In June 2019, seven of the 10 men's members of the WCHA, all Midwestern schools, announced that they would leave that league at the end of the 2020–21 season. By this time, the men's WCHA featured these schools, plus Alabama–Huntsville, Alaska, and Alaska–Anchorage. Their announcement stated that they were considering forming a new, more geographically compact league. On February 18, 2020 these seven schools announced they would begin competing in a new CCHA in 2021–22.