W. Conn. answers NJAC challenge

Western Connecticut’s first season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference wasn’t exactly stellar, with a fourth-place finish similar to what longtime NJAC fans predicted. But as Jim Stout writes today in the News-Times of Danbury, Conn., spring practice came in handy. The Colonials will be sporting a new defensive scheme when they take the field two months from today.

It’s a good offseason update that we wish more newspapers did.

NEFC next in East Region shuffle

NEFC LogoThe pieces are still falling into place from the breakup of the Freedom Football Conference, a process which started more than four years ago.

The New Jersey Athletic Conference’s announcement that Buffalo State would be joining for football in the fall of 2006 was the latest change in affiliation in the region, but it’s not the last. Continue reading

Quality of Wins Index

Same formula, different name.

Division III calling its power rating formula a “Strength of Schedule Index” was certainly misleading. It didn’t measure how strong the schedule was; it measured how a team did against that schedule. And even though we put a disclaimer on our listing of the index in large, bold type, it didn’t sink in with Division III fans.

But instead of fixing the formula, the championships committee will change the name. This year it will be called the Quality of Wins Index. It still won’t really accurately contribute toward discovering how good a team is, however, and since this is a major factor used in selecting and seeding NCAA playoff teams, it would be helpful if it did.

Here’s the problem — Continue reading