2023-24 American Collegiate season

This is the 2023-24 American Collegiate hockey season.
==New Programs==
*Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings men's ice hockey was announced as beginning play in 2023-24. The university is presently an all sports member of the NCAA Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, which is also the all sport home of Bemidji State University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State University, and St. Cloud State University. The university has announced its intention to jump in all sports from Division II to Division I by 2030. The university is building a 3,000 seat arena on campus which broke ground on October 5, 2021.https://www.uscho.com/2021/10/05/augustana-officially-announces-mens-division-i-hockey-program-new-rink-with-groundbreaking-ceremony/?fbclid=IwAR1PPSSzDW1_Grvvl7kSrlh3gjMFY9HtBoZp6VERjJ4xYED_3up2gvo0pik On May 17, 2022, they were announced as the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's ninth member. They will play a partial league schedule in the 2023–24 and 2024-25 seasons before playing a full league schedule in 2025-26. On July 16, 2024 the conference announced that due to the program meeting all of its conditions for full membership early the team would be accepted as a full member with the 2024-25 season. But due to the short advance notice the conference did not have time to adjust its' schedule for 2024-25 and will rely on points percentage for the 2024-25 season as all members but Augustana will have played 26 conference games with Augustana playing only 16 conference games. The conference will have the top eight teams by point percentage qualify for the conference tournament.https://www.uscho.com/2024/07/16/augustana-to-join-ccha-year-early-in-2024-25-as-league-will-adjust-standings-have-eight-of-nine-teams-qualify-for-conference-playoffs/
*On July 9, 2019 the University of Pennsylvania men's and women's hockey teams presently playing in ACHA Division II would be working on an endowment that would first elevate the programs to ACHA Division I status with a goal of establishing NCAA Division I varsity programs within ten years for both men and women.https://www.uscho.com/2019/07/11/penn-announces-hockey-endowment-ncaa-hockey-on-tap-for-men-women/
*The Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders women's ice hockey program was announced on November 30, 2021. Chad Davis was announced as the team's first head coach on December 17, 2021.https://www.uscho.com/2021/12/17/milwaukee-school-of-engineering-tabs-former-rit-adrian-womens-coach-davis-as-first-coach-for-raiders-new-womens-hockey-team/ The team will begin play with the 2023-24 playing season as a member of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.
*On April 21, 2022 the North Adams, Massachusetts based Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts announced the return of the D-III level men's team, which had been dormant since 2003, and the addition of a D-III level women's team to begin play with the 2023-24 playing season.https://www.uscho.com/2022/04/21/massachusetts-college-of-liberal-arts-bringing-back-d-iii-mens-hockey-adding-d-iii-womens-hockey-for-2023-24-season/
*On April 14, 2023 the University of Dubuque announced the addition of varsity level men's and women's ice hockey teams at the NCAA Division III level both teams begin play with the 2023-24 season. Each team will be members of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association and will be based out of the Dubuque Ice Center in Dubuque, Iowa, which is also home of the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League.https://www.uscho.com/2023/04/15/university-of-dubuque-starting-mens-womens-ncaa-d-iii-hockey-programs-for-2023-24-season-anticipates-transfers-from-finlandia-for-both-teams/https://udspartans.com/news/2023/4/14/mens-hockey-university-of-dubuque-to-add-mens-and-womens-hockey.aspx The university planned on absorbing much of Finlandia's defunct hockey program.
*In July of 2022 as part of the university's quarterly report Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York announced that it would be looking into the revival of men's ice hockey in the future.https://www.uscho.com/2022/07/25/binghamton-university-looking-at-possibility-of-adding-mens-division-i-college-hockey/ In April of 2023, Binghamton AD Gene Marshall announced that the school was planning to add men's ice hockey and women's field hockey for the 2024-25 athletic season.
*On April 27, 2023 Misericordia University, which is an all sport member of the Middle Atlantic Conference announced it would add a men's ice hockey as a member of the Division III United Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2024-25 season. The team will be based out of the Toyota SportsPlex in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania which is also the home of the Wilkes University Colonels men's and women's teams.https://athletics.misericordia.edu/news/2023/4/27/mens-ice-hockey-misericordia-ice-hockey-to-join-uchc.aspx
*On July 24, 2023 Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire announce the re-establishment of the Keene State Owls men's ice hockey team, which previously played from 1983 to 1986, and the establishment of the Keene State Owls women's ice hockey team. Both programs will start with the 2024-25 playing season. Both teams will play as NCAA Division III Independent programs with the men's team joining the newly created Little East Conference men's ice hockey league for 2025-26. With the addition of the men's and women's teams the conference will have six men's teams sponsoring ice hockey and five women's teams sponsoring ice hockey with six members requiring the league to add the sport to the conference's offerings. Additionally, the conference will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship tournament.
