FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[polbear73]

Agree with Lumber. If you don't sell tickets how do you know what the admission is, especially with partial game attendance-i.e drop-ins? These are all wild guesses and mean absolutely nothing.

[The Mole]

You guys are splitting the atom here. I am not looking for agreement or disagreement. There has to be legitimate reasons for why the attendance at Amherst (as an example) is REPORTED lower than the other NESCAC schools. Fudging your numbers cannot account for that wide of a delta....Certain programs have better attendance. WHY?

Agree with Lumber. If you don't sell tickets how do you know what the admission is, especially with partial game attendance-i.e drop-ins? These are all wild guesses and mean absolutely nothing.

[nescac1]

Assuming the numbers are accurate, I can come up with NO good reason why Bowdoin would have 6x the attendance of Amherst at football games.  That just makes no sense to me considering the schools are equivalent in size, attract very similar student bodies, and Amherst's football team has been way, way better over the past decade ...  sure, Amherst's field is a bit out of the way, but it's still walkable from campus - that doesn't account for that sort of discrepancy.  And while Bowdoin may overestimate attendance, why would Amherst have any incentive to underestimate attendance?  It just doesn't make any sense ...

[quicksilver]

Assuming the numbers are accurate, I can come up with NO good reason why Bowdoin would have 6x the attendance of Amherst at football games.  That just makes no sense to me considering the schools are equivalent in size, attract very similar student bodies, and Amherst's football team has been way, way better over the past decade ...  sure, Amherst's field is a bit out of the way, but it's still walkable from campus - that doesn't account for that sort of discrepancy.  And while Bowdoin may overestimate attendance, why would Amherst have any incentive to underestimate attendance?  It just doesn't make any sense ...

Bowdoin football games have long been very much a gathering place for Bowdoin alums and the Bowdoin community regardless of the quality of the football. I've attended many a Bowdoin game over the decades, and remember solid attendance numbers at virtually all games.

[SpringSt7]

Williams football definitely does not draw more than Williams basketball. I don't even know how they would begin to attempt to track attendance---both Chandler and Farley-Lamb have about 6 different ways to get in depending on which doors or which gates are open. Those are completely made up numbers.

[polbear73]

I can't believe anyone is taking these numbers seriously.  The schools just don't care. There is no cost/ benefit to attendance. It's a number to fill into a scorebook.

[Nescacman]

I can't believe anyone is taking these numbers seriously.  The schools just don't care. There is no cost/ benefit to attendance. It's a number to fill into a scorebook.

Case in point...we were at UBates this Saturday and observed the crowd first hand...UBates reported in their box score that 900 people were in attendance at the game...having played in the league and been around college football for 40+ years, we can tell you from experience that the crowd was WAY bigger than that...the moral of the story, you can take these numbers with a total grain of salt...some schools take them seriously (like Wes) and most don't (like UBates)...what matters more in our opinion is not only the number of people at the games, but the actual engagement of fans at the games...from our experience, the top schools in the conference in terms of engagement (in no order and strictly subjective) are: Hamilton, Ephs, Tufts, Wes, Hartford State, Middlebury (when they are good), and Colby (sometimes)... 

[Nescacman]

2021 Week #4 NESCACMAN Picks

Welcome back NESCAC...it's Week #4 in the league where they "pay to play"...season is almost half over and we have 3 teams vying for the league title...

Bowdoin College at Wesleyan University: Cards boast one of the top ranked run defenses in the country...face their stiffest test yet in NESCAC leading rusher Eden...look for the Polars to try to run the ball early and often with rookie QB under center...Wes has had a lot of success against the Polars at home (38-9-1 all time)...Wes has an 8 game win streak against the Polars...we expect that to continue as the Cards honor one of their all-time greats, #51 Rich Beal...

Wesleyan 28 Bowdoin 7 
Point Spread: Wesleyan -17
Weather: Cloudy. High of 66.

Colby College at Williams College: We are perplexed by Colby's lack of ability to get in the end zone...we expect their defense to keep them in the game for awhile, but Ephs have too many weapons and will pull away in the second half...

TTUN 27 Colby 6
Point Spread: TTUN -17
Weather: Considerable cloudiness. High of 62.

UBates (Lewiston Campus) at Tufts University: Is this the week that Tufts gets off the schnide?...one of the teams in this game gets their first win....UBates will play their heart out and Costa always give the Bobcats a shot but we think penalties again sink UBates on the road...loss of UBates returner Diawara will definitely hurt UBates...another heartbreaking loss for the 'Cats...

Tufts 28 UBates 24
Point Spread: Tufts -6 
Weather: Cloudy. High of 62.

