FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

Any insight on increased games and potential playoffs I know this was talked about in NESCAC meeting amongst Coaches ?

Not happening Chas...not worth debating or discussing.

NM

[HSCTiger74]

Any insight on increased games and potential playoffs I know this was talked about in NESCAC meeting amongst Coaches ?

Not happening Chas...not worth debating or discussing.

NM

  Okay, who had September 8th in the "When Does Charlie Bring Up the Playoffs" Pool?

[nescac1]

"Send" to the NFL can mean different things, but if we define it as "have a player drafted, be signed to a contract beyond on a purely non-guaranteed try-out basis, make the roster or be signed to the practice squad," I'll definitely take the under on "2" or even "1."  Only a tiny handful of guys in the last 25 years of NESCAC history have been in this ballpark.  You can completely dominate NESCAC and still barely be able to play for a power NCAA program let alone sniff the NFL. I don't see any athletic freaks of nature like an Ethan Brooks who simply didn't belong in the league after growing very late in life.  Nor a huge-legged dominant kicker like a Hauschka which is the most likely player profile. 

[BigKat]

Congrats to Tufts alum Jaden Richardson for grabbing his first catch as a USC Trojan yesterday. These grad transfers are certainly putting on for the conference!

yeah up 41-0 in scrub time with the 3's. wonderful LT and Lutz contributing as starters their squads.

[blitzBowdoinblitz]

Hey guys, new here. My nephew is an incoming freshman at bowdoin. Anything i should know about any of these teams? Been reading some of the posts but still feel like an outsider. Seems like there is a mutual hatred across the board for Hartford State (aka Trinity)  and Tufts. Any predictions for this saturday night when Bowdoin goes to boston? My nephew said its loud but Bowdoin should have won the last 2 years the two played. Anyways, EXCITED FOR NESCAC FOOTBALL

[ROTMNG]

"Send" to the NFL can mean different things, but if we define it as "have a player drafted, be signed to a contract beyond on a purely non-guaranteed try-out basis, make the roster or be signed to the practice squad," I'll definitely take the under on "2" or even "1."  Only a tiny handful of guys in the last 25 years of NESCAC history have been in this ballpark.  You can completely dominate NESCAC and still barely be able to play for a power NCAA program let alone sniff the NFL. I don't see any athletic freaks of nature like an Ethan Brooks who simply didn't belong in the league after growing very late in life.  Nor a huge-legged dominant kicker like a Hauschka which is the most likely player profile. 

I would say Thomas Perry is about as close to a "how did he get here" conversation as it gets. Stronger than anyone in the league, he has incredible length, feet, and pad level. In terms of freakish-ness, he was actually named to Bruce Feldman's Freak List, which outlines the most incredible athletes in college football. In terms of pro potential, he is one of roughly a half dozen D3 players named to the Senior Bowl Watchlist, and is the only current or former NESCAC player on the list. To "take the under of 2 or 1" NFL prospects is ignorant of this incredibly physically gifted and stoic offensive lineman up in Vermont. Will he ever make an NFL roster or even get a tryout, who knows. But to say that he is not in a nearly singular ilk of NESCAC players, athletes, and prospects is false.

[BantChamps]

NESCACMAN 2024 Pre-Week 1 Thoughts

Some initial thoughts from NESCACMAN as we head into the week before the 2024 season kick-off...

We expect this to be one of the more competitive seasons in recent memory. Although the top tier teams are unchanged from last year, some of the teams in the lower echelons of the NESCAC are inching closer to the top tier. Unfortunately, as the bottom tier seems to be improving, the better teams are also upping their game. Therefore, we don't see a radical shift in the NESCAC football hierarchy, at least in 2024. We'll be watching closely over the next couple of years. We do expect some future movement as UBates continues to get experience and Williams reloads in in the Post-Maimaron era. 

For 2024, we think NESCAC Football fits neatly into 3 tiers:

Tier 1-Will compete for the 2024 NESCAC Championship (all 6-3 or better): 2023 Defending Champ Middlebury, 2023 Runner-up Hartford State, Tufts, Wesleyan

Tier 2-A notch below, fighting to finish with a winning record (4 or 5 wins with 6 wins not entirely being out of the question): Williams, Bowdoin

Tier 3-Fighting for respect and wins (Probably 1-3 wins with 4 wins being a move in the right direction): Lord Mammoths, UBates, Hamilton, Colby

Middlebury: New QB and lost a bunch of talent on the offensive side of the ball but defense has a ton of talent and HCOF Mandigo seems to have picked up where his successor left off.

Hartford State: Can't underestimate how hard it will be to replace all everything QB Fetter and loss of defensive core but they are loaded at skill positions on offense and always seem to reload.

Tufts: Although they lost talent on offense including on their o-line, they have the best returning QB. Will this be the year they play consistently all year?

Wesleyan: A ton of returning talent including their entire defense coupled with a dynamic QB/WR combo in Candido/Wilson.

Williams: We think they are on the rise but depth due to roster limitations has hindered them in recent years due to injuries. Need to figure out the WR and DB situation which has been a challenge in Williamstown.

Bowdoin: We thought last year was their year. Lost way too much to compete for a league championship but respectability is not out of the question.

Lord Mammoths: Great program tradition and leadership at the HCOF level but tough to win with a dearth of talent at the skill positions.

UBates: A program on the rise. Two strong recruiting classes but lack experience. We think 2025 will be the year of the Bobcat.

Hamilton: Some talent, including Super Sophs QB Kurzum and RB Wildman, but even with improvement, tough to keep up with the teams at the top of the conference.