*On November 22, 2023 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics member the University of Jamestown in Jamestown, North Dakota were announced as joining the all-sports NCAA Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for the 2025-26 season, which is an apparent indication of possible men's and women's ice hockey programs over the next few seasons. The university presently has two men's club teams which play in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I level Midwest Collegiate Hockey and Division II level Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association, while the women's team is presently a member of the ACHA Women's Division I level Midwest Collegiate Hockey.
*On December 1, 2023 the University of Delaware announced the addition of a women's ice hockey program starting with the 2025-26 season as a member of College Hockey America. The university has offered women's club hockey since 2003.https://www.uscho.com/2023/12/01/womens-di-exclusive-university-of-delaware-adding-womens-hockey/
*On January 10, 2024 St. John Fisher University, based in Pittsford, New York announced it would be adding men's and women's teams at the NCAA Division III level for the 2025-26 season. No conference affiliation was revealed as part of the announcement. Both teams will be based out of the Rochester Ice Center formerly the Thomas Creek Ice Arena in Fairport, New York.https://www.uscho.com/2024/01/10/st-john-fisher-university-announces-addition-of-mens-womens-ncaa-division-iii-hockey-teams-to-start-play-with-2025-26-season/
*On December 30, 2023 the formation of the Framingham State Rams women's ice hockey team was announced. The team will play as a member of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference's newly formed women's division.https://www.fsurams.com/sports/wice/2023-24/releases/20231220izf4o7
*On April 18, 2024 Western Connecticut State University announced the addition of seven new NCAA team sports including men's and women's ice hockey. The university presently has an American Collegiate Hockey Association and will elevate the team to varsity status and they will join the Little East Conference for the 2025-26 playing season. The women's program is starting from scratch and will play at the ACHA level with the 2024-25 season with plans to achieve varsity NCAA status by 2026-27. The teams will be based out of the Danbury Ice Arena in Danbury, Connecticut which is located near one of the university's campuseshttps://www.uscho.com/2024/04/18/western-connecticut-state-announces-plans-to-add-mens-womens-ncaa-d-iii-hockey-programs/https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/westconn-wcsu-new-sports-athletic-teams-19409823.php.
*Framingham State University will be adding a women's ice hockey program to begin play with the 2024-25 season as a member of the newly formed Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's conference.
*In early June of 2024 Hiram College, located in Hiram, Ohio, announced they would be adding a men's ice hockey program for the 2025-26 season. They become the first Division III men's hockey program in the state of Ohio. The team is known as the Hiram Terriers. the team will be based out of The Pond-Ice Rink & Sports Complex in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. No conference affiliation was announced.https://www.uscho.com/2024/06/08/hiram-college-to-add-mens-d-iii-hockey-in-2025-26-season-names-curto-head-coach/
==Cancelled Programs==
*On March 2. 2023 Finlandia University announced that the school would not be enrolling students for the fall of 2023 and would closing its' doors at the end of the 2022-23 academic.https://www.nchahockey.org/sports/mice/2022-23/releases/20230302vkq98t Finlandia had men's and women's teams playing in the NCAA Division III Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. The Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings men's ice hockey team and Augustana Vikings women's ice hockey team would offer to absorb as many of the players from the Finlandia programs as they could.