Hartford State at Hamilton College: Hartford State should roll to their 4th straight win and maintain a share of the league lead...we think Hamilton's rookie QB will have his hands full with HS's front 7...meanwhile, look for Fetter and his talented WR pair of Reid and Girard to light it up against the Conts secondary...Hartford State will try not to look ahead to their big week 5 match-up against UBates...

Hartford State 35 Hamilton 13
Point Spread: Hartford State -21
Weather: Considerable cloudiness. High of 68.


NESCAC Game of the Week

Amhurst College at Middlebury College: Must win for both teams...Lord Mammoths want to stay in the hunt at 3-1...meanwhile, the Pants want to keep their slim hopes of a repeat title alive with a win at home...Mid, surprisingly, has struggled offensively (6th in total offense, 9th in passing offense)...will be interesting to see if Jernigan is back at the controls...we've said it before but not the same MID team that won the league in 2019...meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, LMs look like they may have found a QB in Breckenridge...LMs pass defense is last in the 'CAC and that could be exploited by a healthy Jernigan (or his replacement)...

Middlebury 24 Amhurst College 20
Point Spread: Middlebury -3
Weather: Mostly cloudy. High of 66.

NESCACMAN's Picks (winners):

2021 Season: 13-2
2020 Season: 0-0
2019 Season: 33-12
2018 Season: 36-9
2017 Season: 35-10
2016 Season: 32-8
2015 Season: 30-10
2014 Season: 30-10
2013 Season: 32-8
Career: 241-69 (.777 winning percentage)

[amh63]

NESCAC..MEN, as always, enjoyed your writeup.  Amherst has added a new coach...to replace the one that moved on to Mid.  Amherst may have settled on a QB...but did have another QB for it's last game.  Expect the passing defense to improve via improving linebacker/DL play.  Oh yes, the DBs will be better after a hard week of practice.  Amherst needs to improve it's running game..via RB.  In short....it's the Fourth game and HCMills does not want another 2019 season.  Expect a close game and an Amherst win. 

[lumbercat]

NMan-

Another good preview.

If Joe Willie Jernigan goes for Middlebury they beat the Purple Haze by 21+

They are honoring the memory of a fantastic guy in Rich Beal. Great guy who left too soon.

[Nescacman]

NMan-

Another good preview.

If Joe Willie Jernigan goes for Middlebury they beat the Purple Haze by 21+

They are honoring the memory of a fantastic guy in Rich Beal. Great guy who left too soon.

Rich's widow, Erica, and their kids, will be honorary captains for the Cards tomorrow...following the game, there will be a reception to honor Coach Beal's life...many former teammates, fraternity brothers, friends, players, and family will be in attendance...class act as per usual by AD Whales and HCOF Dice...

[Nescacman]

NMan-

Another good preview.

If Joe Willie Jernigan goes for Middlebury they beat the Purple Haze by 21+

They are honoring the memory of a fantastic guy in Rich Beal. Great guy who left too soon.

BTW Lumber, we just put our $$$ where our mouth is and placed a pretty hefty wager with a former, very prominent NESCAC coach...He gave us the Bobcats and 6....good news is not only did we get the UBates Lewiston Campus, but the Augusta Campus as well!!! Go 'Cats!!!

[lumbercat]

NM

A very fitting honor to Rich Beal, so good to see and very well planned as the Allegheny Gators are on a bye week so hopefully son Max can be in Middletoen with his family.
I've been pretty critical of the Whale over the years but respect what they are doing in Middletown tomorrow. I'm sure the Whale was instrumental in this so give him the highest compliment.

Augusta campus?

Without Diawara and a couple of other playmakers you made a ballsy bet but I admire your swagger. With #3 in the pocket they always have a chance.

[Nescacman]

NM

A very fitting honor to Rich Beal, so good to see and very well planned as the Allegheny Gators are on a bye week so hopefully son Max can be in Middletoen with his family.
I've been pretty critical of the Whale over the years but respect what they are doing in Middletown tomorrow. I'm sure the Whale was instrumental in this so give him the highest compliment.

Augusta campus?

Without Diawara and a couple of other playmakers you made a ballsy bet but I admire your swagger. With #3 in the pocket they always have a chance.

Our sources tell us that Coach Max will be there...wonder if he played for MC Hammer when he was an undergrad???

Diawara is a big loss for sure but we're hoping they can keep the penalties to under 50 yards, Costa has his second straight 300 yard game, and DPOTY candidate LB Hooks makes a play or six on defense....

BTW, this is our hedge against the boneheaded wager we made with nescac1...

[lumbercat]

NM
Max didn't play for the hammer he payed for a guy whose name escapes me but believe he was legendary in the Allegheney program.