FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[GroundandPound]

How about looking at it this way.  Assume the NESCAC could send their champion to the NCAA tournament last year and they had no tie breaker rules for the co-champions and they agreed to decide it by having a vote from NESCAC fans who follow this blog, or NESCAC coaches, or NESCAC players.  I believe the majority of each of the three groups would have voted to send Trinity. They won by significant margins over 8/9 opponents while Middlebury had several games that could have gone either way.

[EphsML]

Trinity, in my opinion, was a much better team than Middlebury and it was not even close. Middlebury's DL was top notch, but other than that I believe Trinity clears them at almost every other position in 2023. Was utterly shocked when Midd came out on top in Hartford.

[lumbercat]

I equate it to the Giants beating the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. Upsets happen.

[NescacNewbie]

But again, you either show up on game day or you don't. Which is why there are wins & losses. Not everyone gets a trophy...so saying that they were the best team in every aspect of the game is irrelevant.

[MikeJones50]

Anyone who rejects the idea of Midd being the sole league champion confuses me. I understand the "technical" rules, but anyone that has played understands the reality of who are the champs. I bet all those guys on Trinity last season would admit that too. Sure, Trinity was the best team last year, but that's the beauty of sports and especially in the NESCAC... should have showed up and played better on that particular Saturday. 

[GroundandPound]

MJ50, I am sorry but I am a Midd fan and I do not think they should be considered sole league champion.  The rule is the rule.  I also think, however, that the league should retroactively award Amherst a co-championship for the year they tied trinity with W-L but lost the head to head game. 

[Nescacman]

A few thoughts from the NM consortium:

1. IF the NESCAC were to ever send a team to the play-offs (not going to happen in our lifetime, but we digress), they would have to change the current ridiculous championship "rule" to determine our automatic bid into the D3 tourney.
2. NESCAC should move back to their former tie-breaker rule. Winner of head-to-head in a tie wins the championship. Period, end of story.
3. We saw every game played by both HS and the Pants last year, including several in person. Although both teams were very good, if not excellent, HS was the better team 8 of the 9 weeks, just not the week when they played each other. Overall, congrats to HCOF Mandigo; one of the better coaching jobs we have ever seen in the NESCAC in our 40+ of playing in/following/watching the league. And remember, it was his first year as HCOF.   
4. Hate to say it, but the rule is the rule. Tie's mean split championship in 2023. Time to move on to the 2024 championship season.

NM

[lumbercat]

Anyone who rejects the idea of Midd being the sole league champion confuses me. I understand the "technical" rules, but anyone that has played understands the reality of who are the champs. I bet all those guys on Trinity last season would admit that too. Sure, Trinity was the best team last year, but that's the beauty of sports and especially in the NESCAC... should have showed up and played better on that particular Saturday. 

I agree completely- Middlebury is the reigning champ in my book too. I was just pointing out their win in the Coop was a monumental upset.

[GroundandPound]

https://nescacfootballreport.com/team-overviews/

All teams previewed except Colby, Hamilton, Middlebury, and Wesleyan.

[GroundandPound]

"The lone returner is junior Jack Lynch, and senior Micah Maiavia has starting experience.  Micah is one of the triplets who play offensive line for the Jumbos; expect to see his brothers, Matthew and Michael, join him on the line in '24."  nescacfootballreport.com
Is this a first in college football?  Three brothers starting on the offensive line?

[Little Giant 89]

"The lone returner is junior Jack Lynch, and senior Micah Maiavia has starting experience.  Micah is one of the triplets who play offensive line for the Jumbos; expect to see his brothers, Matthew and Michael, join him on the line in '24."  nescacfootballreport.com
Is this a first in college football?  Three brothers starting on the offensive line?

That is a very cool story.  Wabash College has had five Buresh brothers play football for the College.  They are spread out enough in age, however, that no more than two ever played for the College at once.