==Endangered Programs==
*Northland College based is Ashland, Wisconsin which has men's and women's teams playing in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced a "financial extingency", which is a formal recognition by the Board that the College is facing a serious financial crisis that requires immediate attention and resolution. This situation is about the survival of the college itself not just the hockey programs. A campaign was started on March 11, 2024 that was hoping to raise $12 million by April 3rd to avoid closure and provide for the long team survivial of the college. The campaign raised $1.5 million by the April 3rd deadline, which was a record for the college giving the board of trustees with optimism for the future of the college.https://www.uscho.com/2024/04/07/northland-college-declares-financial-exigency-as-circumstances-remain-incredibly-serious-and-significant-progress-will-be-needed-in-the-next-two-weeks-to-avoid-closure/
===Cancelled but Saved Programs===
*The Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey, Alabama-Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey, Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey, and Robert Morris Lady Colonials ice hockey teams were all cancelled due to mostly financial reasons. All four programs would have a grassroots campaign started in an effort to save the programs. All four of these programs would be saved, but; due to the circumstances of each teams cancellation they would all end up being announced as returning for the 2022-23 season. On December 17, 2021 the return of the two Robert Morris programs was made official for the 2023-24 playing season.https://www.uscho.com/2021/12/17/robert-morris-announces-reinstatement-of-mens-womens-college-hockey-teams-for-2023-24-season/ The Robert Morris team was accepted back into the Atlantic Hockey Association for the 2023-24 season.https://www.uscho.com/2022/04/15/atlantic-hockey-reinstates-robert-morris-for-2023-24-college-hockey-season-schooley-remaining-colonials-coach/
==Possible Future Programs==
*Tennessee State University which is located in Nashville, Tennessee announced in May of 2021 that the university was forming an exploratory committee to examine the possibility of adding a men's varsity ice hockey program. The Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League in partnership with the NHL's diversity program were working with the university to support their efforts. If the university does add men's ice hockey it would be the first NCAA Division I men's program in the state of Tennessee and would also be the first team based out of a Historically Black College and University. On June 29, 2023 as part of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft festivities held in Nashville, Tennessee, the university would announce the addition of American Collegiate Hockey Association teams for 2024-25 for both men and women. The university would also be eyeing potential NCAA Division I programs for both men and women in the future,https://www.uscho.com/2023/06/28/tennessee-state-makes-history-announces-acha-hockey-for-2024-25-season-eyes-move-to-ncaa-d-i-for-mens-womens-teams/ possibly as soon as the 2026-27 season.https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2023/06/28_Tennessee-State-Starting-.php
*Other programs that had been mentioned include the University of Iowa and the United States Naval Academy have been mentioned as teams that could possibly be started. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers has also been mentioned in passing as another possibility; but, a gentleman's agreement (regarding adding new teams that the other campus already has with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, which would hurt recruiting for the other program of in-state talent) between them would seem to preclude this from happening. The athletic director for the Lincoln campus has since retired and this agreement could possibly be out the window.
*With the expansion of the NHL to the Pacific northwest other programs would become a possibility as the fan base for hockey in the region grows. The Pac-12 Conference has many schools which offer ACHA club hockey and with Arizona State University already having a varsity program, an expansion would make sense with the growth of ice hockey in those regions as the NHL has six teams in the regions as of the start of the 2021-22 playing season and 10 teams in the American Hockey League as of the start of the 2022-23 season. Numerous youth and junior level programs have started in the region as well with the North American 3 Hockey League and United States Premier Hockey League having programs throughout the Western United States.
*Austin Peay State University located in Clarksville, Tennessee is opening the new F & M Bank Arena for its' men's and women's basketball teams. The arena is capable of hosting ice hockey with a capacity of 5,000 for ice hockey arena. The first event at the arena was the an event held by the barnstorming style league 3ICE on July 15, 2023. The arena also contains a smaller dedicated sheet of ice for youth hockey and figure skating.
