What it is: The New England Small College Athletic Conference, or the NESCAC for short, begins its 40th season of competition this fall, as it was founded in 1971. A league comprised of small, but highly selective, private institutitions, the NESCAC currently has 11 full members, 10 of which play football. Of those 10 schools, three of them are from Maine, three from Massachusetts, two from Connecticut, one from Vermont, and one from New York State. Because of this academic selectivity, the NESCAC is often referred to as the "Little Ivy League".
Unlike most conferences, the NESCAC chooses not to send its football teams to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Additionally, all 10 teams play an eight-game regular season schedule.
The NESCAC has the longest-played rivalry in all of Division III: the "Biggest Little Game In America" between Amherst and Williams. The Lord Jeffs and Ephs have played each other 124 times since 1884, as Williams leads 70-49-5 in the all-time series. Amherst won last year's game, 26-21.
Also, the NESCAC is divided into two "mini-conferences", the "Little Three", which consists of Amherst, Wesleyan, and Williams, as well as the "CBB", which is made up of the three schools in Maine: Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby.
Finally, in an ironic twist, three-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots, as well as former New York Jets turned Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini, both graduated from Wesleyan University.
Website: http://www.nescac.com
Predicted order of finish (2009 overall record in parentheses, projected champion in BOLD type)
1. Amherst (8-0): The Lord Jeffs hope to win back-to-back outright NESCAC title for the first time in program history this season.
2. Williams (6-2): If the Ephs hope to dethrone the Lord Jeffs, they must do it under a new head coach, as Aaron Kelton takes over the reins in Williamstown. Ironically, both of the Ephs losses last year came by the same score, 26-21.
3. Trinity (6-2): Both of the Bantams losses came to Middlebury (31-24) and Amherst (23-12).
4. Middlebury (5-3): The Panthers are looking to win their outright NESCAC title since 2007. They finished 7-1 thast season.
5. Colby (4-4): The Mules have won or shared 15 CBB championships since 1988.
6. Wesleyan (3-5): Five of the eight Cardinals games in 2009 were decided by eight points or less. They were 2-2 in those contests.
7. Bowdoin (3-5): The Polar Bears also played in their share of close calls, going 1-4 in games decided by five points or less.
8. Tufts (2-6): The Jumbos hope to bounce back after a disappointing season. Both wins came by eight points or less.
9. Hamilton (2-6): The Continentals ended a five-game losing streak with a 24-14 win over Bates to end the 2009 season.
10. Bates (1-7): The Bobcats defeated Bowdoin, 28-24, for their lone win of last season.
5 years ago
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