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http://www.foxsports.com/arizona/sto...program-111814

The university announced on Tuesday that it will elevate its national champion club men's hockey team to NCAA Division I status over the next three seasons. Anderson made the announcement at a press conference at the Carson Student-Athlete Center.

The move comes at a time when many university athletic programs are cutting expenses and teams amid looming cost concerns, including the impending monetary compensation for student-athletes that came on the heels of a landmark federal court ruling.

The creation of the program will necessitate the addition of a women's sport to remain in compliance with Title IX, at a cost of $1 million to $1.5 million. The university is still researching which sport might be the best fit, with lacrosse and rowing among the possibilities.

The hope is that with Arizona State opting to add hockey, other Pac-12 schools will follow suit to reduce travel costs for the program. As it stands, the closest Division I competitors for ASU are Air Force and Colorado College in Colorado Springs and Denver University. There are very few Division I schools in the western United States. Aside from the Colorado schools, Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage, Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota all field teams.

Anderson said he has already spoken with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott and Scott likes the idea of expanding hockey throughout the conference, both as a possible revenue sport and as a sport that would fit well on the conference's TV networks.