*In late March of 2024 the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan made a decision that could likely lay the ground work for the university to elevate its' women's club team to varsity status which has been in existence for 28 years.https://www.michigandaily.com/sports/multiple-regents-call-for-feasibility-study-on-michigan-womens-hockey/https://www.uscho.com/2024/03/29/michigan-board-of-regents-speak-up-say-its-time-for-the-university-of-michigan-to-have-a-varsity-team-for-its-womens-hockey-program/
*As part of a May 15, 2024 article on the St. Thomas Tommies joining the National Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2026-27 season, it was mentioned that they would be the fourth all-sport Summit League member to join the conference and that University of Missouri-Kansas City was possibly considering the formation of a men's ice hockey program in the future and that the possibility of the Summit League forming a Hockey Conference in the future was also on the table.https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2024/05/15_St-Thomas-Headed-to-NCHC.php
==New Conferences==
*On May 12, 2023 the State University of New York Athletic Conference announced it would be adding women's ice hockey for the 2023-24 season. The league is being formed out of the current members of the Northeast Women's Hockey League. The change over to the new conference will take place at the change over of the academic year on July 1, 2023.https://sunyacsports.com/general/2022-23/releases/20230512fqsr88
*As part of a June 14, 2023 announcement of the provisional addition of the Anna Maria Amcats men's ice hockey team and the Rivier University Raiders men's ice hockey team to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference as affiliate members for the 2024-25 playing season the likely addition of women's ice hockey in the not too distant future.https://www.mascac.com/sports/mice/2022-23/releases/Affiliate_Addition_Announcement
*On July 24, 2023 the Little East Conference announced the establishment of a NCAA Division III men's ice hockey conference for the 2025-26 playing season as the start of the Keene State Owls men's ice hockey team automatically triggered the conference sponsoring a men's conference as there we enough all-sport members that had men's hockey programs to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Championship.https://littleeast.com/news/2023/7/24/lec-announces-mens-ice-hockey-as-conferences-22nd-championship-sport.aspxhttps://www.uscho.com/2023/07/24/little-east-conference-to-join-ncaa-mens-division-iii-hockey-ranks-in-2025-26-eyeing-womens-hockey-membership-as-well/ The league would subsequently announce the addition of the New England Pilgrims, Babson Beavers, and Norwich Cadets to the conference as associate members.
*On February 13, 2024 the New England Pilgrims men's ice hockey team and New England Pilgrims women's ice hockey team were added to the Little East Conference. The addition of the women's team enabled the conference to also start sponsoring women's ice hockey when it begins play with the 2025-26 seasonhttps://littleeast.com/news/2024/2/8/lec-announces-new-england-college-as-mens-and-womens-ice-hockey-affiliate-womens-ice-hockey-as-conferences-23rd-championship-sport.aspx
==Conference Merger==
*On June 6, 2023 Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America announced that they will fully merge operations for the 2024-25 season. Many of the leagues operations were already interlinked.https://chawomenshockey.com/news/2023/6/6/womens-ice-hockey-atlantic-hockey-and-college-hockey-america-to-merge-operations-in-2024.aspx On April 30, 2024 the two leagues would adopt the name Atlantic Hockey America.https://www.uscho.com/2024/04/30/creating-a-unified-identity-atlantic-hockey-america-commissioner-morgan-on-rebranding-leagues-future/
==NCAA Division I==
===Membership Changes===
*The Arizona State Sun Devils will be joining the National Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2024-25 season.
*On May 15, 2024 it was announced that the St. Thomas Tommies would be leaving the Central Collegiate Hockey Association for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2026-27 season.https://www.uscho.com/2024/05/15/st-thomas-leaving-ccha-will-join-nchc-to-create-10-team-conference-for-2026-27-college-hockey-season/
===2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season===
*2023–24 Atlantic Hockey season
*2023–24 Big Ten Conference ice hockey season
*2023–24 CCHA season
*2023–24 ECAC Hockey men's season
*2023-24 Hockey East men's season
*2023–24 NCHC season
*2023–24 NCAA Division I independent men's ice hockey season
*2024 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament
===2023–24 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey season===
*2023-24 College Hockey America Season
*2023-24 ECAC Women's Season
*2023-24 Hockey East Women's Season
*2023-24 NEWHA Season
*2023-24 WCHA Women's Season
*2024 NCAA National Collegiate women's ice hockey tournament
==NCAA Division II==
===2023–24 NCAA Division II men's ice hockey season===
*2023-24 NE10 Season
*2023-24 NCAA D-II and III Men's Independents
===Women's===
Presently all of the Division II women's ice hockey playing universities are members of the New England Women's Hockey Alliance. The NCAA's top level women's ice hockey championship is open to universities at both the Division I and Division II levels.
