Men's Division I

Men's Division I is a set of schools and conferences that sponsor men's hockey and abide by the National Collegiate Athletic Association's rules and regulations for Division I ice hockey. Currently, six conferences sponsor Division I men's hockey:
* Atlantic Hockey
* Big Ten Conference
* Central Collegiate Hockey Association
* ECAC Hockey
* Hockey East
* National Collegiate Hockey Conference
The most recent change to the roster of D-I men's conferences took place after the 2020–21 season. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association disbanded its men's division after seven of its final 10 members left to reestablish the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Of the remaining three members, two dropped men's ice hockey as a varsity sport (though one would reinstate the sport a year later), and the other chose to become a Division I independent.
These six conferences represent all but six of the 61 teams that are competing at the Division I level in men's hockey in the current 2022–23 season. The Alaska Nanooks, Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, Arizona State Sun Devils, Lindenwood Lions, LIU Sharks, and Stonehill Skyhawks are Division I Independents. Both Arizona State and LIU have played as independents since establishing their varsity men's teams (respectively in 2015–16 and 2020–21). Alaska became an independent upon the demise of the men's WCHA. Alaska Anchorage, which last competed in 2019–20 and dropped the sport in 2021 due to COVID-19 impact, reinstated its varsity hockey team for 2022–23. Lindenwood and Stonehill both began transitions from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2022. Lindenwood elevated one of its previously existing two men's club hockey teams to full varsity status, while Stonehill had previously played under Division II regulations in its former full-time home of the Northeast-10 Conference.
Two schools are confirmed to be adding a team at this level in the near future. One will start a varsity program from scratch, while the other will return after a two-season absence.
* The Augustana Vikings, which represent Division II member Augustana University in South Dakota (not to be confused with Augustana College in Illinois, a Division III member also nicknamed Vikings that does not sponsor men's ice hockey), plan to start playing Division I hockey in the 2023–24 season.
* The Robert Morris Colonials, which had dropped men's and women's hockey after the 2020–21 season due to COVID-19 impacts, will reinstate both teams in 2023–24. The Colonials men will return to their previous home of Atlantic Hockey.
Division I represents the highest possible level of investment in hockey, and also the highest level of competition. If a school is a Division I institution, they must compete at the Division I level in all sports. However, several Division II and Division III schools choose to "play up" to Division I hockey, with the mechanics differing between D-II and D-III.
All NCAA members below D-I are allowed to "play up" in any sport that does not have a national championship for the school's own division. Since the NCAA abolished the Division II men's hockey championship after its 1998 edition, D-II schools have been allowed to compete as D-I hockey members under D-I rules. The Northeast-10 Conference, a D-II all-sports league, chose to continue playing under D-II rules; currently, five of its seven men's hockey schools play under D-II regulations, while the other two play in D-I as part of Atlantic Hockey, with one other D-II school playing in NE-10 hockey as a single-sport member. All other D-II men's hockey schools compete in D-I.
Since Division III has a men's championship, only D-III members covered by an NCAA grandfather clause are allowed to continue playing as D-I schools. A separate grandfather clause allows a subset of these schools to award hockey scholarships, a practice otherwise prohibited in D-III.
==See Also==
*List of NCAA Division I ice hockey venues
*NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship
*List of NCAA Division I Men's seasons
*List of NCAA Division I men's ice hockey champions
*List of defunct men's college ice hockey teams
*Former NCAA players in the National Hockey League
==References==
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