FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Trin9-0]

Champs SINCE 2000

Trinity--10
Amherst--6
Williams--5
Middlebury--4
Wesleyan--1
Colby--1

2000   Amherst/Colby/Middlebury
2001   Williams
2002   Trinity/Williams
2003   Trinity
2004   Trinity
2005   Trinity
2006   Williams
2007   Middlebury
2008   Trinity
2009   Amherst
2010   Williams
2011   Amherst
2012   Trinity
2013   Amherst/Middlebury/Wesleyan
2014   Amherst
2015   Amherst
2016   Trinity
2017   Trinity
2018   Trinity
2019   Middlebury
2020   COVID-19
2021   Williams
2022   Trinity

Thank you Mole. We're sure our friends from Hartford State will be providing more color on this throughout the evening. Can't wait...

With this being the 50th Season of NESCAC football I went down a rabbit hole to determine the league school(s) with the best record for each of the previous 49 seasons. Common sense would tell you that this represents the schools who have won NESCAC championships. However, as some are eager to remind us, the league only began officially crowning a champion in 2000.

Either way, it's clear to see that the league has been dominated by four schools for the past 5 decades: Trinity, Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury.
The Bantams have won at least a share of the league title 16 times (a third of all championships). The Ephs can claim 14 titles, while their rivals the Jeffs/Mammoths have won at least a share of 13 championships and finally, Middlebury has won or tied for the best record in the league 11 times.

At least one of these four schools has had the best NESCAC football record in 47 of the past 49 season (96%)! Aside from the big four, only Tufts (in 1979 and 1986) has won an outright title. Hamilton, Colby, and Wesleyan can each claim a share of a championship (in 1987, 2000, and 2013 respectively).

It looks likely that either Trinity or Williams will continue the trend this year, but Wesleyan shocked us last year so anything is possible.





   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

YEAR	SCHOOL	WINS	LOSSES	TIES
1971	Williams	7	1
1972	Middlebury	8	0
1973	Amherst/Middlebury	7	1
1974	Trinity/Williams	7	1
1975	Williams	7	0	1
1976	Middlebury	7	1
1977	Middlebury	7	1
1978	Trinity	7	1
1979	Tufts	8	0
1980	Trinity	7	1
1981	Middlebury	7	1
1982	Amherst	7	1
1983	Middlebury/Trinity	6	2
1984	Amherst	8	0
1985	Amherst	7	0	1
1986	Tufts	7	1
1987	Amherst/Hamilton/Trinity	6	2
1988	Williams	6	1	1
1989	Williams	8	0
1990	Williams	8	0
1991	Trinity	6	1	1
1992	Middlebury	7	1
1993	Trinity	8	0
1994	Williams	8	0
1995	Williams	7	0	1
1996	Amherst	7	1
1997	Amherst/Wesleyan/Williams	7	1
1998	Williams	8	0
1999	Williams	7	1
2000	Amherst/Colby/Middlebury	7	1
2001	Williams	8	0
2002	Trinity/Williams	7	1
2003	Trinity	8	0
2004	Trinity	8	0
2005	Trinity	8	0
2006	Williams	8	0
2007	Middlebury	7	1
2008	Trinity	8	0
2009	Amherst	8	0
2010	Williams	8	0
2011	Amherst	8	0
2012	Trinity	8	0
2013	Amherst/Middlebury/Wesleyan	7	1
2014	Amherst	8	0
2015	Amherst	8	0
2016	Trinity	8	0
2017	Trinity	8	1
2018	Trinity	8	1
2019	Middlebury	9	0
2020	N/A

Mole, it looks like we may have duplicated our efforts but glad to see that your research turned up the same results. It bears repeating that in 51 seasons of NESCAC play there's been only two years where either Trinity, Williams, Amherst, or Middlebury didn't end up with the best record (Tufts in 1979, '86). In addition only Hamilton (1987), Colby (2000) and Wesleyan (1997, 2013) can claim even a tri-championship.

Since the formal inception of the NESCAC it really seems to be those top four programs and then everyone else.

[Trin9-0]

Are Middlebury, Wesleyan and Tufts getting the recruits that Williams and Amherst used to get ?

