The first piece of the long-expected shuffle of football teams in New England has come, though it wasn’t the wide-reaching change that has been talked about.
In the end, the North Atlantic Conference’s addition of football doesn’t disrupt too many homes. Norwich, which is an affiliate member of the Empire 8 as part of the dispersal that folded the Freedom Football Conference, is the only team switching homes to make this happen. Maine Maritime, which is a NAC member in other sports and could play football in the NAC at any time, is currently sticking with the NEFC. Gallaudet, Becker, Husson, Mount Ida and SUNY-Maritime have no other football home.
But it’s not going to affect, at least at the moment, the possibility that keeps looming over the NEFC — the chance that some of its teams may split off and play with their home conferences.
The 16 NEFC teams come from the following all-sports conferences: MASCAC, six (Bridgewater State, Fitchburg State, Framingham State, Massachusetts Maritime, Westfield State, Worcester State); CCC, five (Curry, Endicott, Nichols, Salve Regina, Western New England); NEWMAC, two (Coast Guard, MIT); Little East, two (Mass-Dartmouth, Plymouth State); NAC, one (Maine Maritime).
The MASCAC or CCC could far more easily pick up one or two affiliate members and be eligible for an automatic bid in two years. The NAC has no real route to an automatic bid right now, as configured.
And none of this addresses the rest of Division III, where a new league (average Kickoff ranking of the six NAC teams: 204 of 238) or a split of the NEFC would eventually add an automatic bid, and take an at-large bid away from someone else.
Then again, by the time we get there … there may be bigger fish to fry, in terms of the potential split of Division III into two divisions.
If the NAC gets an automatic bid, they will likely produce an even weaker champion than the NEFC. Ironically, the NCAA would be taking a bid away from the strongest conference in Eastern Region, the Empire 8, and awarding it to the weakest.
Just look at that NAC football lineup. There isn’t a good team in the bunch.
It’ll be a while before that NAC group qualifies. They have a lot of things to do.
The Empire 6 might be better off in Pool B. When 2011 rolls around, who’s going to be in Pool B besides a handful of independents?
The way things are headed, there could be 14 Pool B schools and two bids, which would both end up in the E6 every year. But that’s thinking way down the road.
Interesting stuff. I have a friend extremely close to the Lycoming program, and a move to the Empire 8 for their program has been discussed for a couple years. Kings as well. It seems no coincidence those teams have found themselves on the OOC schedules of Fisher and Ithaca as of late.
Tecmo as much as I agree that it would be nice to add Lycoming or Kings… it might also make a lot of sense for the big 4 to go pool b road… and they could replace the Norwich game each year with a big name team… I would love to see a Ithaca, Fisher or Springfield play some of the big name out of region teams
Hey Cortland,
Who do you think you are. Most team in the Current NAC are less than 10 years old and developing. Suny-Maritime has an excellend coach and will be a team to watch.
I know the guys at Husson would play anyone at anytime. Husson plays 5 teams in the Empire 8 including Springfield and in the past has played Wesley College. Husson would line up against Cortland anytime. I know they would love a chance at anyone in the NEFC including Curry and anyone else who wants to play.
Pat are you writing off the UAA in Pool B?
Not really, but with two bids in eight seasons the league hasn’t shown enough consistency to be projected for annual playoff bids in 2011.
Husson: “Who do you think you are?” Welcome to the blog — I believe you’re the first Husson contributor here or on the message board. I don’t think Cortland Football meant anything personal by his comment. Not sure I can say the same for you. This doesn’t have to be a place for personal attacks.
The landscape could change again next year – witness the dance that the UMAC schools did the last couple of years as to if they were moving or not moving.
I wonder if this could affect the South Region. The ACFC has Brockport State, Wesley, Newport News and Frostburg State–all of whom could, at least theoretically and geographically, fit into a revamped Empire 8 I’d think. Philisophically it might not be the best fit for each institution, but it would get rid of a Pool B slot that the ACFC is always vying for while preserving the Pool A for the Empire 8.
I’m also curious as to the long-term committment that Galludet will make to varsity football, given their history of on-again, off-again participation at that level.
Brockport State joins the NJAC next year. All the Empire 8 schools are private, which probably rules Frostburg State out. And Wesley would have a significant tuition advantage on all the other schools in terms of cost.
If anyone is likely to shift north, it’s probably a MAC school like Lycoming.
Just to comment on the cortland comment, with no anger or miscontent. How can you say that there is no team on the NAC lineup that can contend with these teams and we are the weaker bunch??? I know personally from the Husson side of the ball we have stood toe-to-toe with some bigger schools and come out on top and if not they were competativley great games. (Division 1-AA La Salle, Division II Pace University etc). I guess it just comes as a surprise for someone to sit there and say that a team that has only been around 5 years and battled every year since its inception to get to where they are at is undeserving of an auto bid. That is us along with the other teams we play, becker, Mt Ida, and SUNY-Maratime, which might I add is having one helluva season.
Might I add we play 5 empire 8 teams and so far this season are 1-0 against them and god willing 2-0 after this weekend.
We deserve some type of respect and that is all i am trying to say. I appreiciate the time that goes into this site and these blogs and it stings to come on and finally read something about my school and teammates but have it an verbal punch to the face like that.
Let’s not go overboard here. Pace has lost 16 of its last 22 games. Division III teams beat La Salle all the time. La Salle is 4-8 against D3 schools in the last four years, if I count them up right.
These games don’t do a whole lot. Beating the dregs of the Empire 8 is just a little better. D3 is a big world. You got a lot to prove before you can talk to an NJAC contender like that.
To think that you might take a bid away from a pool c team makes me sick.