Colby: With the institutional resources focused on athletics, should be better. Lack of quality skill players is their Achilles heel.

Offensive Player of the Year (Should Win): Chase Wilson, Wesleyan

Offensive Player of the Year (Will Win): Michael Berlutti, Tufts

Defensive Player of the Year (Should Win): Koy Price, Bowdon/Dave Filias, Middlebury

Defensive Player of the Year (Will Win): Tomas Kenary, Middlebury

Surprise Team (Exceed Expectations): Wesleyan

Surprise Team (Not Meet Expectations): Lord Mammoths

2024 NESCAC Champion: Tufts Jumbo's

2024 HCOF of the Year: HCOF Civetti

And a few miscellaneous predictions for 2024:

1.    We'll see several HCOF changes headed into 2025, maybe as many as 3 new HCOFs next year.
2.    Weather will play havoc with this year's season.
3.    NESCAC sends at least two current/former players to the NFL.
4.    Roster limits are imposed for the 2025 season. We expect the number to be between 85-90.
5.    NESCAC schools ban The Wall Street Journal from being sold on-campus.
6.    NESCACMAN will have ANOTHER beer with HS9-o.
7.    Charlie will learn how to properly use "their" and "there".

On deck from NESCACMAN....Week 0 rankings, Week 1 predictions and game spreads and a very important and exciting announcement coming from the NESCACMAN Team that should excite all NESCAC fans.

NM

To the dismay of many on this board - Wesleyan should easily be a tier two team. They are losing a lot of key offensive impact players, and this highly regarded defense everyone mentions is all but that - bottom half of the league statistically last year in almost every category. Candido has frankly been figured out by the league, evidenced with the disastrous loss to Colby, several close games to suboptimal teams that could have (and should have) ended another way, and made extremely clear with a blowout to Trinity in a game that was supposed to be close. With the improvement of Bowdoin and Williams this year, I could easily see Wesleyan fighting for a winning season going into the last few weeks. To say they are an automatic 6-3 is certainly a stretch.

[The Mole]

No excuses, major injuries last year on defense.

4th in rushing defense yards per game
7th in passing yardage per game --EIGHT yards from being 5th, very deceiving
7th in overall defense, again EIGHT yards away from being 3rd, not a disaster
4 touchdowns FIRST
tied for 4th in forced fumbles ONE away from 2nd
6 all league players returning on defense, 2 at each level

Easily tier 2--nice attempt at trolling

[BantChamps]

No excuses, major injuries last year on defense.

4th in rushing defense yards per game
7th in passing yardage per game --EIGHT yards from being 5th, very deceiving
7th in overall defense, again EIGHT yards away from being 3rd, not a disaster
4 touchdowns FIRST
tied for 4th in forced fumbles ONE away from 2nd
6 all league players returning on defense, 2 at each level

Easily tier 2--nice attempt at trolling

Don't forget 9th in Defensive Efficiency. Thank you for proving my point.

Just saying I personally am nowhere near as confident guaranteeing they will go at least 6-3 as I am Tufts, Trinity and Midd. Especially after they most likely start 0-1 after Tufts.

[The truth 101]

Congrats to Tufts alum Jaden Richardson for grabbing his first catch as a USC Trojan yesterday. These grad transfers are certainly putting on for the conference!

yeah up 41-0 in scrub time with the 3's. wonderful LT and Lutz contributing as starters their squads.

Let's not act like USC isn't in a complete different category when it comes to college football. If they played either Delaware or UNH they might win by 100. Not to mention the fact that their receiver room itself probably would all start at any FCS school.

[GroundandPound]

That is what Notre Dame fans used to say that about NIU too. :-)

[The Mole]

Bowdoin plays Tufts. Cards are at Middlebury. They beat the team you lost to last year.....game by game. Stats don't mean squat, Ws and Ls are only thing that matters. We shall see how it plays out. There are no guarantees

No excuses, major injuries last year on defense.

4th in rushing defense yards per game
7th in passing yardage per game --EIGHT yards from being 5th, very deceiving
7th in overall defense, again EIGHT yards away from being 3rd, not a disaster
4 touchdowns FIRST
tied for 4th in forced fumbles ONE away from 2nd
6 all league players returning on defense, 2 at each level

Easily tier 2--nice attempt at trolling

Don't forget 9th in Defensive Efficiency. Thank you for proving my point.

Just saying I personally am nowhere near as confident guaranteeing they will go at least 6-3 as I am Tufts, Trinity and Midd. Especially after they most likely start 0-1 after Tufts.

[GroundandPound]

Let me try that one more time...
That is what Notre Dame fans used to say about NIU players.

[quicksilver]

Finally!! Bowdoin's 2024 roster is revealed.

[BantChamps]

Thank you for correcting my mistake. They play them second. 0-2 is an even worse start to a 6-3 campaign.

Bowdoin plays Tufts. Cards are at Middlebury. They beat the team you lost to last year.....game by game. Stats don't mean squat, Ws and Ls are only thing that matters. We shall see how it plays out. There are no guarantees

No excuses, major injuries last year on defense.

4th in rushing defense yards per game
7th in passing yardage per game --EIGHT yards from being 5th, very deceiving
7th in overall defense, again EIGHT yards away from being 3rd, not a disaster
4 touchdowns FIRST
tied for 4th in forced fumbles ONE away from 2nd
6 all league players returning on defense, 2 at each level

Easily tier 2--nice attempt at trolling

Don't forget 9th in Defensive Efficiency. Thank you for proving my point.

Just saying I personally am nowhere near as confident guaranteeing they will go at least 6-3 as I am Tufts, Trinity and Midd. Especially after they most likely start 0-1 after Tufts.