==NCAA Division III==
===Conference Changes===
*On March 30, 2023 the New England Hockey Conference announced the addition of the the Salve Regina Seahawks men's ice hockey team and the Salve Regina Seahawks women's ice hockey team to the conference for the 2024-25 playing season. Both teams presently compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conferencehttps://www.uscho.com/2023/03/30/salve-regina-mens-womens-hockey-teams-to-join-nehc-starting-with-2024-25-season/
*As part of the May 12, 2023 announcement of the formation of a Women's State University of New York Athletic Conference for the 2023-24 season it is also announced that the Canton Kangaroos men's ice hockey tame will join the men's conference with the 2024-25 season.https://sunyacsports.com/general/2023-24/releases/20230512fqsr88
*The Middle Atlantic Conference will separate from the United Collegiate Hockey Conference starting with the 2024-25 season, as the conference will reach the minimum number of teams require to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The addition of the Misericordia Cougars in the men's conference and the Hood Blazers women's ice hockey team to the women's conference will give both the men's and women's conferences the minimum required amount. The league will work on a regular season conference schedule and post season conference tournment.https://www.uscho.com/2023/09/03/mac-mens-womens-hockey-conferences-to-get-ncaa-tournament-automatic-qualifier-starting-in-24-25-will-separate-from-uchc/
*On September 6, 2023 the United Collegiate Hockey Conference announced they would be adding the Brockport Golden Eagles and Geneseo Ice Knights to the conference for the 2024-25 season.https://www.uscho.com/2023/09/06/uchc-adding-brockport-geneseo-to-mens-hockey-conference-starting-with-2024-25-season/
*On April 10, 2024 the State University of New York Athletic Conference announced the addition of the Hobart Statesmen men's ice hockey team, as well as the William Smith Herons women's ice hockey team, and the Skidmore Thoroughbreds men's ice hockey team to the conference for the 2025-26 season. All of the teams would be joining the league from the New England Hockey Conference.https://www.uscho.com/2024/04/10/sunyac-adds-hobart-william-smith-skidmore-to-mens-hockey-conference-hobart-william-smith-to-womens-hockey-conference/
*On May 15, 2024 the United Collegiate Hockey Conference announced the addition of Albertus Magnus Falcons (men's and women's). Elmira Soaring Eagles (men's and women's), Hilbert Hawks (women's), and the newly formed programs of St. John Fisher Cardinals (men's and women's) to the conference for the 2025-26 season.https://www.uscho.com/2024/05/15/albertus-magnus-elmira-hilbert-st-john-fisher-to-join-uchc-mens-womens-hockey-conferences-for-2025-26-season/
*The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference will start offering women's ice hockey with the 2024-25 season.
===Change in number of teams in NCAA tournament===
In April of 2024 the NCAA Division III Management Council took action to change the "championship access ratio" to 1:6 beginning with the 2024-25 season. This means one out of every six teams competing in a sport in that category would qualify for the NCAA tournament. Based on this new formulation the Men's tournament would go from 12 teams to 14 and the Women's tournament would go from 11 to 12 teams. The selection process for at-large spots would now be based upon the NCAA Power Index.https://www.uscho.com/2024/04/18/ncaa-d-iii-hockey-mens-national-tournament-going-from-12-teams-to-14-teams-while-womens-tournament-moving-from-11-teams-to-12-teams/
===2023-24 NCAA Division III men's ice hockey season===
*2023-24 CCC Men's Season
*2023-24 MAC Men's Season 
*2023-24 MASCAC Season
*2023-24 MIAC Men's Season 
*2023-24 NCHA Men's Season
*2023-24 NEHC Men's Season
*2023-24 NESCAC Men's Season
*2023-24 SUNYAC Men's Season
*2023-24 UCHC Men's Season 
*2023-24 WIAC Men's Season 
*2023-24 NCAA D-II and III Men's Independents
*2024 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
===Women's===
*2023-24 CCC Women's Season
*2023-24 MAC Women's Season 
*2023-24 MIAC Women's Season
*2023-24 NCHA Women's Season 
*2023-24 NEHC Women's Season
*2023-24 NESCAC Women's Season
*2023-24 SUNYAC Women's Season
*2023-24 UCHC Women's Season 
*2023-24 WIAC Women's Season 
*2023-24 NCAA Women's Independents
*2024 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament
==NAIA==
*2023-24 WHAC Season
==See Also==
*2014-15 American Collegiate Season
*2015-16 American Collegiate Season
*2016-17 American Collegiate Season
*2017-18 American Collegiate Season
*2018-19 American Collegiate Season
*2019-20 American Collegiate season
*2020-21 American Collegiate season
*2021-22 American Collegiate season
*2022-23 American Collegiate season
*2023-24 Canadian Junior Season
*2023-24 American Junior Hockey Season
*2023-24 Canadian U-18 AAA season
*2023-24 North American Professional Season
*2023-24 Canadian Senior Season
*2023-24 Canadian University Season
*2023-24 North American Women's Season
*2023-24 American Senior Hockey Season
==References==
Category:2023-24 in ice hockey