FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Tufts used to (as recently as roughly decade ago) have a cryptically weak sports program, given the inherent advantages you mention.  But now, at least in the highest profile team sports (which also require the most focus on recruiting), they have the strongest athletics in the conference.  Consider football's resurgence; multiple NATIONAL titles for EACH of men's lacrosse, men's soccer, softball; a national powerhouse women's hoops team; a men's hoops team that has made deep NCAA runs in consecutive years ... Tufts clearly made a decision around a decade ago that it would compete at a very high level in sport after sport, bringing in elite coaches and athletes for just about every team sport.  Since 2010 Tufts has an incredible ten national titles in team sports.  Prior to then?  Zero.   These things don't happen by accident .... institutional priorities can change quickly. 

[ColbyFootball]

westcoastDad - Colby offers players an elite education with a national reputation of excellence. Not as elite as some of the other NESCAC schools, but certainly elite. No nearby city like Tufts, but one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. Colby can't sell recruits on a winning tradition because it doesn't have one, YET. What  a new coach can sell is a new culture. And the ability of kids to play as freshman and build a winning program. Wes did it, and it looks like the Ephs sold that idea given how many frosh are starting. Recruiting is a relentless pursuit of quality student athletes that want to work hard and win. If a coach can't find 20-25 such players a year nationwide it's time to do something else. I'm sick of excuses, and sick of losing games every week and most importantly watching boring offensive football that prevents us from being competitive.

[PolarCat]

I'm curious as to what the best selling points are for the Maine schools

Different strokes for different folks.  My kids wouldn't even apply to the MA schools.  Willietown was far too remote, they hated the neighborhood surrounding Tufts, plus the University felt too impersonal, and they weren't a fan of Amherst (the town, not the College) with all the random UMass, Hampshire College, Smith and Holyoke students, and the head shops and other "stoner" establishments downtown.

They each applied ED1 to a Maine school (Bates for my son, Bowdoin for my daughter), and are thrilled with their choice.  Why?  Superb academics.  Great close-knit communities.  Ocean beaches and pristine mountain lakes 30 minutes away.  World-class skiing 90 minutes away.  (The College New England pass gives them unlimited skiing all season at Sugarloaf, Sunday River and Loon for $199). 30 minutes to Portland, which has become a foodie heaven.  There aren't many places on earth more beautiful than the Maine Coast.   And the Downeaster provides daily train service from Brunswick to Boston, so they don't even have to drive into town to spend the weekend visiting friends, shopping in the Back Bay, or seeing their orthopedic surgeon.

My kids liked Midd and Hamilton too, for many of the same reasons, and would have applied ED2 if their ED1's were rejected.  (For a while, we thought PolarKitten was going to be headed to Hamilton, as she was heavily recruited by the WLAX coach.  Then we went to see a home game.  Which had to be moved to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, because there was SIX FEET of snow on the Hamilton playing fields.  In April.  Maine doesn't get those brutal lake effect storms, and when they do get dumped on, at least there are mountains to ski on).

Variety is good.

[westcoastDad]

Lol, was about to say that my cousin is a soph at Colby lol.  CFD, wassup!  There goes my cover.  I gotta run but will be back.  End of month and end of quarter.  Gotta get those PO's in so that I too can pay this tuition.  Peace

[Nescacman]

Every program has moments that sets them on a path for the future. For Tufts, it was getting a guy like Chance Brady to come to their school. For Amherst, it was bringing in EJ Mills. For Wesleyan, it was hiring Whales and Coach Dice. For the Ephs, it was replacing Whales with the HCOF, Aaron Kelton. Kelton single handily set the Williams football program back a decade. For Colby, that moment was the transfer of QB Justin Ciero in 2014. Ciero, a starter since his freshman year, was on-track to be a difference maker for the Mules and we believe, had he stayed through graduation in 2016 would have set Colby on a winning path for years to come by helping attract other quality players to Waterville. Just our opinion.   

Nescacman has a perennially great handle on the conference and I enjoy his observations which are typically spot on and well stated. And I agree with his observations above especially on the Colby situation. The mules seemed to be turning things around when the Cicero mystery unfolded and he was gone---a huge blow to the program and everything seemed to spiral downward from there. Only those involved know for sure what transpired but it went south from there. Michaels has lost coaches but hired and replaced some very qualified coaches but they just can't seem to make any headway.

