MBB: NESCAC

[grabtherim]

No thank you.  Williams & Amherst met 3 times last year and were close to meeting a 4th time.  That's overkill in my book.  There's a lot of good teams around I'd rather see any of the 3 match up against than to do yet another game together.  Maybe MIT & WPI will be able to maintain their momentum and that would be a good future match of the top NESCAC vs NEWMAC.  I agree tougher opponents are nice, I just don't think it needs to be league opponents that are likely to play each other twice if not 3 times already.

Besides, after going 0-fer last year, maybe Midd should set their sights a little lower and set up another game with Tufts.     (we can't trash talk Amherst but we can still trash talk Midd  )

I like the way the league is.  Other than the Little 3, you get your shot against a team in the regular season, and if you lose you hope for or dread getting another game against them in the playoffs.  As far as trash talking goes, Amherst holds all of the marbles.  Good job for the Ephs vs Midd in 2013, but never forget most of these same kids from Midd ending your season is 2012, and cutting the nets down in your gym in 2011 while all of you guys exited the premises as quickly and quietly as you could.   

[old_hooper]

Madz that is the problem...those schools use to be on the schedule but many schools with competitive programs do not want to play the likes of Amherst and Williams.  It is probably easier for those schools to schedule competitive games for themselves.  Putting games on your schedule like So Vermont a couple times does not do any of these teams any good.  The likelihood of playing a team a forth time would come deep in NCAAs if that were to happen.  Playing a team 3 xs is not unusual when you have a conference tournament.  It can be painful when you are the team that takes it on the chin those 3 xs but every year there is a different team and those rolls can easily reverse.   

Adding Midd to the schedule would be an upgrade for all concerned.  Another idea is to add an alumni team from each school and play each other the same weekend.  What a great event and opportunity to create a following for such an event.

[jumpshot]

Old Hooper, the non-NESCAC Williams/amherst game is now routinely played in the middle of the week (much to the dissatisfaction of many fans from both schools), thereby making any thought of a tournament or alumni participation impractical. At Williams alumni games coincide with homecoming in November which works well and not likely to change. Midd will have to find another route to building a brand.

[middhoops]

Middlebury basketball has gone from mediocrity to elite status very quickly.  Just the idea of being added to the Williams/Amherst level of rivalry and competition is an acknowledgement of the job Jeff Brown has done.

[AmherstStudent05]

Middlebury basketball has gone from mediocrity to elite status very quickly.  Just the idea of being added to the Williams/Amherst level of rivalry and competition is an acknowledgement of the job Jeff Brown has done.

Just to be clear, at least from an Amherst fan's perspective, while Middlebury has undoubtedly established itself in the Williams (and Amherst) level of competition over the past five years, when it comes to "level of rivalry," Midd still isn't close.  This is in no way a knock on Midd; it is just an acknowledgment of the unique, deeply intense rivalry/bond that Amherst and Williams share.

I don't see any chance of Amherst agreeing to schedule non-conference games on a regular basis against any NESCAC teams outside of the Little Three.  Personally, I think this is for the best.  While our annual home-and-homes against Williams (and Wesleyan too I guess) are obviously untouchable, I really appreciate the flexibility the 10-game NESCAC schedule gives Amherst.  In a typical year, the Jeffs usually play a good percentage of the ranked teams in the Northeast region.  We have been particularly fortunate that two of our annual rivals -- RIC and Brandeis -- have routinely fielded very strong teams over the past decade or so.

Speaking of the schedule, has there been any update on the matchups slated for next season's d3hoops classic.  I think it is very commendable that Middlebury has agreed to participate.  To my mind, this puts to rest any doubts -- if there even really were any -- that Midd's weak non-conference schedules over the past couple of years were by design rather than the result of the simple and unavoidable fact that Midd's traditional rivals have been in a little slump recently. I know that DIII basketball is supposed to be primarily regional in nature, but I do wish that there were more opportunities to see how the NESCAC would fare against other regions.  Nescac1, maybe one day we can supplement the annual ACC/Big 10 challenge with a NESCAC CCIW showdown!

[madzillagd]

http://www.goholycross.com/sports/m-baskbl/2012-13/releases/20130507vpbyf0


Alex Popp Named Director Of Men's Basketball Operations at Holy Cross. 


I'm guessing Holy Cross was trying to get an edge on how they can beat Williams so they went with somebody that has done it before. 

[Pat Coleman]

Middlebury basketball has gone from mediocrity to elite status very quickly.  Just the idea of being added to the Williams/Amherst level of rivalry and competition is an acknowledgement of the job Jeff Brown has done.

Just to be clear, at least from an Amherst fan's perspective, while Middlebury has undoubtedly established itself in the Williams (and Amherst) level of competition over the past five years, when it comes to "level of rivalry," Midd still isn't close.  This is in no way a knock on Midd; it is just an acknowledgment of the unique, deeply intense rivalry/bond that Amherst and Williams share.

I don't see any chance of Amherst agreeing to schedule non-conference games on a regular basis against any NESCAC teams outside of the Little Three.  Personally, I think this is for the best.  While our annual home-and-homes against Williams (and Wesleyan too I guess) are obviously untouchable, I really appreciate the flexibility the 10-game NESCAC schedule gives Amherst.  In a typical year, the Jeffs usually play a good percentage of the ranked teams in the Northeast region.  We have been particularly fortunate that two of our annual rivals -- RIC and Brandeis -- have routinely fielded very strong teams over the past decade or so.

