If you're looking for a marquee inter-league opponent to come from the East and take on the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team here, it would be hard to top New Hampshire.

The Wildcats have qualified for the NCAA tournament eight straight years. They've advanced to four Frozen Fours since 1998, finishing second in '99 and 2003. They've averaged 25 wins a season since 1996-97. They play a robust style and have three state products on their roster: Blake Kessel (Madison), Scott Pavelski (Plover) and Mike Sislo (Superior).

So chances are good you'll get your money's worth tonight and Saturday night when the perennial Hockey East Association title contender hooks up with UW.

Some friendly advice, though: Enjoy it while you can because marquee East vs. West encounters such as this during the regular season face extinction where the Badgers are concerned.

Lots of factors are changing the way UW coach Mike Eaves puts together future home schedules.

"We have to have more balance," he said. "We have to help ourselves get to where we want to be at the end of the year."

Showdown, Showcase on last legs

Even tradition won't be spared as the Badgers pursue an NCAA tournament berth and a shot at adding to their collection of six national titles.

It's all but certain this will be the final year UW stages the Badger Showdown holiday tournament. What began in 1989 as a high-risk endeavor and evolved into a wildly popular attraction at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee is seen as a scheduling headache and a costly investment at the Kohl Center.

Also on its last legs, apparently, is the annual College Hockey Showcase, which began in 1993 as a way for four longtime Big Ten Conference entries to meet every year. UW and Minnesota, from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, play Michigan and Michigan State, from the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, over the Thanksgiving holiday.

UW is looking to incorporate CCHA member Ohio State, the fifth hockey-playing entity from the Big Ten, into the rotation. That could result in a series with the Buckeyes one year, followed by one with Michigan and Michigan State the next.

The scheduling changes are predicated on approval from the UW Athletic Board.

The Badgers will continue to face the top schools from the WCHA (which has produced six national champions this decade) and CCHA (which has had a representative in the NCAA title game the past three years) and welcome opportunities to play in events such as the Icebreaker Invitational in St. Louis in 2010-11 (which includes current NCAA champion Boston University, Notre Dame and Holy Cross).

NCAA tourney formula drives changes

Eaves said recent adjustments in how strength of schedule factors into an NCAA tournament resume is driving the changes. In the past three years, the value of an opponent's winning percentage has decreased significantly in the power rating equation (from 50 percent to 21) and a school with a record under .500 can no longer qualify for an at-large berth regardless of its schedule strength or where it stands in the Pairwise Rankings.

Alabama-Huntsville, projected to be an NCAA Division I independent in 2010-11, and Massachusetts, a consistent second-division club in Hockey East, will play series here next season.

Mike Cerniglia, the UW director of hockey operations, said another non-conference home series will likely be added for 2010-11 because the Icebreaker is exempt from the normal 34-game regular season and UW prefers to have 20 home dates per season.

Even though the WCHA is adding two schools next year -- Nebraska-Omaha and Bemidji State will make it a 12-team league -- it will continue to have 28 conference games.

Big Ten series are goal

The Showdown was once the marquee holiday tournament in the nation -- the 1992 and '93 editions drew 17,000 per game at the Bradley Center -- but interest has waned. It was moved to the Kohl Center in 2003-04, where questions have been raised about having either UW players and/or opponents travel on Christmas. According to Cerniglia, guarantees for the three invitees range from $15,000 to $20,000.

"There are so many Christmas tournaments now," Eaves said. "For a while there it was a big rage. But I think if we get a quality team in here at Christmas time where we can play two games and (Badgers fans) can see the same team back-to-back, that will be fine."

Eaves said putting Ohio State into a rotation with Michigan and Michigan State makes sense at the expense of the current Showcase format, which represents a nod toward more exposure on the Big Ten Network.

Asked this week if an elite Eastern opponent such as New Hampshire would be coming to the Kohl Center anytime soon, Eaves shook his head.

"Probably not," he said.

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