At the risk of incurring the criticism of notable Colby posters I think the issue up there is a lack of talent. Not a great recruiting class this year combined with guys quitting the program or booted out due to the drinking sting last year in Waterville.

The two most significant turnaround rebuilding successes in recent years have been Wesleyan and Tufts.

Chance Brady was a great back and was instrumental in the Tufts resurgence but the real fix took place before that. Coach Civetti débuted as the Tufts coach and lost 32 straight games. He was rumored on this board to be the lowest paid coach in the conference and his firing was deemed imminent. Then, there was a turn of events at Tufts that transformed Coach Civ into a great football coach. A new president and a new Athletic Director arrived at Tufts and support for the Football program increased significantly. Today, Civetti  has worked hard to get his program in a position to succeed and win football games and he deserves all the credit in the world. But if the President and AD didn't change I don't think he would have anything close to the arsenal he's assembled at Tufts.

At Wesleyan the transformation was a lot easier. The Cards were tired of being the doormat of the elite Little Three. The Whale had emptied his bucket at Williams and recognized a great opportunity at his alma mater with the Wesleyan President who was going to give him the needed support to compete successfully against Trinity and the little 3. Mama Whalen didn't raise no fool and he jumped on it..... the whale knows how to win and from day 1 he had a very high level of support in Middletown which exceeds any deal that any Nescac coach ever got. He brought many from his Williams staff and the deal for Dicenzo was all done in advance....... Talk about administrative support!!!!

How can the lower echelon NESCAC schools ever, ever compete with the 2 scenarios above.

When evaluating the football programs in this conference be assured that there is an immense amount of passion among players, coaches and parents which is pretty much the same among all the schools. The factor that determines winning vs. losing at every school is the level of support that exists at the school outside the Football program.

Support, in Nescac terms consists of Admissions help, and a significant financial commitment which includes competitive financial aid packages along with financial support and enhancement of the football operating budget.

Football is expensive in any venue including the Nescac and a school that wants to be competitive needs to make a commitment to the program and fund the program accordingly.

I think the winners are willing and able to pay the price and make the winning commitment and those at the bottom are unwilling or unable to do the same.

Isn't this much nicer when we all get along!

Thanks Lumber and we obviously agree with you agreeing with us...haha.

Let's not leave out the Williams situation. Losing great guys and coaches like Whales and Dice and hiring a complete failure/loser in the HCOF Kelton crushed a once great program for years. By the time Coach Raymond is able to get the ship righted, Williams will have written off a decade of football.   

[ColbyFootballDad]

An August 16, 2005, 10:46:51 am  Post on the NESCAC Board.  It's cyclical for some and others are "deep and motivated" to win year after year. I am not sure I care if Colby is a school that wants to top the board each year or not. I am happy for Trinity. My brother is an Alum and they were damn good when he was there in the late 70s and early 80s too.  Wow look Colby was pretty good back then. Yippeeee


          1) Trinity      deep and motivated
          2) Colby       wish they had a shot at Trinity
          3) Amherst   need contributiond from talented Frosh
          4) Williams   could surprise, top notch coaches
          5) Wesleyan  rebuilding
          6) Bates        6 through 10  toss up
          7) Tufts
          8) Hamilton 
          9) Bowdoin
         10) Middlebury

[amh63]

Gotta call it as I see it post.   In an earlier post, I may have posted that the Bobcats helmet has paw prints They are on the Bowdoin's headware.  I do have a question wrt the uniform colors though...The Black color when the school's colors is white.  I understand that the Ephs' school color is Purple...from Purple Hills.  Williams added Gold...good color contrast.  Did Bowdoin pick Black for contrast?  I do see many Bowdoin alums/fans wearing all black outfits at games that I have attended.  Just curious.
Now, there is a bad mistake on a recent Amherst  tweet on the football event on Sat. at Pratt Field...football tweet on football website.  Nice pic, BUT the date shown is the 29th!  Boy oh Boy....confused me and had to check with my wife. 
There still is a 60 percent chance for rain on Sat.....much lower temp though.  Going to throw the game on my flat screen and see who plays QB.  Expect  Amherst will run more than pass.  Expect the Amherst defense wii challenge the young QBs' of the Polarbears.  The younger players will get their time on the Special Teams..prove themselves so to speak.  Have seen a number of players go on to be top players via the special team route. 