[BantChamps]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CJImfkg0ouHIIIGOWRfbvwC0TNWh76n47xkz8nqrVBc/edit?gid=1666140320#gid=1666140320

Courtesy of the muleshoe from last year. The 2024 SP+ rankings - by ESPN's Bill Connelly. From what I recall, this model predicted every game very well. Just general stats from last year up now for the NESCAC's, but assuming sims will come next week.

[Trin9-0]

But again, you either show up on game day or you don't. Which is why there are wins & losses. Not everyone gets a trophy...so saying that they were the best team in every aspect of the game is irrelevant.

Of course it's irrelevant. Just like the the opinions of a bunch of D3 football message board posters are irrelevant. Trinity and Middlebury are the 2023 NESCAC Co-Champions. We can all have our opinions about whether that should be the case; but that's the way it is.

I'll echo Nescacman and agree to move on to 2024. With that said...


It feels like Middlebury should be the preseason favorite as they have a good amount of returning talent coming off a championship season. Junior QB, Brian Moran, will presumably be under center but he only has 18 career pass attempts. Kennon didn't light the league on fire last year finishing with 17 TDs and 13 INTs so perhaps the plan will be to once again play sound defense and win close games.

I would put Tufts just behind Middlebury almost solely because they have the best player at the most important position in Berluti. They also have returning weapons (Chartellis Reece, Cade Moore, Aundre Smith) despite the departure of Jaden Richardson. They lost several key players from a defense that allowed just over 17 points per game but there's a lot of talented depth in Medford. I feel like the Jumbos often get more credit than they deserve considering they're just 20-16 over the past 4 seasons, but they do get both Trinity and Middlebury at home. If there's a year Civetti pulls it off it may just be this season.

Given Trinity's record of reloading, they have to be included as a contender despite their heavy graduation losses. Will we see a repeat of the disastrous 2019 season or will 2024 be similar to 2018 when, following the graduation of back-to-back All NESCAC QB Sonny Puzzo, the Bants won a third straight NESCAC title by leaning on a dominant rushing attack led by Max Chipouras? I'm hopeful that a a similar strategy will be employed now that Fetter is gone and Tyler DiNapoli has established himself as a star in the league.

Wesleyan is probably a notch below these three but the Cards are certainly capable of beating any of the other favorites. If they can upset Middlebury on the road in Week 1 then Andrus Field will be absolutely electric for a night game against the Jumbos in Week 2. Now, I'd be surprised if they start 2-0, and in typical Wesleyan fashion they are just as likely to drop a surprise game along the way as well. Also, Wes is just 2-20 against Trinity since '01 and have lost to the Bants by an average of just under 20 points per game in the DiCenzo-era, so it's unlikely they end the year with a win in The Coop. A fourth straight 6-3 season with a Little Three title to crow about sounds right.

I don't think anyone runs the table in '24 and another co-champion or tri-champion season seems like a distinct possibility given the parity at the top of the NESCAC. No champion in league history has lost more than one game but this could be the year. We might even be back to debating the merits of co/tri-champions again, ha!

[GroundandPound]

2024 Rosters Posted
Bowdoin NO
Middlebury NO
Amherst NO
Williams NO
Hamilton NO
Wesleyan Yes
Trinity Yes
Bates Yes
Colby Yes  (no photos)
Tufts Yes

[Scoops]

Can't imagine that's happened too many times in any college sport. But I have to admit that's a pretty cool story for them, especially if they all play together. Looking at the jumbos roster, they are some BIG boys. All roughly 6'3 and 300lbs apiece. Must have been one hell of an expensive grocery bill at their house.

"The lone returner is junior Jack Lynch, and senior Micah Maiavia has starting experience.  Micah is one of the triplets who play offensive line for the Jumbos; expect to see his brothers, Matthew and Michael, join him on the line in '24."  nescacfootballreport.com
Is this a first in college football?  Three brothers starting on the offensive line?