2012 to 2022

Trinity 74-16 no losing seasons, 25% (4) of losses in 2019
Middlebury 63-27 2021 only non-winning season at 3-6
Wesleyan 62-28 all winning campaigns
Amherst 59-31 19 of the losses 2019 until now
Tufts 44-46 20 of the losses from '12-14 (40-32 since)
Williams 41-49 30 of the losses from '12-16
Bates 28-52 almost half (13) of the wins from '12-14, 7 losing years in a row
Colby 27-53 best year was 4-4 in 2013
Hamilton 20-70 25% of the wins in 2018 (5-4)
Bowdoin 15-75 but are 4-2 in last 6 games....

A couple of observations and some questions for Mole:

-Only two teams have not had losing season during that stretch, Hartford State and Wesleyan. Very interesting and probably not what most boardsters would have expected.
-Only 4 teams (HS, Wes, MID, Amwurst) have had winning records over the last 10 years. Certainly, the trend is not going the right way for the Lord Mammoths. The Lord Mammoths are 12-17 since 2018.
-If you factor in 2023, Wes has now tied MID for second place to the mighty Roosters from Hartford.
-The Mules and the Polars have not had a winning season since 2005 and UBates last winning season was 2012.
-This analysis clearly shows 3 tiers from 2012-2022: Tier 1 would be Hartford State, Wes, Middlebury/Tier 2 Would be the Lord Mammoths, Williams, and Tufts/Tier 3 would be Colby, UBates, Bowdoin and Hamilton.
-What is the Ephs winning % from 2011 without Bobby Maimaron at QB?
-How have the Top 3 Teams done against each other since 2012?

All in, nice job by our friend, The Mole. #rollcards

First of all, Mole's numbers are off. Each program played 85 games from 2012 to 2022. He listed seven teams playing 90 games, two others at 80 and another at 78. I'm assuming some/all of these results were pulled from NESCAC.com which has all sorts of omissions (easy enough mistake). I've listed the corrected records below and added winning percentage:





   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


   


   


   


   


   


   

SCHOOL	WINS	LOSSES	WIN %
TRINITY	72	13	84.7%
MIDDLEBURY	62	23	72.9%
WESLEYAN	61	24	71.8%
AMHERST	59	26	69.4%
TUFTS	43	42	50.6%
WILLIAMS	40	45	47.1%
BATES	28	57	32.9%
COLBY	27	58	31.8%
HAMILTON	20	65	23.5%
BOWDOIN	13	72	15.3%

Second, I disagree with Nescacman's assessment that Wesleyan and Middlebury are on Trinity's tier. Since 2012 Middlebury has one outright title and shared a three-way championship, while Wesleyan has a single three-way title. Over the same period Trinity has won five outright NESCAC titles. Also, Trinity has won nearly 85% of it's games while Midd and Wes are just under 73% and 72% respectively. Sure, that's still good but it's much closer to Amherst at 69.4% than it is to Trinity and I'm willing to bet Amherst wouldn't trade their three NESCAC titles for an extra two victories over the past decade. Tufts and Williams are pretty clearly in the next grouping and I'd give the nod to the Ephs based on their one league title. Bates and Colby are firmly atop the lowest tier but, as Lumbercat knows, losing two thirds of your games is nothing to crow about. Hamilton is Hamilton and Bowdoin with just 13 wins over ten seasons... YIKES!

(note the number above the winning percentage is the number of NESCAC titles won over that period)

[The Mole]

mistake was all mine, Trin. Should be 87 games, '12 to '22 plus first two this year. In my haste, I butchered the numbers somehow adding 3 games  . But, to your point, the story does not change.

[Trin9-0]

I chose not to include this season's results as the schedules aren't really equitable after just two games. Also, to clarify my previous post, I'm not saying Trinity cannot be beaten by Midd or Wes in this (or any other) season. However, over the 10 season span that you cited it seems clear the Bantams are a cut above the rest of the NESCAC. I'll add that while the Panthers and Cardinals résumé's over the past few decades are just slightly below that of Amherst it's obvious Midd and Wes are on a better short term trajectory.

However, as you look at the history of the league, where each of the programs are now, and try to project forward I find it hard to believe that the Mammoths and Ephs will be down for too long. Both schools have the ability to turn below average football programs around quickly if they make the commitment to do so.

Middlebury has always found a way to be competitive while occasionally contending and even winning a league title. I would expect that tradition to continue.

