at least there's still bubble hockey? [Bill Rapai]

I don't know if there was anything Jim Hackett could have done about this in the short time he's been athletic director, but man, for the second straight year the hockey schedule is deeply unappealing to me as a season-ticket holder. Worse, it doesn't set Michigan up well for an attempt to make the tourney in Red Berenson's final year. Let's run down the problems.

The nonconference schedule sucks

Here's the nonconference schedule, with last year's RPI out of 59 in parentheses after. Home games bolded.

• Mercyhurst x 2 (39)
• @ Union (30)
• @ RPI (46)
• Robert Morris x 2 (25)
• Niagara (58)
• @ BU x 2 (3)
• Dartmouth x 2 (22)
• NMU (GLI) (35)
• Tech or State (GLI) (8 or 32)
• Ferris State (34)

The best nonconference home game is none. The only team that made the tournament last year (other than Tech, which is in the GLI with Michigan every year) is BU. BU has been thoroughly mediocre for the past five years when Jack Eichel wasn't around. He and his +51(!!!) are no longer around.

The opponents aren't even interesting from a historical standpoint: other than Ferris State and NMU in the GLI, none of these teams are old CCHA teams. They are just random Eastern teams that aren't good and want a paycheck.

This is especially grim because the Big Ten was so bad last year. In a tough, or even reasonable, league a 22-15 record is a good shot at the tournament. Michigan had none because the Big Ten was a disaster. Even if the league gets off the mat somewhat this year (doubtful since MSU and Wisconsin both inexplicably retained their coaches), Michigan is going to need some help from a solid nonconference schedule. This is emphatically not it.

And that goes double since the home/road split is 9/5. The current iteration of the RPI irrationally overrates road wins and irrationally underrates home wins, so any team that is willing to scrimp for guarantee games like Michigan clearly has is putting itself even further behind an already rather large eight ball.

There are infinite football conflicts

It's like this was intentional:

• There are only four road games before the Christmas break.
• Two of them come during football's bye week.
• One of the Robert Morris games is on October 31st. Michigan plays Minnesota that day. That game has already been announced for 8 PM.
• There is a home game on the day of a home OSU game that's at least 50/50 to be at 3:30.
• In the unlikely event Michigan makes the Big Ten Championship game, there is a home game against Wisconsin probably at the same time.

I understand that some conflicts are inevitable. This is close to maximum hypothetical conflict. Michigan has scheduled games that no Michigan fan is going to want to attend that hurt their chances to make the tournament.

There are way too many games early and way too few late

As mentioned, the season ticket has 12 of its games before the break and just 7 after, one of which is the NTDP exhibition. There is another month-long gap between home games. (At least this time it's not because Michigan sold a game against MSU so Chicago could ignore it.)

And Michigan inserted the Ferris game into a weird mid-February bye week. They go six weeks(!) between home league games, from Ohio State on January 17th to Ohio State on March 4th.

There are still no playoffs

Maybe I'll fly to Minneapolis, though. It could happen.