What it is: The New England Football Conference is one of the few "football-only" conferences at any level, NCAA or NAIA. All 16 current members compete at the NCAA Division III level, and in separate conferences for other sports. 12 of those members come from the Massachusetts, with the others coming from New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
The history of the NEFC dates back to 1965, when Maine Maritime won the league's first title. 45 years later, the Mariners begin the 2010 season as defending league champions. The league has had its championship game since 2000.
Success in the D-III playoffs has been hard to come by for the NEFC, as the conference has won only two games all time. Curry College has been the only team to win those games, as the Colonels crushed Hartwick, 42-21, in the first round of the 2007 playoffs, followed by a narrow 26-21 win over Ithaca in 2008.
Website: http://www.newenglandfoootballconference.com
Predicted order of finish (2009 overall record in parentheses, projected conference champion in BOLD)
Boyd Division
1. Curry (8-3): Despite going unbeaten (7-0) en route to winning the division crown, the Colonels lost a heartbreaker to Maine Maritime in the NEFC title game. Look for them to reach the championship game again in 2010.
2. Plymouth State (8-3): Expect the Panthers to give the Colonels (6-1) a stiff challenge in the Boyd Division.
3. Western New England (6-4): The Golden Bears won five straight games to end last season at 5-2 in NEFC play. They hope to notch their first-ever seven-win season this year.
4. Endicott (5-5): Back-to-back wins to finish 2009 at .500 gives the Gulls a glimmer of hope going into 2010.
5. Salve Regina (4-6): The Seahawks lost back-to-back games to finish the 2009 season.
6. Nichols (4-6): As did the Bison.
7. MIT (1-8): The Engineers haven't had a winning season since 1999. That's when they finished 6-4 overall.
8. UMass-Dartmouth (0-10): The Corsairs hope to win any game in 2010. Period. Believe it or not, though, UMD did finish 6-4 in 2008.
Bogan Division
1. Bridgewater State (7-3): The Bears look to climb their way to the top after a 5-2 NEFC finish in 2009.
2. Maine Maritime (9-2): The Mariners come fresh off of their first-ever NCAA Division III playoff appearance. They hope to prove that 2009 was no fluke.
3. Westfield State (7-3): The Owls could make it a three-way race for the Bogan title again in 2010.
4. Framingham State (5-5): The Rams faded fast down the stretch after starting last season fast at 4-1. They lost four of their last five games to finish 2009.
5. Coast Guard (4-5): The Bears won two of their final three games to finish 4-3 in the NEFC a year ago.
6. Fitchburg State (4-6): The Falcons finished the 2009 campaign with a four-game freefall. That's after they started 4-2. Fitchburg also gave up 144 points during that four-game losing streak to end last season.
7. Massachusetts Maritime (3-7): The Buccaneers lost five of their final six games of last season. The lone win in that stretch was 57-37 over Fitchburg State.
8. Worcester State (1-9): A 20-10 win over, you guessed it, Fitchburg State, turned out to be lone bright spot in a long 2009 season for the Lancers.
Overall Champion: Curry College
5 years ago
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