Wesleyan and Tufts have made tremendous strides to turn their programs around in the past decade, yet both seem to be perpetually on the cusp and have trouble finishing the job. Given how talented their rosters are seemingly every year, it wouldn't shock me if either program breaks through at some point in the next few years to finally win an outright title, but that hypothetical best case result would seem like an outlier.

As for the Maine schools and Hamilton, I don't realistically see any one of them legitimately contending for a league title in the foreseeable future (ever?). I think the ceiling for any one of those programs is 6 wins (7 would be monumental and the last time a two-loss team finished atop the NESCAC was 1987).

[lumbercat]

Any errors aside, appreciate the Mole taking the time to put all that information together.

[The Mole]

thanks Lumber 

Any errors aside, appreciate the Mole taking the time to put all that information together.

[Former CAC Coach]

Champs SINCE 2000

Trinity--10
Amherst--6
Williams--5
Middlebury--4
Wesleyan--1
Colby--1

2000   Amherst/Colby/Middlebury
2001   Williams
2002   Trinity/Williams
2003   Trinity
2004   Trinity
2005   Trinity
2006   Williams
2007   Middlebury
2008   Trinity
2009   Amherst
2010   Williams
2011   Amherst
2012   Trinity
2013   Amherst/Middlebury/Wesleyan
2014   Amherst
2015   Amherst
2016   Trinity
2017   Trinity
2018   Trinity
2019   Middlebury
2020   COVID-19
2021   Williams
2022   Trinity

Thank you Mole. We're sure our friends from Hartford State will be providing more color on this throughout the evening. Can't wait...

With this being the 50th Season of NESCAC football I went down a rabbit hole to determine the league school(s) with the best record for each of the previous 49 seasons. Common sense would tell you that this represents the schools who have won NESCAC championships. However, as some are eager to remind us, the league only began officially crowning a champion in 2000.

Either way, it's clear to see that the league has been dominated by four schools for the past 5 decades: Trinity, Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury.
The Bantams have won at least a share of the league title 16 times (a third of all championships). The Ephs can claim 14 titles, while their rivals the Jeffs/Mammoths have won at least a share of 13 championships and finally, Middlebury has won or tied for the best record in the league 11 times.

At least one of these four schools has had the best NESCAC football record in 47 of the past 49 season (96%)! Aside from the big four, only Tufts (in 1979 and 1986) has won an outright title. Hamilton, Colby, and Wesleyan can each claim a share of a championship (in 1987, 2000, and 2013 respectively).

It looks likely that either Trinity or Williams will continue the trend this year, but Wesleyan shocked us last year so anything is possible.





   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

YEAR	SCHOOL	WINS	LOSSES	TIES
1971	Williams	7	1
1972	Middlebury	8	0
1973	Amherst/Middlebury	7	1
1974	Trinity/Williams	7	1
1975	Williams	7	0	1
1976	Middlebury	7	1
1977	Middlebury	7	1
1978	Trinity	7	1
1979	Tufts	8	0
1980	Trinity	7	1
1981	Middlebury	7	1
1982	Amherst	7	1
1983	Middlebury/Trinity	6	2
1984	Amherst	8	0
1985	Amherst	7	0	1
1986	Tufts	7	1
1987	Amherst/Hamilton/Trinity	6	2
1988	Williams	6	1	1
1989	Williams	8	0
1990	Williams	8	0
1991	Trinity	6	1	1
1992	Middlebury	7	1
1993	Trinity	8	0
1994	Williams	8	0
1995	Williams	7	0	1
1996	Amherst	7	1
1997	Amherst/Wesleyan/Williams	7	1
1998	Williams	8	0
1999	Williams	7	1
2000	Amherst/Colby/Middlebury	7	1
2001	Williams	8	0
2002	Trinity/Williams	7	1
2003	Trinity	8	0
2004	Trinity	8	0
2005	Trinity	8	0
2006	Williams	8	0
2007	Middlebury	7	1
2008	Trinity	8	0
2009	Amherst	8	0
2010	Williams	8	0
2011	Amherst	8	0
2012	Trinity	8	0
2013	Amherst/Middlebury/Wesleyan	7	1
2014	Amherst	8	0
2015	Amherst	8	0
2016	Trinity	8	0
2017	Trinity	8	1
2018	Trinity	8	1
2019	Middlebury	9	0
2020	N/A

Mole, it looks like we may have duplicated our efforts but glad to see that your research turned up the same results. It bears repeating that in 51 seasons of NESCAC play there's been only two years where either Trinity, Williams, Amherst, or Middlebury didn't end up with the best record (Tufts in 1979, '86). In addition only Hamilton (1987), Colby (2000) and Wesleyan (1997, 2013) can claim even a tri-championship.

