Any feedback from teams from Spring Ball and who is rising up the ranks for NESCAC ?

Quote from: Pat Coleman on April 05, 2025, 06:46:00 PMSounds like they pushed this meeting back two weeks.

That is correct sir and as we understand it, it has more to do with the craziness in DC than anything else. Not a bad thing, btw. Gives the NESCACFBPA more time to lobby for the change. Still a 50/50 proposition to pass from what we are hearing.

NM

To the NESCAC Football community,

Unfortunately the Middlebury football and school community as a whole took a blow this past weekend, as beloved senior #31 Chet Johnston had a freak accident on campus which has left him with severe injuries to his spinal cord. Chet, an active athlete/skier, has an extremely long and arduous journey ahead of him just to be able to walk again.

The harsh reality with situations like this is that on top of the emotional toll on his family, the financial stress of the surgeries and rehabilitation will be massive. There has been a Go-fund-me started by family members to try and help out with these costs which I will attach right here.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/coming-together-to-help-chet

Rivalries and trash talk aside, this would be the perfect time for the NESCAC alumni community to come together and rally behind this young man who is at the start of his long road to recovery. His friends and family massively appreciate any effort to spread this link or help out. Thank you

Quote from: Nation on April 14, 2025, 02:37:46 PMTo the NESCAC Football community,

Unfortunately the Middlebury football and school community as a whole took a blow this past weekend, as beloved senior #31 Chet Johnston had a freak accident on campus which has left him with severe injuries to his spinal cord. Chet, an active athlete/skier, has an extremely long and arduous journey ahead of him just to be able to walk again.

The harsh reality with situations like this is that on top of the emotional toll on his family, the financial stress of the surgeries and rehabilitation will be massive. There has been a Go-fund-me started by family members to try and help out with these costs which I will attach right here.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/coming-together-to-help-chet

Rivalries and trash talk aside, this would be the perfect time for the NESCAC alumni community to come together and rally behind this young man who is at the start of his long road to recovery. His friends and family massively appreciate any effort to spread this link or help out. Thank you

Thank you for sharing. Chet is a terrific young man—-he and his family deserve all your support on their long road ahead. Please join me in donating if you are able. My prayers are with him.

The NESCAC Presidents will vote today on whether they will allow football to go to the playoffs! Hoping for an outcome that puts the student-athletes' experience first. Let us play!!

Quote from: vman15 on April 17, 2025, 11:02:08 AMThe NESCAC Presidents will vote today on whether they will allow football to go to the playoffs! Hoping for an outcome that puts the student-athletes' experience first. Let us play!!

Did vote happen?  If so how did it go?

Quote from: Brady12 on April 18, 2025, 09:03:58 AM

Quote from: vman15 on April 17, 2025, 11:02:08 AMThe NESCAC Presidents will vote today on whether they will allow football to go to the playoffs! Hoping for an outcome that puts the student-athletes' experience first. Let us play!!

Did vote happen?  If so how did it go?

Vote was approved as of 4:30 this afternoon. Football teams will be part of the playoff process come Fall 2026.

Quote from: rdanie03 on April 18, 2025, 04:54:08 PM

Quote from: Brady12 on April 18, 2025, 09:03:58 AM

Quote from: vman15 on April 17, 2025, 11:02:08 AMThe NESCAC Presidents will vote today on whether they will allow football to go to the playoffs! Hoping for an outcome that puts the student-athletes' experience first. Let us play!!

Did vote happen?  If so how did it go?

Vote was approved as of 4:30 this afternoon. Football teams will be part of the playoff process come Fall 2026.

https://nescac.com/news/2025/4/18/nescac-news-nescac-to-begin-participating-in-ncaa-division-iii-football-championship.aspx

QuoteThe NESCAC Presidents have approved a proposal from the conference athletic directors to allow NESCAC Football teams to participate in the NCAA Division III Championship effective in fall 2026.

"I am pleased to share this information with our football student-athletes, coaches, and administrators," said NESCAC Executive Director Andrea Savage. "The conference has had positive experiences participating in postseason play, and we are pleased that football teams will have the opportunity to participate in the NCAA Championships and share in this experience as well." 

NESCAC Football will maintain a nine-game schedule against fellow conference schools. The team that finishes at the top of the standings (after any tiebreakers are applied, if necessary) will earn the NESCAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Football Championship.

The NCAA Division III Football Championship consists of 40 teams, with all rounds, except the championship game, played at campus sites.

Welcome to D3 football!

That will help make the Massey Ratings look more accurate.

Certainly happy the league finally got on board for D3 football playoffs, but can't understand why they need to delay it until 2026.  Nothing needs to change to allow teams to participate in the playoffs this coming season - really unfortunate for the senior players to miss out.

We are going to the playoffs in 2026!

Thank you to everyone who signed the petition, shared our work, or supported us in any other way. Additionally, thank you to the NESCAC presidents for hearing out our request for change. This marks an incredible day for equity across athletics.

While we would have loved for this change to impact the upcoming senior class, we are excited to have the opportunity to help football in the NESCAC move forward and compete on a national stage.

We did this together - this is just the beginning. Here's to a future of NESCAC dominance in the NCAA playoffs.

NESCAC Football Players Association

Congrats to the NESCAC players and coaches for finally getting a ticket to the D3 playoffs.  We will see two immediate impacts - first, in recruiting, players with the academic credentials to be successful at NESCAC schools but wanting the opportunity to play for the National Championship will now have that opportunity in the NESCAC.  Second, a number of coaches in the NESCAC have had playoff experience at other schools and the learning curve won't be as large as we might imagine. One only has to look at Johns Hopkins to see that schools with high academic standards can be quite successful. Finally, it will become quite clear that the teams that are the usual top 6 or 8 teams each year, have size, depth, and experience and are really very good.

Not so fast ... my view is that Williams should not have voted (if they did) for post-season football.The Ephs already end with a meaningful rivalry game, the season is of sufficient duration, the academic schedule in November is intense, vast differences exist in NESCAC regarding football admissions, emerging potential financial pressures, etc. In short, often "less is more." Perhaps the risk of being the odd person out (relative to Ivy League, others) outweighed the merit of defending a proven balance. Lots of possible unforeseen consequences ... stay tuned to assess the true value.   

Quote from: jumpshot on April 19, 2025, 05:31:40 PMNot so fast ... my view is that Williams should not have voted (if they did) for post-season football.The Ephs already end with a meaningful rivalry game, the season is of sufficient duration, the academic schedule in November is intense, vast differences exist in NESCAC regarding football admissions, emerging potential financial pressures, etc. In short, often "less is more." Perhaps the risk of being the odd person out (relative to Ivy League, others) outweighed the merit of defending a proven balance. Lots of possible unforeseen consequences ... stay tuned to assess the true value.   

If Williams or Amherst is good enough to play another game the schools should support them. And if by some chance they make a run at a National Title then it will pay dividends to the program and players.  These kids have proven they can balance the work load and deserve to see how far their hardwork can take them.