It’s been over five months since the end of the 2023-2024 College Hockey South season, and with the NHL offseason in the dog days of the summer as well, we have a hockey puck-sized hole in our hearts.
But just because we spend our days at the pool instead of the rink doesn’t mean we can’t talk about hockey. There are certainly enough new developments to discuss going into the 2024-2025 season.
12 new teams have joined College Hockey South, and four teams have been promoted to new divisions, which could shake things up significantly. Even though we still have some time until the start of the 2024-2025 CHS Season, pull out the SPF 40 and try to cool off by drinking down these bold predictions for each division.
Women’s Division: The Tampa Lady Spartans win the National Championship
It’s not quite the boldest prediction to pick a University of Tampa hockey team to win the National Championship, so we’re starting with our safest bet.
The Lady Spartans were a win away from accomplishing this feat in March but ultimately fell to Paul Smith’s College in the National Championship Game, 4-2. The motivation of avenging this loss could push the Lady Spartans to the mountaintop.
Tampa dominated their College Hockey South schedule last season, going 11-0 and outscoring their opponents by 91(!) goals. The Lady Spartans were powered by Forwards Laura McGregor and Ava Johnson, who led the team in goals. McGregor also finished third in the conference in total points.
Tampa will have the talent and experience to finish their story from a year ago, but the journey won’t get any easier. College Hockey South is introducing four new teams to the Women’s division.
Having another year for fellow College Hockey South schools to develop their women’s teams will also ratchet up the competition for Tampa. Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina all have key returning players in addition to recruits joining their respective teams.After such a dominant showing a year ago, the Lady Spartans will be a marked team headed into the new season.
Division 1: AAU National Championship Game features 2 CHS teams
Perhaps the biggest news of the offseason came when it was announced that the Florida Gators and the Tennessee Ice Vols’ Division 2 teams would be promoted to Division 1. This brings the number of CHS Division 1 teams to 7, including the 2024 CHS Division 1 Conference Tournament Champion Tampa Spartans and the 2024 Division 1 National Champion South Carolina Gamecocks.
All five CHS Division 1 teams were invited to the 2024 AAU National Tournament last season, which ended with South Carolina taking the crown. However, College Hockey South was well-represented beyond the champs.
The 5 College Hockey South teams amassed an 11-3 record against non-CHS teams at the National Tournament. Auburn was responsible for two losses despite having a lead in both games. If the Tigers could have held on in either of those scenarios, the National Tournament may have looked more like the College Hockey South Tournament.
Tennessee and Florida also had plenty of success at the Division 2 Nationals. The two rivals combined for a 9-2 record, with Florida winning the National Championship. If the Gators and Ice Vols can continue their momentum from the 2024 postseason, it will create a very crowded National Title picture.
South Carolina will be at the forefront of that picture and will try to repeat as national champions. The perennial contender Tampa Spartans aren’t far behind the Gamecocks, as are the ever-improving Georgia Ice Dawgs.
Adding Tennessee and Florida to the Division 1 landscape in 2025 doesn’t make this prediction too bold, but almost a likelihood.
Division 2: Miami finishes first in the South Division.
The Miami Hurricanes pulled off an almost immaculate season in 2023-2024. The Hurricanes went 9-0 in the postseason, winning the College Hockey South Conference Tournament and the AAU National Championship game.
The question you could ask now is: how is this a bold prediction? Well, the Hurricanes accomplished all of this while in Division 3 and have been promoted to Division 2 for the upcoming season. Despite the reigning Division 2 National Champion Florida Gators leaving the South Division, the South is still very talented and crowded at the top.
The Hurricanes did have success when facing off with Division 2 foes last season. In 2023-2024, Miami went 7-4 against 2024-2025 CHS Division 2 teams. A respectable record that could be built upon with more experience against those teams. Miami also has immense momentum with how they finished last season.
Not only did Miami win all nine postseason games, but they outscored their opponents 55-7. For all of our fellow stat geeks out there, the Hurricanes won by an average of 5 goals per game. If Miami can bring this momentum to Division 2, the South Division could have a real problem on its hands.
Florida Atlantic University, last year’s South Division champions, will have to deal with a few devastating departures. Matias Weir and David Isreal, two of the top four scorers in Division 2, will not be on the team this year to help the Owls try to repeat as South Division kings.
Even with the losses of Weir and Israel, Florida Atlantic will be a handful for Miami in the race for first.
The Division 2 North Division saw its most recent champion (Tennessee) move to Division 1, so the battle for bragging rights in the North should be equally as intriguing. Alabama-Huntsville surprised many with its performance at Nationals in March despite their crushing loss in the quarterfinals to the eventual National Champion Florida Gators.
Can the Chargers build on their Nationals success and turn it into a Division title? Or maybe Middle Tennessee State will play with a chip on their shoulder after not receiving an invite to the national tournament. The storylines and potential outcomes are endless, and we can’t wait to watch it all play out.
Division 3: Half of the playoff participants will be new teams.
Division 3 will see the most significant influx of new teams in the 2024-2025 season. Despite having two teams move up to Division 2, the number of teams in Division 3 swells from 13 to 19. With increased teams, Division 3 has been split into North and South divisions.
The new teams added to the North Division are the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers, Austin Peay State Governors, Georgia Southern Eagles, Ole Miss Rebels and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The teams added to the South Division are the Florida Atlantic Owls, Rollins College Tars, and the Miami Hurricanes (Miami’s adding a second team).
Miami and Florida Southern, Division 3’s top two teams from 2023-24, have been relocated to Division 2 for the upcoming season, freeing up two playoff spots and creating a new power struggle at the top of Division 3.
Perhaps Kennesaw State could reign supreme with the new division alignment. The Owls were the only other College Hockey South Division 3 representative at the AAU National Championships and finished third in the conference in 2023-2024.
Five teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs, so again, for all the stat geeks, at least five new teams would have to make the playoffs for this prediction to be accurate. Four of the nine new schools have never had a team play in College Hockey South, so this prediction is banking on some breakthrough performances by the newbies.
But as the saying goes, “the more, the merrier,” that sure is the case with hockey in the South.
ABOUT College Hockey South: Founded in 2008, College Hockey South is a 30-school, 50 team intercollegiate hockey conference spanning eight southeastern U.S. states that competes in AAU College Hockey. College Hockey South is a 501(c)3 not for profit organization.
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