Since the formal inception of the NESCAC it really seems to be those top four programs and then everyone else.

I was on the Hamilton FB staff in 1987, and it was a very good team, losing one NESCAC game (14-9 to Trinity) and one OOC game (7-0 to Brockport in a horrific snowstorm) Had Herb Hand as an OT (now a D-1 OLine coach on the squad).    Hamilton has not matched six wins since then.....

Trinity lost one NESCAC game that year (13-10 to Amherst) and lost vs. Coast Guard 30-6 - I believe Rich Nagy was their stud TB then. 

Amherst lost two NESCAC games that year:  29-7 vs Bowdoin and 25-7 vs Williams.   

Bates had Chris Hickey as TB who was a major offensive weapon.  Ironic that Chris' son and my son ended up as teammates for Amherst FB in the late 2010's. 

[Charlie]

I know it is too early to tell but am assuming this is the last year of 5 th year seniors who are getting the chance to complete their college football careers from the COVID season.

If and when the NESCAC institutes its roster limits how does medical redshirts affect these numbers if at all. Does anyone know if the schools have medical redshirts is that above the 75 man roster or whatever roster limits are set in place.

[NESCACFball24/7]

I know it is too early to tell but am assuming this is the last year of 5 th year seniors who are getting the chance to complete their college football careers from the COVID season.

If and when the NESCAC institutes its roster limits how does medical redshirts affect these numbers if at all. Does anyone know if the schools have medical redshirts is that above the 75 man roster or whatever roster limits are set in place.

This years seniors will be the last class with the 5th yr of eligibility from covid as they were freshman during the covid year.

[Charlie]

I know it is too early to tell but am assuming this is the last year of 5 th year seniors who are getting the chance to complete their college football careers from the COVID season.

If and when the NESCAC institutes its roster limits how does medical redshirts affect these numbers if at all. Does anyone know if the schools have medical redshirts is that above the 75 man roster or whatever roster limits are set in place.

This years seniors will be the last class with the 5th yr of eligibility from covid as they were freshman during the covid year.

Do medical red shirts count against roster limits I dont know how NESCAC handled this in the past when roster limits.

[Nescacman]

I know it is too early to tell but am assuming this is the last year of 5 th year seniors who are getting the chance to complete their college football careers from the COVID season.

If and when the NESCAC institutes its roster limits how does medical redshirts affect these numbers if at all. Does anyone know if the schools have medical redshirts is that above the 75 man roster or whatever roster limits are set in place.

As we previously reported, roster limits will be back for 2025.

[LochNescac]

I know it is too early to tell but am assuming this is the last year of 5 th year seniors who are getting the chance to complete their college football careers from the COVID season.

If and when the NESCAC institutes its roster limits how does medical redshirts affect these numbers if at all. Does anyone know if the schools have medical redshirts is that above the 75 man roster or whatever roster limits are set in place.

As we previously reported, roster limits will be back for 2025.

So just so I understand it correctly; No roster limits next season...but the season following, meaning a "hard 75" limit when camp starts in August of 2025...?

[Nescacman]

I know it is too early to tell but am assuming this is the last year of 5 th year seniors who are getting the chance to complete their college football careers from the COVID season.

If and when the NESCAC institutes its roster limits how does medical redshirts affect these numbers if at all. Does anyone know if the schools have medical redshirts is that above the 75 man roster or whatever roster limits are set in place.

As we previously reported, roster limits will be back for 2025.

So just so I understand it correctly; No roster limits next season...but the season following, meaning a "hard 75" limit when camp starts in August of 2025...?

Correct...and just to be 100% accurate, the precise roster limit is 76, not 75 (for some reason)....like everything in this world, and in particular, the NESCAC, this is subject to change....from our understanding you had Hartford State/Wes/UBates/Tufts/MID on one side of the issue (no limit) vs. Lord Mammoths and Ephs on the other side of the issue (vehemently for going back to former limit)...this has been kicked sufficiently down the road that we could see some sort of compromise/change to the number by 2025 (perhaps 85?)....

