FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[gridiron]

Great points, Lumber.

[amh63]

Slow day at home....scanning the Nescac for football news.  Several tidbits found.
First....Trinity has posted a preview of their goals for this season.  Ranked among the top 30 teams in the nation by others, Trinity is shooting for their 4th straight conference title.  They appear to have the "horses".
Second...Hamilton has posted pix of their new White Jersey. Nike Jersey.
A trivial conference question....how are the Nescac school's football attire split between Nike and UA.  Amherst will stick with UA this season, I believe.

[gridiron]

I know Amherst was Adidas until at least the 2016 season. Colby is Adidas currently. Not sure if the others.

[bhm390]

Bates and Amherst wear UA, everyone else currently wears Nike (including Colby, but their coaches wear Adidas)

[amh63]

bhm390...thanks and welcome aboard .  Others too.
Based on the start of Fall sports as early as the 4th of Sept. , the arrival of FY's will be onboard by the 1 of Sept.  Expect the football players to arrive before the end of August if not sooner.  No other Nescac schools have posted this season's rosters yet...even preliminary ones.

[NBC93]

bhm390...thanks and welcome aboard .  Others too.
Based on the start of Fall sports as early as the 4th of Sept. , the arrival of FY's will be onboard by the 1 of Sept.  Expect the football players to arrive before the end of August if not sooner.  No other Nescac schools have posted this season's rosters yet...even preliminary ones.

Amh63,
Looks like returning Amherst football players are scheduled to move in at or near the 24th and FYs no sooner than the 26th. It's getting closer all the time!
Quick question. I finally opened a personal Twitter account basically for keeping up with football related stuff. I have noticed several high school players thanking various D3 schools, especially NESCAC programs, for extending "an offer". Am I misunderstanding terminology here? Since D3 schools don't offer any help through scholarships, is this something as simple as a program saying "we would love to have you at our school"  and having it misinterpreted, intentionally or otherwise, as an extension of an offer? Just wondering.

[bantamweight]

Quick question. I finally opened a personal Twitter account basically for keeping up with football related stuff. I have noticed several high school players thanking various D3 schools, especially NESCAC programs, for extending "an offer". Am I misunderstanding terminology here? Since D3 schools don't offer any help through scholarships, is this something as simple as a program saying "we would love to have you at our school"  and having it misinterpreted, intentionally or otherwise, as an extension of an offer? Just wondering.

All it means is that a school has said "we would love you at our school" and likely in the NESCAC space it's an indication that admittance is possible. It's nothing more that the D3 kids emulating the D1 kids in the twitterverse.

[polbear73]

Quick question. I finally opened a personal Twitter account basically for keeping up with football related stuff. I have noticed several high school players thanking various D3 schools, especially NESCAC programs, for extending "an offer". Am I misunderstanding terminology here? Since D3 schools don't offer any help through scholarships, is this something as simple as a program saying "we would love to have you at our school"  and having it misinterpreted, intentionally or otherwise, as an extension of an offer? Just wondering.

All it means is that a school has said "we would love you at our school" and likely in the NESCAC space it's an indication that admittance is possible. It's nothing more that the D3 kids emulating the D1 kids in the twitterverse.

I've seen others say "I've committed to the Admissions process at", which is appropriate for Ivy, NESCAC teams and other D3 programs. 

[lumbercat]

I could be wrong but my take is they are committing to the ED process which is binding.....the recruits are essentially saying if I get acceptance I am going to your school. In most cases they have an indication or "pre read" that they will get in- a tacit commitment until a formal acceptance is issued further along in the ED timeline.

[bantamweight]

I could be wrong but my take is they are committing to the ED process which is binding.....the recruits are essentially saying if I get acceptance I am going to your school. In most cases they have an indication or "pre read" that they will get in- a tacit commitment until a formal acceptance is issued further along in the ED timeline.

Yes, this would be for the commitment. The offer that is often tweeted about is less than that but is an indication that the coaching staff thinks a player is admittable and/or a band slot is available for you.

[nescac1]

Trinity has its season preview posted.  Other than kicker, hard to see even a significant question mark on the entire roster.  Especially in light of all the talent Tufts, Wesleyan and Amherst lost to graduation, it's going to be very difficult for anyone to knock off the Bantams this season. 

https://www.bantamsports.com/sports/fball/2019-20/releases/Football_11920

[amh63]

nescac1...did you set up Trinity  ?  Williams was the only team that beat Trinity last season!
Yes, Trinity is ranked in the top 30 in the early national polls.

[nescac1]

Williams played by FAR its best game of the year vs. Trinity.  Also had a tremendous game plan, caught Trinity off guard.  I'm guessing Trinity didn't play its very best that day, but Williams legit outplayed them on both sides of the ball.  Unfortunately, the Williams team that ended the season was barely recognizable due to a crazy rash of injuries to star players and a very thin roster to begin with. 

Trinity will come into the Williams game with a very different attitude and level of preparation this season -- they certainly won't be caught off guard.  Williams is probably one of 2-3 teams with any kind of chance against Trinity this year.  They will still, like everyone else in NESCAC, be at least a TD underdog vs. the Bantams, and deservedly so.  The talent differential is big and growing given the classes Trinity has been bringing in of late. 

Consider, Trinity led the league last year in PPG, points allowed, YPG, and yards allowed, on the offensive side of the ball led by a substantial margin.  They ONLY bring back two starting QBs, now both very experienced, the best receiving tandem (probably the two best WR period) in the league, four starters on the OL, a first-team all-league FB, and the frosh TB who averaged over 6 ypc and looks like a star.  I mean, come on ... The D returns 7 of top 10 tacklers and the top four most productive guys in terms of sacks.  And again Trinity has brought in around 60 frosh combined over the past two years so tons of young guys are surely ready to step up given any sort of window.  It's not a reverse jinx to say they are miles ahead of the rest of the league at this point ... their schedule is very backloaded (Colby/Williams/Amherst/Wesleyan to end the season, brutal), but that probably actually helps them since no other team has the same sort of depth. 

[Trin9-0]

Sure, having won the last 3 titles, Trinity is certainly the best program in the NESCAC. However, I wouldn't put them miles ahead of Amherst, or Williams. Each of those teams has a win against the Bantams over the past two years. Last season the average score differential between Trinity and their four toughest opponents (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan & Tufts) was just over a touchdown. While Trin is deservedly the favorites once again, they are by no means unbeatable.

Opening at Tufts presents a challenge which Trinity hasn't faced in a very long time... beginning the season with a difficult game. The Bants haven't lost a season opener since before any player on the current roster was born (the last time Trinty started 0-1 was after a 14-11 loss at Colby in 1995). If they can continue that streak they should coast until their final three games. Finishing against the Little Three presents a worthy challenge. I'd be surprised if Williams gets the better of Trinity two years in a row, especially with the game in Hartford. The game at Amherst will likely once again decide the NESCAC title. I think the Cardinals could finish with a better record than their disappointing 5-4 finish last year but they won't have a shot against Trin in the Coop.

Speaking of Wes, they released their new Cardinal athletics logo today. I would expect this to be on the Cards' helmets this fall. It doesn't look much like a Cardinal to me but a change was needed as this design replaces what was essentially a ripoff of the Arizona Cardinals logo. A comparison of the old and new logos below:

[lumbercat]

Cards should keep the old logo- new one looks like the U Texas-San Antonio Roadrunner.

Bigger expense than people realize to change Logos across 33 athletic teams, bookstore etc.