[polbear73]

Amh63, the Bowdoin color is indeed white. Black has traditionally been the secondary or trim color. Technically, I've  been told that any trim color is permissible (in the early 70's the basketball uniforms' trim was a dark green) but black has always been the major color in contrast with the white.

[Nescacman]

2017 Week #3 NESCACMAN Preview

Welcome to Week 3 in the NESCAC..."the league where they pay to play". Last week we went 4-1 and are 132-38 for our career. Week 2 was another week that went as expected except for the Williams "upset". Week 3 is one of the worst schedules we have ever seen since we started picking games in 2013.

Bowdoin College at Amhurst College: Bowdoin is last in the CAC in yards allowed per game and third from the bottom in points allowed. They don't pressure the QB (2 sacks in 2 games) and only have one interception. Meanwhile, TTFKATLJ ("The Team Formerly Known as the Lode Jeff's") offense has been very balanced and they rarely turn over the ball. This game will not be close at home.

Amhurst 42 Bowdoin 7
Weather: AM showers

Colby College at Middlebury College: Another snoozer. No matter who is at QB for the Pants, this won't be close. Colby has scored a grand total of 1 TD all year. In fact, they have only been in the red zone once all year. We are being aggressive predicting they will get another TD this week. Colby does not do anything particularly well (2nd to last in total offense, last in first downs, last in sacks, 0-2 in FGs, etc.). Middlebury will pass early and often.

Middlebury 42 Colby 7
Weather: Not a factor

Williams College at Hartford State College: Reality sets in for the Ephs. They have arguably played and beaten the worst 2 teams in the league in weeks 1 and 2. Hartford State will be a big dose of reality for the Ephs. We think Trinity's nationally ranked defense gives up their first points of the year as the Ephs eek out a TD against HS' second and third teamers. For those keeping track: former HCOF Kelton's Shorter University Hawks are 0-4 and has been outscored 54-164. His career record at Shorter is 0-15.

Hartford State 45 Williams 7
Weather: Showers

Tufts University at University of Bates (Lewiston Campus): We are going to say it here; Tufts QB McDonald is one of the best players in the league. The problem is he takes a ton of hits and he does not have the supporting cast that he had last year. That's why we think Tufts is down from a year ago. Fortunately, they play a Bates team that is last in the league in passing (averaging an incredibly low, 61 YPG) and averaging only 2.9 yards per carry on the ground. Couple that with a defense that can't stop the run and doesn't get turnovers and it does not create a winning environment. Tufts will make just enough penalties to keep Bates within 3-4 TD's, but their athleticism and Bates lack of ability to play catch up will be the difference here.

Tufts 35 U of B 14
Weather: Not a factor

Wesleyan University at Hamilton College: Wesleyan has arguably played the toughest schedule in the league so far and could easily be 2-0. Things get easier for Wes the next 3 weeks as they face HAM, COL, and Bates. They cannot look ahead to their Week 6 match-up with Amhurst. WES is first in the league in passing and Hamilton is last in the league in passing defense. Wes WR Breuler leads the country in receptions. Look for Wesleyan to light it up in the air and finally get their ground game going. QB Gray will put the ball up a lot against WES but we expect numerous INTs and sacks by the Card defense.

Wesleyan 45 Hamilton 10
Weather: AM showers

NESCAC Game of the Week

None. For the first time in history, there is not a game on the schedule worthy of being the GOTW.

NESCACMAN's Picks
2017 Season: 8-2
2016 Season: 32-8
2015 Season: 30-10
2014 Season: 30-10
2013 Season: 32-8
Career: 132-38 (.777 winning percentage)

[lumbercat]

Can't really disagree with your picks though i think the scores overall may be a little closer than you project.

I had a chance to see Trinity last week. They are a great football team- top to bottom on both sides of the ball they may be as good if not better than any Nescac team in recent memory.

As great a team as they are  it was embarrassing to see the way they ended the game last week.

The classy Bantams had the ball on the Bates 9 yard line with 6 seconds left .......leading 45-0. On the last play of the game QB drops pack and throws a TD to the end zone as time expires.

Any team, at any level, from High School to pro takes a knee or runs it  in that situation.......I guess Devanney wanted to get 50.

[ColbyFootball]

Can't really disagree with your picks though i think the scores overall may be a little closer than you project.

I had a chance to see Trinity last week. They are a great football team- top to bottom on both sides of the ball they may be as good if not better than any Nescac team in recent memory.

