Big news for the IcePack.
As Pack Pride first reported today, NC State men’s hockey is making a move up within the club ranks to Division I of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. It’s the highest level of non-scholarship (non-varsity) hockey.
The ACHA is supporting the creation of a new DI ACCHL men’s league, which is where the IcePack will play, along with UNC, Louisville, and Alabama. The league’s mission “will be to grow college hockey at universities in the southeast United States that are members of Power Five conferences, and currently do not have an NCAA team,” per the release.
Alabama is already established at the ACHA D-I level, though as far as I can tell represents the only team from the southeast. (I suppose you could count Liberty if you want to.) State, UNC, and Louisville are moving up from D-II. Other power-conference schools at the D-I club level include Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, and Oregon.
The new ACCHL M1 league is expected to begin play in 2025-26. It will need to add two more teams in order to meet the ACHA’s six-team minimum for competition, but it doesn’t sound like that’s expected to be a hurdle.