Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

In every series, that's the weekend Michigan needed to jump up to #2.

I'm not sure I really knew the definition of gallows humor until now:

https://twitter.com/internetraj/status/1095516995586387968

bah

I sure hope the fan apathy at the "Hockey schools" is the driving force behind their new found mediocrity.

Don't let me get in the way of something you think is funny, but there weren't any arguments against a Big Ten conference that had to do with M/MSU/Minn/UW not wanting to be with OSU/PSU. For starters, Michigan and MSU were already associated with OSU in the CCHA. And neither ever wanted OSU out of the CCHA. Then there was PSU. They joined college hockey and our fanbases basically celebrated it (though it was effortless to be happy when no one expected them to get into the tournament for a decade).

So the Big Ten argument wasn't "not wanting to be with OSU/PSU," it was not wanting to be away from the CCHA and WCHA. Meaning that OSU had the same perspective as Michigan and MSU. And the CCHA teams didn't too badly seem to care. Michigan and MSU were bummed to drop WMU/FSU/LSSU, etc., but generally preferred the idea of the Big Ten conference. I figured OSU felt the same. In the WCHA, UW cared more than we did but moved on pretty quickly. Minnesota is the only one who's still bent out of shape.

Maybe you are conflating some of the common opinions from the inaugural Big Ten year, when we sucked. OSU and PSU were part of that, but really everyone was to blame.

I don't think there's a strong argument for Michigan, UW, and Minnesota being down *because* of the Big Ten. The explanation is coaching/coaching transitions. 

Granato hasn't been there long, but maybe UW already needs another coach. Michigan is in good shape in the long term but lost a lot to the pros after their FF run last year and it shows. Minnesota is also (probably) in good hands for the long run. MSU is harder to address. They sorely needed and made a coaching change but their AD no longer seems invested in hockey, so they are different to project. 

Honest question from someone who has basically lost touch...

Has the Big Ten hockey conference killed college hockey at the Big Ten's preeminent hockey schools?

Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, and to some degree probably Michigan State used to be consistently top-tier programs. Seems like not so much now.

Wisconsin's attendance seems way down, too. Averaging closer to 10K--only about 2/3 of the Kohl Center's capacity.

I missed this, but I think the answer has to be mixed. UW's attendance may be partly due to joining the Big Ten conference. But it has to also be due to poor coaching/poor product. And coaching is also the best explanation for Michigan's and Minnesota's recent dips. Michigan dipped out of the NCAA tournament for the first time in 22 years in 2013. That wasn't because the CCHA was dying. It was because Berenson was holding on too long. 
Berenson then held on for 4 additional years, and Michigan only made the tourney one of those. Blaming the Big Ten alignment for any of them seems misplaced. Red just retired too late. Then Mel Pearson took Berenson's last roster to the Frozen Four on his first try. I'd say Michigan is in good shape. Not this year, of course. Michigan is rebuilding because of both the coaching transition and from losing so many guys last year when we couldn't afford to. None of that seems due to Big Ten alignment. I feel the same about UW and Minnesota. Minnesota seems to have found a good coach. UW, I'm not sure. 
But yeah, just coaching. Bad coaching and tough transitions with good coaches (for M and Minn) or all the time bad coaching (for UW).