[Nescacman]

Are Middlebury, Wesleyan and Tufts getting the recruits that Williams and Amherst used to get ?

2012 to 2022

Trinity 74-16 no losing seasons, 25% (4) of losses in 2019
Middlebury 63-27 2021 only non-winning season at 3-6
Wesleyan 62-28 all winning campaigns
Amherst 59-31 19 of the losses 2019 until now
Tufts 44-46 20 of the losses from '12-14 (40-32 since)
Williams 41-49 30 of the losses from '12-16
Bates 28-52 almost half (13) of the wins from '12-14, 7 losing years in a row
Colby 27-53 best year was 4-4 in 2013
Hamilton 20-70 25% of the wins in 2018 (5-4)
Bowdoin 15-75 but are 4-2 in last 6 games....

A couple of observations and some questions for Mole:

-Only two teams have not had losing season during that stretch, Hartford State and Wesleyan. Very interesting and probably not what most boardsters would have expected.
-Only 4 teams (HS, Wes, MID, Amwurst) have had winning records over the last 10 years. Certainly, the trend is not going the right way for the Lord Mammoths. The Lord Mammoths are 12-17 since 2018.
-If you factor in 2023, Wes has now tied MID for second place to the mighty Roosters from Hartford.
-The Mules and the Polars have not had a winning season since 2005 and UBates last winning season was 2012.
-This analysis clearly shows 3 tiers from 2012-2022: Tier 1 would be Hartford State, Wes, Middlebury/Tier 2 Would be the Lord Mammoths, Williams, and Tufts/Tier 3 would be Colby, UBates, Bowdoin and Hamilton.
-What is the Ephs winning % from 2011 without Bobby Maimaron at QB?
-How have the Top 3 Teams done against each other since 2012?

All in, nice job by our friend, The Mole. #rollcards

First of all, Mole's numbers are off. Each program played 85 games from 2012 to 2022. He listed seven teams playing 90 games, two others at 80 and another at 78. I'm assuming some/all of these results were pulled from NESCAC.com which has all sorts of omissions (easy enough mistake). I've listed the corrected records below and added winning percentage:





   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


   


   


   


   


   


   

SCHOOL	WINS	LOSSES	WIN %
TRINITY	72	13	84.7%
MIDDLEBURY	62	23	72.9%
WESLEYAN	61	24	71.8%
AMHERST	59	26	69.4%
TUFTS	43	42	50.6%
WILLIAMS	40	45	69.4%
BATES	28	57	32.9%
COLBY	27	58	31.8%
HAMILTON	20	65	23.5%
BOWDOIN	13	72	15.3%

Second, I disagree with Nescacman's assessment that Wesleyan and Middlebury are on Trinity's tier. Since 2012 Middlebury has one outright title and shared a three-way championship, while Wesleyan has a single three-way title. Over the same period Trinity has won five outright NESCAC titles. Also, Trinity has won nearly 85% of it's games while Midd and Wes are just under 73% and 72% respectively. Sure, that's still good but it's much closer to Amherst at 69.4% than it is to Trinity and I'm willing to bet Amherst wouldn't trade their three NESCAC titles for an extra two victories over the past decade. Tufts and Williams are pretty clearly in the next grouping and I'd give the nod to the Ephs based on their one league title. Bates and Colby are firmly atop the lowest tier but, as Lumbercat knows, losing two thirds of your games is nothing to crow about. Hamilton is Hamilton and Bowdoin with just 13 wins over ten seasons... YIKES!

(note the number above the winning percentage is the number of NESCAC titles won over that period)

Hs9-o....great hearing from our old friend! You still working at the 'ole alma matter???

Great research and much appreciated. Just a minor correction to your math, since you always stress the accuracy of others...the Ephs winning % should be 47.1%, not 69.4% during that time frame (based on a 40-45 record).

[The Mole]

The current roster size by team discussion is certainly though provoking.
5 teams in the 80s--Williams Amherst Bates Bowdoin Hamilton
3 over 100 Middlebury Trinity Tufts
2 in the 90s Colby Wesleyan

where those players hail from is also eye opening