I have not seen it anywhere that Curry, Fitchburg and Endicott have stated the can play "tough" with Springfield.

There is no doubt that Springfield is the best team in New England this year. They can beat anyone in the area and are more than competitive out of New England as well as their conference record indicates.

I think this past season only saw Endicott and CGA play non-NEFC opponents. UMD has challeneged themselves out of conference in the past and I think Salve used to play West Conn and Springfield not so long ago.

I know this has been said over and over again, until NEFC teams get serious and ventire outside the conference to play teams from the Empire Eight, Liberty League, NJAC, etc they can continue to resign themselves to being an "also-ran" in NCAA play.

Aptosdad,

You are correct that not every school plays the same game in admission of student-athletes. There are varying levels of what each school is willing to accept as part of the larger class of students in general.

However, I WOULD hope that ALL the coaches took the same approach that football players in their program are attending their insititution for an EDUCATION first and to play football second.

Perhaps my comment that ALL NEFC schools have exceptions was a "blanket statement".

I will agree whole-heartedly that MIT does not have the "tips" that the other NEFC schools do and that those student-athletes meet the standards of the rest of the insititution.

However, I will stick to my guns that most all the other schools have their exceptions.

With the non-scholarship nature of D3 it is ILLEGAL for coaches to have a say in how much "grant" a student-athlete receives. That is an NCAA rule so that the average grant packages given to student-athletes must mirror that of the general student population.

EVERY SCHOOL in the NEFC (and beyand, NESCACs etc) have players that might not meet the highest academic standards of their respective schools.

However, I do not think it is the case at Endicott, or any other NEFC that they just open the doors and say "come on in" just because you play football. I think if you looked across the board at the entire class (all students - not just football) at any school you will see a certain percentage of students that are admitted with a lower academic profile - for whatever reason. I would hope and imagine that the football programs in the NEFC would mirror - percentage-wise - the same number of "tips" or whatever you would like to call them.

With 29 or 30 seniors (according to the schools website), it appears that Endicott has retained much of that large class and that the guys who were allegedly "tipped" in are still in school and apparently on track to graduate in 4 years.

THAT is ultimately the goal in D3.

63 Center,

Why do you say Curry is going to win the Division? With Endicott returning so many players, WNEC on the rise and UMD always lurking around the top of the Boyd - why the Colonels?

Just curious....

Task,

I believe Nichols lost not only the starting QB, but then went through 4 more QBs that were lost to injury etc etc. I also think they lost a total of like 10 starters to season ending injuries early in the year. Nichols always has a large roster so I don't think you can say he has not recruited "talent". I am not trying to make excuses for the Bison and I agree you need to have a contingency plan in place - but what do you do when the wheel fall off as they sometimes do?

With those players back (I heard Mike Craven was coming back for a 5th year) Nichols could be right back in the mix.....

DOES THE NEFC EVER DO A COACHES POLL LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER CONFERENCES AROUND THE COUNTRY?

WHERE DOES EVERYONE THINK THE TEAMS FROM THE BOYD AND BOGAN WILL RANK IN THEIR RESPECTIVE DIVISIONS?

i agree that budgets control the ability to travel etc for most teams.

i also imagine that finding matching dates that do not conflict with the nefc schedule is difficult. looking at the schedule, those games have to be played early in the year. that might also require teams to report to camp early, something that requires additional funding at most schools.

money makes the world go 'round.....

easy, easy, easy

everyone so testy about things and the season is still weeks away.

i think we can all agree that there are going to be "homers" out there that consistently "ring the bell" of their chosen team (gullgrad). there is nothing wrong with that - you see it on every board here.

meuse is a good player, who while he may have been given a tackle or two (or three) by the stat guy makes ALOT of plays for the Bison defense. i agree that coaches across the league would rather play with him than against him.

and while endicott's defense does a great job to say they have little offense is misleading - they were ranked in the top 20 in the country in rushing - that helps control the clock and keep the opposing offense on the sideline thereby helping the defense. just because a team does not put up 50 pts a game or throw it 50 times a game does not mean they have "little" offense.

just my 2 cents...