robertson, who took over for longtime WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod last April. "No. 2, they provide the ability to get us exposure into the Southwest, into the West Coast, where there are a lot more hockey players coming.

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Unfrozen: College hockey waters never 'truly calm' as landscape ever-changing