There’s no chance of that anytime soon, Alum, take it easy.
Im sorry i wasn’t aware that that NJAC contender was so highly toted around the world of D3 football. Ill watch what i say next time. HAHAHAHA I lied!!! and we are just gonna have to wait for the end of the season to see what happens
The NJAC is a top 10 league, yes. Probably sliding back a bit from when it was a top five league, but still a formidable foe for a team in the 180s.
Did I read this: NAC “will sponsor a full, round-robin schedule with a season-concluding championship game. “? With six teams?
Yes — it wouldn’t be an exempt game. It would count against their 10 games.
Is that their plan because they only want nine games for four of the teams, because they can’t find five ooc games for each team, or because they aren’t ready to play anyone else?
Well, the chips could really fall all over the place here.
Why would Lycoming or King’s move from the MAC to the Empire 8? It isn’t a travel advantage, is it? And I don’t know that the E8 represents a significant step up in academic prestige, at least as far as I can tell.
If teams keep leaving the MAC, maybe the SUNY schools would go their separate way and the NJMAC could form — an Eastern power league where all the teams left behind by fleeing “academic reputation” schools could resurface.
Also reminds me how any seven-team league is one unexpected defection from losing a bid. I could start the “Who should the ODAC add?” discussion up again here, but methinks I should not.
In any case, this is all quite interesting.
Right, because it appears that Shenandoah is ready and waiting any time the ODAC wants them. 🙂
cwru70 — I guess they could match up 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 so that they all have a game that weekend of the title game.
Just like the old bowling league “position night!” Could they call them bowl games then? Carrier Dome day?
Several of the teams play ten games now, but not all. Does this plan reflect the difficulty of getting ooc games after week three or four? Or finding comparable opponents?
The NAC will play a round robin schedule which will include 5 total games for each team. The teams will also play an out of conference schedule to get to a total of 9-10 games. At the end of the regular season the top two NAC teams will play in a championship game.
I think the word Round Robin is deceiving. At this point I don’t believe that the NAC schools will play exclusively in conference.
The bottom line is every one of the NAC teams is near the bottom of the power ratings among D3 teams. Giving the champion of such a conference an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs, while taking said bid away from the Empire 8, would be an embarrassment.
And if Husson was indeed willing to play Cortland, they would have done so in 2003, 2004, and 2005 when Cortland could not fill a 10th game with a single willing team in Eastern Region.
Keith –
Your proposed league is interesting, and from a travel standpoint it would be a lot more workable than Brockport and Rowan going back and forth.
However I cannot see the SUNY schools leaving the NJAC. Filling out schedules to this point has been too difficult for the SUNY schools, as well as the NJAC schools. They finally have a situation where there is stability.
Granted I would love to see Cortland-Wilkes again. The Cortland trip is 50 minutes for me, Wilkes only 80 minutes.
wow look at husson step up and try to play big ok you beat Utica 10-3 last year the big 4 in the e8 beat Utica by a combined 162-17 including fisher 64-0 so untill you beat a big boy you should keep your mouth shut
HCEagles-
Come on man, do you actually follow D3 football? You cannot be serious that SUNY Maritime is having one heckuva season. They are 2-0 against Mass Maritime, and Salve Regina. Both of which are considered among the weakest teams in the nation, not just in the East.
Last year Morrisville won only 1 game – and that was against SUNY Maritime. Cortland has beaten Morrisville by a combined 123-21 in the last 12 months. Do you think SUNY Maritime would honestly schedule a game with Cortland?
What I see here is a blatant attempt by a bunch of weaker schools to sneak into the NCAA playoffs by forming their own conference. Notice they are going for 7+ teams to get that bid, if not…they would have stopped at 6 maybe?
Can you imagine the uproar if Heidelberg, Muskingum, and Wilmington bailed on the OAC, and formed a conference with Blackburn, Principia, and 2 new teams, and actually got to compete with the OAC and WIAC for Pool A and C bids nationwide? Everybody would see through it.
I do not want to see Eastern Region, which is fighting hard to gain credibility nationwide, put another team into the playoffs with absolutely no shot at competing when they get there. Join real conferences, prove you can compete, and build your programs the honest way.
Husson -what’s deceiving about “round robin”? It means you play every other conference team once. Why then have 1 and 2 play each other again? If Pat is correct (and I’d bet the ranch he is), the championship game means only four out of conference games are possible. This schedule plan suggests there is a reluctance to play ooc competition.
Cortland, the North Atlantic Conference will never get an AQ under current rules as long as there are not 4 core NAC members playing football in the NAC.
The NAC as a football conference made sense a year ago.
http://www.d3sports.com/post/index.php?topic=4661.42
The NAC had Mt Ida, Husson and Becker as football independents and member Maine Maritime was in the NEFC. All that they needed were three schools to affiliate, (Gallaudet, SUNY-Maritime and Norwich), and the NAC could have had an AQ in 2 years. That AQ would likely have come from the Pool C allocation.
As it is now and as mentioned above, the NAC just provides games for those schools and give more schools to be considered in Pool B.
The loss of the schools from the NAC this last year really hurt the efforts of the NAC commissioner and presidents, IMHO.
If the Empire “5” can find East Region opponents, then they should rake in the Pool B bids!
For those interested in the long history of league moves, check out what was discussed on the Dose back in ’05 … how much of it came true and how much is still pending.
Very interesting.
http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/2005/10/19/more-talk-about-realignment/
70: I think it’s for ease of scheduling, like many programs. Why not have a championship game? It means they play six of their 10 games in conference, like many leagues.
Castleton State adds football.
http://www.d3football.com/notables/2007/11/29/Castleton+adds+football%5D%5Bu%5DCastleton State