WBB: NESCAC

amh63 · December 14, 2010, 11:10:21 AM

Amherst game at home vs. Springfield will be on the web tonight in addition to live states.
Beside the Main schools, the conference is having a good early season of play. Via the conference website, I noticed that Midd is also unbeaten to date and that Tufts has only one lost. Tufts has a record breaking senior guard that. The conference games will be most interesting.

amh63 · December 14, 2010, 08:41:05 PM

Meant to type Maine vice Main in my last post.
Anyway, Amherst beat Springfield 69-49 tonight. Amherst's shooting was off and Springfield would not back down. Good defensive game from both teams. Next games for Amherst will be in Las Vegas against some mid-west schools. Now it will be finals and the Holiday break.
In midst of planning my trips up North to see the Amherst teams LIVE.......It will be next year.
Anyway........Have a good Holiday Season to all!

sumfun · December 15, 2010, 10:00:15 AM

Under Gromacki, Amherst is undefeated in pre holiday break games which means seniors haven't lost a game during this time. Nice job seniors, great job coach!

Title9Fan · December 15, 2010, 11:11:29 AM

Anyone willing/able to take a stab at strength-of-schedule rankings in NESCAC this season? Some very weak SOS in some of the top schedules. Amherst looks strongest of course (Gromacki overlooks nothing) -- at least at a cursory glance.

sumfun · December 15, 2010, 02:50:20 PM

If you just want to concentrate on the numbers....even knowing that numbers don't tell the whole story....go to www.masseyratings.com. Overall, ratings comes from many numerical sources, but you can also sort the teams by power, offense, home advantage, strength of schedule played, full schedule strength. Scroll down and the conferences are also ranked. Wisconsin is #1, Nescac #2.

Like I said, numbers don't tell the entire story and the teams have to show up and play the games, but it's fun to look and see what the numbers say.

Title9Fan · December 15, 2010, 04:10:03 PM

Strength of Schedule is a pretty straightforward datapoint which is why its used for play-off berths. It can (like last year) matter. Anyway-thanks for the link Sumfun. The only surprise is that for the S.O.S. Full Schedule - Williams has the highest national rank within NESCAC.

Strength of Full Schedule (FS)
1. Williams (9th in nation for full schedule) (116 for games played)
2. Amherst (10 FS) (58 GP)
3. Tufts (34 FS) (109 GP)
4. Bates (52 FS) (240 GP)
5. Colby (54 FS) (94 GP)
6. Bowdoin (54 FS) (108 GP)
7. Trinity (57 FS) (139 GP)
8. Middlebury (97 FS) (307 GP)
9. CT College (196 FS) (215 GP)

sumfun · December 15, 2010, 06:13:46 PM

Fun to watch throughout the season as these numbers can shift and change depending on how teams do throughout their season. Fun also to match these rankings up against D3Hoops, WBCA/ESPN poll, and D3 News Poll, especially once NCAA bracket comes out. They can vary wildly. Sunday afternoon in front of a fire task....otherwise, who has the time!?

Title9Fan · December 16, 2010, 11:14:16 AM

What the current "just numbers" i.e., strength-of-schedule (for full seasons vs. games played thus far) show is why the first half of the season is so hard to like. Very few of the wins indicate much about the winning team. Early season Losses among ranked winners, however, are hugely informative.

Hey sumfun -- you wanna open up the discussion/number of participants or you wanna write boring/borderline patronizing lectures about how fun everything is? At least the Amherst discussions have some substance. Just sayin'....

sumfun · December 16, 2010, 11:37:23 AM

what?

Wydown Blvd. · December 16, 2010, 12:40:30 PM

Someone's Thursday morning mamosa was a little too strong

Title9Fan, I get where you are going with what the SOS reveals, but can you repost a little clearer? If you're going to jab at sumfun

then at least have it make sense

PostPlay · December 16, 2010, 12:54:33 PM

Hi all--

New to the board and love the discussions! Our daughter is a junior and is starting to look at schools and has a strong interest in the NESCACs and is a basketball player. She plays on a HS team with 2 kids who are going D1 - -- so we know that level of ability (she is a good player but not that good). But can someone generally categorize the ability/skill/talent of NESCAC women's basketball? In some NESCAC sports (womens soccer is one), you hear there is "D1 talent choosing to play D3 sports for the academics". And we have heard NESCAC schools getting athletes in who wouldn't get in on their own. Any thoughts?

sumfun · December 16, 2010, 04:12:57 PM

There are all levels of ability in NESCAC, but generally one of top two or three D3 leagues. Right now at the top 4 or 5 schools there is definately D1 talent, even D1 transfers. Not so much at the bottom 4 schools. You'll find cases for both of your comments where a coach helped a kid get in and kids that chose academics and D3 travel schedule over ie - Ivies, Patriot League and Southern League. Not many kids that could have played Big East, Duke, Standford or Rutgers. (Look at score from Kean vs Rutgers yesterday)

Don't know where you live, but I'd go watch some games if you can. Show interest to the coaches by sending in academic resumes and DVDs of an entire game. The coaches really only see kids in the Northeast. They don't have recruiting budgets to travel to showcase tournaments and AAU Championships in the south, southeast or midwest, let alone the west.

Good luck!!

Wydown Blvd. · December 16, 2010, 07:07:27 PM

Might as well throw this in... I know its the NESCAC forum, but I would also have your daughter look into the UAA if she wants to broaden her reach. Both are very high basketball conferences, and most importantly, the academic caliber of the universities in the UAA conference equal the colleges of the NESCAC. Also D1 talent in the UAA in the top 3 or 4 schools. Different college experience, but both are excellent academic routes.

sumfun · December 16, 2010, 08:38:09 PM

Totally agree about UAA. You can tell from the rosters that kids come from all over the country to play at NESCAC and UAA schools. Get a first-class education at great schools in great settings. Nice mix of urban and rural depending on what type of setting and part of country they want.

PostPlay · December 17, 2010, 11:39:32 AM

Thanks to you both! Obtaining a DVD of a complete game makes great sense. Also, you are the second person who mentioned the UAA as a great women's basketball conference.

As for "recruiting", since there is not a binding LOI or scholarship deal like D1, how does recruiting work? Does a coach say "I want you" and you are in? That is basically the D1 model assuming your kid meets NCAA minimums --which are not that high a standard). Or is not that clear? I hear horror stories of D3 coaches telling a kid they are in and Admissions denies or waitlists them. Any info on the D3 recruiting process?