 After finishing as runner-up in the last Division II championship for 8 years, Anderson led Merrimack as a concurrent D-I independent and ECAC East member for the next five years as it tried to find a permanent home.Despite the difficulties of not being in a major conference the Warriors steadily improved until they compiled a magnificent 34-win season in 1987–88, the best in the history of the school (as of 2016).Their performance couldn't have come at a better time because the NCAA expanded the playoff and Anderson's team became the first independent squad invited to the postseason since 1960.