The most important development for the new season is the introduction of a new PAC-8 conference ranking and schedule system. All PAC-8 teams are required to play 2 games against each other; for more than 2 games against one opponent, only 2 games (agreed upon by both teams before the season starts) will count for PAC 8 standings. 2 points are awarded for each win, and 1 point for an overtime loss.
This new straight points system replaces a complicated weighted points system that was originally instituted to compensate for uneven schedules between teams.
Some other interesting points of note:
- Currently scheduled are 12 home games and 14 away games = 26 games total.
- There will be road trips to the Bay Area, Salt Lake City, Spokane.
- Because only 2 games against any given PAC-8 opponent count for PAC-8 standings, USC and ucla have elected to count Games 3 & 4 (of our 5-game series). While Games 1, 2, & 5 will not count for conference standings, they will still count towards ACHA rankings & for the Crosstown Cup.
- After a 2 season hiatus, San Jose State is on the schedule for a home-and-home series (Oct 5 at SJSU, Oct 19 at USC). Last season, the Spartans entered the ACHA West Regionals as the 7th seed but did not advance to Nationals.
- Cal State Northridge is also a new addition with 2 games (Dec 8 at CSUN, Feb 2 at USC). CSUN joins the ACHA's Division II for next season; previously, the Matadors were competing in the Division III level, finishing in 9th place overall last season.
- San Diego State is not booked next season because of scheduling conflicts.
- We anticipate that there will be another pre-season exhibition game against ucla at the Honda Center, but we will have to wait for the NHL schedule to be announced, which occurs over the summer.
- There will be NO game at Staples Center.
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