As great a team as they are  it was embarrassing to see the way they ended the game last week.

The classy Bantams had the ball on the Bates 9 yard line with 6 seconds left .......leading 45-0. On the last play of the game QB drops pack and throws a TD to the end zone as time expires.

Any team, at any level, from High School to pro takes a knee or runs it  in that situation.......I guess Devanney wanted to get 50.

He did the opposite vs. Colby. Knocking on the door and could have put another TD on the board against a gassed Colby D. But they took a knee. Maybe it was a personal history, or simply miscommunication vs. Bates.
As for Trinity, they are a good team but very beatable. Don't forget Colby played them very tough well into the 2nd quarter with no offense, or coaches effort to win. I can see Amherst knocking them off at Amherst.

[JoeBag]

Can't really disagree with your picks though i think the scores overall may be a little closer than you project.

I had a chance to see Trinity last week. They are a great football team- top to bottom on both sides of the ball they may be as good if not better than any Nescac team in recent memory.

As great a team as they are  it was embarrassing to see the way they ended the game last week.

The classy Bantams had the ball on the Bates 9 yard line with 6 seconds left .......leading 45-0. On the last play of the game QB drops pack and throws a TD to the end zone as time expires.

Any team, at any level, from High School to pro takes a knee or runs it  in that situation.......I guess Devanney wanted to get 50.

He did the opposite vs. Colby. Knocking on the door and could have put another TD on the board against a gassed Colby D. But they took a knee. Maybe it was a personal history, or simply miscommunication vs. Bates.
As for Trinity, they are a good team but very beatable. Don't forget Colby played them very tough well into the 2nd quarter with no offense, or coaches effort to win. I can see Amherst knocking them off at Amherst.

As a Trin Trin parent I could not believe it when Coach D did not take a knee with time running out at the end of the Bates game.  When he gathered the team and parents to the field after the game the first thing he did was explain this decision. He said the reason he went for it was because Bates kept their starting D on the field for the entire game and kept blitzing. Not sure if I would have done the same thing, but I don't get a vote.

From what I have seen, this team is better than last years team. They are 2 to 3 deep at every position. Also, there is a lot of team love.

Go Bants!

[lumbercat]

Joebag-
Thanks for weighing in with Devanneys side of the story. No rfelection at all on you Joe but
Let me make the facts known. Bates had 7 healthy guys on the DL and the entire bench was rotated  in and out on both sides of the ball for the entire second half with the game out of hand. Harriman emptied his bench. Bates is not 3 or 4 deep like the mighty Bantams with a 65 man roster and Devanney knows that well.

I gave Devanney an earful following the game and had some regrets thinking I let
my temper get the better of me as we drove home. Bates got their ass kicked like I haven't seen in a long time and I was thinking I should have bit my tongue.

However, after hearing Devaaney's spin on the whole thing I'm glad I did.

In 40 years of NESCAC football that the most classless display I have seen and Devanneys "justification" is a joke.

[JoeBag]

Joebag-
Thanks for weighing in with Devanneys side of the story. No rfelection at all on you Joe but
Let me make the facts known. Bates had 7 healthy guys on the DL and they were all rotated  in and out for the entire second half with the game out of hand. Harriman emptied his bench. Bates is not 3 or 4 deep like the mighty Bantams with a 65 man roster and Devanney knows that well.

I gave Devanney an earful following the game and had some regrets thinking I let
my temper get the better of me as we drove home. Bates got their ass kicked like I haven't seen in a long time and I was thinking I should have bit my tongue.

However, after hearing Devaaney's spin on the whole thing I'm glad I did.

In 40 years of NESCAC football that the most classless display I have seen and Devanneys "justification" is a joke.

Like I said. I did not agree, but I do not get a vote.
I would have taken a knee.

Devaney is real intense dude, but I am happy my son is part of his program and having a chance to make an impact on the team this year. You had every right to get in his grill on this and should not feel any regret.

I have first hand knowledge of several stories about his compassion WRT making a difference in some of his players lives. He is the difference maker in this program. One thing I can tell you about this guy is that he is sticking his neck out to change the trajectories of many young men.

With all of this said, I am pretty sure he regrets not taking a knee on the last play of the game last Saturday.

[westcoastDad]

Wait, maybe he didn't take a knee because Trump said it was un American? 

Or am I off topic?

Jk