Speaking of the schedule, has there been any update on the matchups slated for next season's d3hoops classic.  I think it is very commendable that Middlebury has agreed to participate.  To my mind, this puts to rest any doubts -- if there even really were any -- that Midd's weak non-conference schedules over the past couple of years were by design rather than the result of the simple and unavoidable fact that Midd's traditional rivals have been in a little slump recently. I know that DIII basketball is supposed to be primarily regional in nature, but I do wish that there were more opportunities to see how the NESCAC would fare against other regions.  Nescac1, maybe one day we can supplement the annual ACC/Big 10 challenge with a NESCAC CCIW showdown!

Just to clarify, Middlebury is playing in the Hoopsville Classic, the one outside Baltimore. The D3hoops.com Classic is the one in Vegas. Both carry our brands, and we love them both, but didn't want people thinking Middlebury was going to Vegas in December the way the Amherst women have.

[lefrakenstein]

Pat, who else is playing in the Hoopsville Classic?

[madzillagd]

Ithica season recap video starring Midd as the villain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0FKIUcFUnY

[Pat Coleman]

Pat, who else is playing in the Hoopsville Classic?

Since this is "Dave's tournament" I am not intimately familiar with the other participants, other than that I know it is a strong field pulled primarily from the eastern half of D-III.

[Pat Coleman]

The list: Middlebury, Trinity (Texas), Birmingham-Southern, Ohio Wesleyan, Cabrini, St. Mary's, Stevenson, La Verne, Keystone and Salisbury.

[lefrakenstein]

The list: Middlebury, Trinity (Texas), Birmingham-Southern, Ohio Wesleyan, Cabrini, St. Mary's, Stevenson, La Verne, Keystone and Salisbury.

Thanks.

[grabtherim]

Ithica season recap video starring Midd as the villain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0FKIUcFUnY

You have to love the "coach speak" from the Ithaca guy (15:45 mark)  before the game.  "They don't respect you" "They are from the big bad NESCAC" etc etc
He knows that's complete BS, but I would have probably said the exact same thing to get the kids attention.  Well done piece by the Ithaca students who put it together.     

[Vandy74]

Just to be clear, at least from an Amherst fan's perspective, while Middlebury has undoubtedly established itself in the Williams (and Amherst) level of competition over the past five years, when it comes to "level of rivalry," Midd still isn't close.  This is in no way a knock on Midd; it is just an acknowledgment of the unique, deeply intense rivalry/bond that Amherst and Williams share.

I don't see any chance of Amherst agreeing to schedule non-conference games on a regular basis against any NESCAC teams outside of the Little Three.  Personally, I think this is for the best.  While our annual home-and-homes against Williams (and Wesleyan too I guess) are obviously untouchable, I really appreciate the flexibility the 10-game NESCAC schedule gives Amherst.  In a typical year, the Jeffs usually play a good percentage of the ranked teams in the Northeast region.  We have been particularly fortunate that two of our annual rivals -- RIC and Brandeis -- have routinely fielded very strong teams over the past decade or so.

Speaking of the schedule, has there been any update on the matchups slated for next season's d3hoops classic.  I think it is very commendable that Middlebury has agreed to participate.  To my mind, this puts to rest any doubts -- if there even really were any -- that Midd's weak non-conference schedules over the past couple of years were by design rather than the result of the simple and unavoidable fact that Midd's traditional rivals have been in a little slump recently. I know that DIII basketball is supposed to be primarily regional in nature, but I do wish that there were more opportunities to see how the NESCAC would fare against other regions.  Nescac1, maybe one day we can supplement the annual ACC/Big 10 challenge with a NESCAC CCIW showdown!

AmherstStudent05.

Your point concerning Middlebury's current competition with Amherst/Williams regarding the Amherst vs. Williams/Wesleyan rivalry is not only well put but also repetitive of a point I made a while back.  Rivalries involve tradtion, not simply a series of important games over a short time span.   Amherst, Williams and Wesleyan began competing as the Triangular Conference back in 1899.  The Little Three moniker was picked up in the 1920s.  The creation of the NESCAC allowed those rivalries to continue.  Middlebury's traditional athletic rivals, however, have not "been in a little slump recently".  For the most part, they have been removed from the schedule, at least in basketball and football.  UVM is now a DI program and gave up football years ago.  St Michael's was not a football school.  They once put basketball squads on the court that could whip Middlebury, Amherst and Williams easily, but are now a mediocre D2 program with nothing to gain by renewing it's Midd rivalry.  Norwich was happy to play us when we were a team easily defeated.  They continued to do so thru the 2006-07 season.  The following year we beat them 84-49 and they have since had difficulty finding a date for us on their schedule.  We used to play a respectable non-league series of games against some NY and MA schools.  St.Lawrence, RPI, MIT, Plattsburg, Union, Hamilton and Skidmore.   Colby-Sawyer beat us as recently as 2008-09 when we were in the process of going 25-4.  Unfortunately in recent years Hamilton has joined the NESCAC and last season only RPI, Plattsburg and Skidmore remained.  Upgrading the schedule is hard to do when teams that were more than willing to play us when we were a basketball doormat refuse to even consider it now that we are a consistently strong program.  I like your idea of a NESCAC/CCIW annual play down.

[amh63]

Nicely put Vandy 74.