FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[mariner75]

You can see attendance numbers for games at each teams statistic sites (good guess estimates in many cases).  They usually number from a couple hundred to 2000-3000...& much larger depending on The Game (i.e., Amherst - Williams).
In comparing with other DIII games, NESCAC games are average(equal) to most other schools.

[mariner75]

You need to take into account weather, homecomings, etc also.  And like all programs, if you're winning you'll get more people watching.

[bant551]

Trin (Hartford) actually ranks high in attendance in terms of D-3 schools.  I read that in one of those college footballs previews which makes the last page an advertisement/D-3 page.  It had attendance numbers.  Apparently Trinity does decent in that regard.

[frank uible]

Annually the NCAA publishes in its Official Football Records Books the immediately prior year's attendance for each of its member colleges. Usually in recent years  Amherst, Trinity and Williams are among the top 20 DIII colleges in annual home attendance per home game. In 2001 - 2004 St. John's (Minn.)  lead all DIII colleges in annual home attendance per home game. In the years 1989 - 2004 (except for 2002 and 2003)  the Old Dominion Athletic Conference lead all DIII conferences in total annual attendance. For each of 2002 and 2003 the Ohio Athletic Conference lead.

[chessdoc]

anyone have any info on incoming freshmen  at any of the nescac school, will the strenghth of the league roate or will historic results and trends continue???

[Trin9-0]

From what I've heard out of Trinity, they have a few incoming freshman who are among their best recruits in recent years. However, they don't have the overall number of quality players that have highlighted their recent freshmen classes.

Don't expect the NESCAC hierarchy to change much this year (if ever). Colby can establish itself as one of the top tier teams if they can repeat the success of last years 7-1 team. Look for Trinity to stay atop the league but there's a chance they may lose a little ground in the first year under new leadership.

Williams and Amherst will, as always, have solid teams, while Middlebury, Tufts and newcomer to the middle of the pack Bowdoin will all be competitive.

The bottom feeders will again be Hamilton, Bates and Wesleyan whose program is really on the decline.

[cruiser]

the hierarchy will ebb and flow just like it always does. colby is on the way up, and one can assume that trinity will hang onto its perch as long as it can. the only teams that one can really peg are the bottom feeders, hamilton, bates and wesleyan

[Pat Coleman]

By the way, since there's usually a fair amount of crossover between sports, just a reminder to people that we now have men's and women's lacrosse message boards as well:

http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?board=1501.0 (men)
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?board=1502.0 (women)

[Bullfrog]

I hate to say this but cruiser you are right about bottom feeders, with one excepetion the Cards might be worse off than Bates and Hamilton.

Admissions rules in Cards country!  It might be interesting will Trinity lose a game first or will the Cards win one first?

[chessdoc]

How does a fan get to discover how any nescac team does in the recruiting process and when will next years schedules be released to the public???

[Trin9-0]

Good luck finding anything out about D3 recruiting especially in the NESCAC unless you have a contact at a particular school who is a member of the coaching staff or at least works in the athletic department.

Regarding the schedule for NESCAC schools, they don't change year to year with the excpetion of the first game of the season. The week 1 opponent rotates between 2 schools every two years. For example Trinity played Bates the first week of the season each of the past two years, they will now play Colby for the next two season openers.

Whichever NESCAC school was off of the schedule this past year will replace the week 1 opponent this year, and the next.

[chessdoc]

thanks can not wait to catch a few games thanks for the info

[Longtooth]

Who will win the conference?

[cruiser]

colby or trinity

[Trin9-0]

Colby had a very good year last year, but don't get too anxious to label them as a consistent contender for the league title just yet. They only beat one of the 3 perennial NESCAC powers last year, Williams in week 1. They lost to Amherst and didn't have to play Trinity.

This year they'll have to go through Trinity the first game of the season. And they play the Bantams in Hartford, where Trinity just doesn't lose. They also have to play the Jeffs on the road. Williams is off the schedule but I don't see Colby finishing any higher than 3rd this year.

I think Trinity will win the NESCAC again, though they likely won't be as dominant as the past few years. Amherst and Williams will probably fight for second place, and Colby will finish 3rd or 4th.