College Hockey America College Hockey America ( CHA ) is a college ice hockey conference in the United States . It participates in the NCAA ' s Division I as a hockey - only conference . The conference is currently made up of five women ' s teams in Michigan , New York , and Pennsylvania . The women ' s league began play in the 2002 – 03 season with four teams . The CHA was founded as a men ' s - only league in 1999 . The conference was formed from teams moving up from Division II , after the NCAA stopped sanctioning Division II hockey in 1998 , and existing Division I independent teams . The league began with seven members , but by the 2008 – 09 season , only four remained . The men ' s division folded after the 2009 – 2010 season . Women ' s tournament finals . For the first time in conference history , the 2006 men ' s and women ' s tournaments were held at the same site : The Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Detroit , Michigan . The 2008 tournaments were also held jointly , at Dwyer Arena in Lewiston , New York . Postseason women ' s hockey history . The women ' s CHA does not have an automatic bid ; all of these participants reached the tournament via at - large bids . Men ' s division . The CHA was originally founded in 1999 with only a men ' s division . Three of the seven charter members , Alabama – Huntsville , Bemidji State , and Findlay , had recently moved up from Division II , while Air Force , Army , and Niagara were formerly independent . Wayne State were a charter member , and began sponsoring varsity hockey in 2000 . Niagara went undefeated in conference play in 1999 – 2000 , winning the conference tournament and gaining an at - large invitation to the NCAA Tournament . ( The conference did not gain an automatic bid until the 2003 tournament . ) Army spent only one season in the league before leaving for the MAAC . Findlay dropped their hockey programs following the 2003 – 2004 season , to be replaced by Robert Morris , who began play in 2004 – 2005 . After Air Force left for Atlantic Hockey in 2006 and Wayne State dropped their program in 2008 , the conference was left with only four teams . The CHA sought to add new programs to its men ' s league , hoping to draw interest from some of the top club teams in the country , including Kennesaw State University . However , these efforts came up short , with CHA and school personnel citing Title IX as a major hurdle in the negotiations . On January 29 , 2009 , Niagara University announced that it and Robert Morris University were moving to Atlantic Hockey beginning in the 2010 - 11 season . Bemidji State applied again to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association for inclusion and was accepted , along with the University of Nebraska - Omaha of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association . Alabama - Huntsville applied to the CCHA following the announced departure of Nebraska - Omaha and was denied . Alabama - Huntsville will compete as an independent team beginning with the 2010 - 11 season . Member schools . There were eight member schools in total . The conference began in 2000 with seven teams , and ended in 2010 with four . Championship games . Tournament champions were awarded the Bob Peters Cup . Postseason Men ' s Hockey History . At - large invitee . College Hockey America was not awarded an automatic bid until 2003 .