Jeff McKinney, Robert Fox and Colobobcat66 have three excellent posts. We have to be careful that we don't put people on pedestals so we can tear them down. I believe for Bobcat fans this may be born out of our frustration that we often lead the MAC in attendance and fan support (basketball as well as football) and yet because of our location (away from media and population centers) can never crack the attention we believe we deserve.

For those of us who graduated (I am child of the 80s) when many of our fellow students were enamored with Ohio State, I can vividly remember heading back from the Convo or Peden to the bars only to find tons of students watching the Buckeyes. I can remember some students visibly torn on who to cheer for in the 1986 NIT game at the Convo, the Bobcats or the Buckeyes (Danny Nee & Eldon Miller's last season.) I could go on and on about my friends and me counting the number of fans remaining in Peden after the 2nd half of a football fame in the 1985 or 1986 season.

What I am getting at is we see the clock ticking on us getting to the next level, after all we certainly have come a long way with games now available on ESPN and Time Warner. The college sports landscape is certainly changing and we hope we have coaches who match our passion, before the hammer drops and we are out of any chance with the coming power conferences.

Perhaps we surmise that if the coaches match our passion we will be right there among elite programs. If a coach has a different style some think, "he's not one of us." If the coach does match our style, well "he's one of us and will lead us to the promised land." Then when he does leave, we are all devastated, which is why the caution exercised in Jeff McKinney, Robert Fox and Colobobcat66's posts are timely.

Yep.

FWIW, Jason Kemp tweeted that Ndour, Campbell, Setty, Mompremier, Taylor, and Willis had a good first week of workouts.  Didn't mention Harley but I saw him in a picture Stevie sent out a couple days ago.  Hopefully that means all 7 will be back next year.

Well since we lost Wingfield and we still already had an open scholarship, 8 sounds about right. We have had only one decommit so far (Owens) so the sky is not falling. The transfer carousel is about to start up, and it sounds like Ric wants a medical redshirt. I think we will be okay.

Jeff McKinney and 87OU Alum, glad you were as well cheering for the Bobcats as well. I wonder how many posters on this board were there as well? It took until the next day for my voice to return. Ah those were the days when we were on the upswing, but we still had a long way to go. Let's don't even talk about (the immediate post Nee era) a couple seasons later when we had two future NBA players on the team and still managed to finish near the MAC basement!

Don't forgot the walk-on Crabtree

Oh you're gonna get some people angry by alleging allegiance to columbus by some OHIO people.

Until we see Ohio in the NCAA at least every other year for a number of years in a row, I'm not concerned about the goal being the Final Four to gain national recognition.

Good question. Here are some Frozen Four TV numbers:
http://www.bcinterruption.com/2012/3/29/2910665/frozen-four-tv-viewership-boston-college-minnesota-ferris-state-union

Here are the most recent NCAA numbers for hockey.

Looks like you get at least 10x the exposure in basketball. The Frozen Four trails women's basketball, MAC football games, etc. for viewership.

As far as how much you have to spend on hockey, not sure. My guess is coaching salaries are lower but facility, transportation costs higher.