One of the more unlikely sounding affiliate memberships probably won't be coming to pass after all.
Last month, the Big Ten secured a major coup, in adding Notre Dame to the conference in hockey, starting in the 2017-2018 season. The move gave the Big Ten access to another influential, high quality program that should help the conference secure more than one postseason bid a season on a more regular basis. But it also created a problem.
Seven teams is a bit of an uncomfortable number for scheduling. Eight would make much more sense, no? Speculation that the Big Ten could add another affiliate member centered around one big program, but now it appears that is off the table.