Huck signs with Portland Hearts of Pine: https://www.pressherald.com/2026/03/12/hearts-of-pine-sign-bowdoin-standout-tyler-huck/

Quote from: stlawus on March 02, 2026, 09:03:15 PMThe dials in soccer are different.  You had a team that was 7-6-3 and lost in the NESCAC quarterfinal make the tournament.  The rest of the country was better at soccer. 

That Amherst team was actually 8-5-3 going into the NCAAs, and was 4-0-1 in the regular season non-conference.  They lost 1-0 in OT in the first round to an undefeated Catholic team, despite Amherst outshooting them. 

I'd hear an argument that Amherst had proven that they couldn't beat the top of the NESCAC and thus did not deserve an at large in favor of a team with a better record that hadn't yet had the opportunity to lose to Tufts or Bowdoin or Wesleyan.  I'm not sure I'd put much stock in an argument that any team not in the NCAA tournament was actually better at soccer than Amherst.  I'd take Amherst on a neutral field against any of the "snubbed" teams.

The NPI is designed to be conference agnostic, and is intended to answer the question of which teams are stronger.  I think it does that fairly well. 

Quote from: stlawus on March 02, 2026, 06:17:39 PM

Quote from: D3BBALL on March 02, 2026, 05:37:22 PM

Quote from: stlawus on March 02, 2026, 05:16:47 PMNPI is not the NESCAC Protection Index. This is part of the deal if you're getting a lot of teams in under the current system.

That's funny, like that.

When you say current system are you talking the new NPI sytems?

Either way as I said in another post, if it was the top 3 UAA teams all in the same bracket, I would say the same thing. I not complaining because it is NESCAC, it just a bad way to feature all the best teams in the country. UAA could have 4 teams in the final 4, all top 25 teams. NESCAC with 3 top 10 teams in NPI can only get 1 of those 3 to the final 4.

New system, yes.  I get the argument, but the UAA is so geographically spread out as is. I don't really have an issue with the new system, at least for basketball.  It is way worse in soccer, no conference should be getting 8 teams in hence the NESCAC Protection Index.  I just think that this kind of bracket is a bit of an equalizer.  If you're going to benefit from NPI in getting at large selections I don't think you can quibble about where you get placed in the bracket.

If the rest of the country doesn't want 8 NESCAC soccer teams to make the tournament, the rest of the country should get better at soccer.

Does UMFK need to be at the sport minimums at the time of application?  They just announced adding softball, M/W XC, and men's golf in December.  Baseball is set to play its first season this Spring.

I went back and watched the Board of Trustees meeting where both applications were approved, the language was identical but did not say "will apply Spring 2026" or anything so I think there's some leeway in when they actually apply.  The meeting was a bit light on technicalities, once they explained to a few Trustees what the NCAA is, and that no, UMFK and UMA will not be in a conference with Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin.

Quote from: Ralph Turner on January 30, 2026, 11:38:30 AM

Quote from: Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) on January 30, 2026, 10:43:33 AMMany of the NAC schools have been playing UMPI and UMFK like travel partners the last two seasons.  If you're making the trip up there, no real reason not to play both.  It'll be helpful to have both count in the future.

There's been open speculation that Cobleskill and Delhi are not long for the league, plus there's a real possibility one or both of the NVU campuses end or scale back athletics to the point they can't be in the NCAA.  Lots of unknowns, but I'm sure the league wants to be clear of the minimum.

It's not inconceivable in a couple years you'd have 7 Maine schools and Lesley.  I don't really know anything about Lesley's financial status, but that's certainly a similar profile to a lot of schools that have been closing.

I reviewed the USCAA and NAIA websites. There are no more likely candidates for D3 members in New England. Bay Hill is USCAA (Soccer, Softball Volleyball) and the remaining schools are small. Fisher College (NAIA Boston) has only 4 & 4 sports; probably needs to add Cross Country. Vermont State - Randolph (USCAA) is resuming baseball in "Fall 2026" to get to 5 & 5 sports.

The only four year schools left in Maine that aren't in the NCAA system don't offer sports, and I can't imagine that College of the Atlantic or Maine College of Art & Design are champing at the bit to start an athletics program.

It is WAAAAAY up there.  About 90 minutes on a bus north of UMPI, which is 2 hours 30 minutes north of Husson in Bangor, which is four hours from Boston. 

Both the University of Maine at Augusta and the University of Maine at Fort Kent have received Board of Trustees approval to apply to join D3 and the North Atlantic Conference.

https://public.onboardmeetings.com/Meeting/qpRiuKxn8GpWkrSY1EpjQ0sgspu0Q1G7Pak1pWiR6McA/ZbOMKPobXdYApAoxVXulhox4iU0XN4aXjpppEOhgP5wA

Quote from: Kuiper on November 12, 2025, 01:37:29 AMAll the Brazilian forwards are players you'll want to watch if the conditions allow it, including top scorer Lucca Torres, who scored the winning goal in the SLIAC championship game, and Matheus Nunes, who scored in the semifinals, as well as MF Christian De La Rosa and D Tomas Biasi were also first team All SLIAC, but midfielder Micah Rangel is someone you can't help but watch on the field.  He's generally not an offensive threat, but at 6'4" with what seems like another 5-6 inches of hair, he can block everyone's view defending a corner kick.  You might be able to spot him in this story about the team winning the SLIAC tourney.

Speaking of conditions, driving past Bowdoin's field this morning it had about 2 inches of snow on it.  Looking like highs in the upper 30's Friday and Saturday, a little warmer but dumping rain Sunday. 

Quote from: Pat Coleman on June 09, 2025, 05:46:24 PMI feel like UMFK has been talked about for more than a decade.

Yup.  I think the thing that changed for me was when I started hearing it from people connected to UMPI. 

There have been some rumors kicking around Maine D-3 circles that UMaine Fort Kent may attempt to move over to D-3 from the USCAA and would likely be looking for NAC membership.  That's not going to help with lax, but it's a number.

That's all the boilerplate for every job Colby posts, for example here's the posting for a chorale director: https://www.higheredjobs.com/state/details.cfm?JobCode=179152370&Title=Chorale%20Conductor

Think their president summed it up nicely:

"It was the liberalization of the transfer portal a few years ago," Van Tassell said. "It was our inability to compete with the name, image and likeness scheme. That's just out of our reach. Plus the uncertainties that go along with being a small Division I institution. In a perfect world, we would have stayed in the Northeast Conference. There were a lot of factors that were really stacked against us that kind of forced us into this position."

"We were looking at it from a student welfare point of view," he said. "We don't want to be a farm team for larger conferences. We want to attract students who will be here for four years, who we can develop into really fine professionals and into fine athletes. Unfortunately, because of the transfer portal, that environment, sadly, doesn't exist anymore or the way it once did."

https://sfuathletics.com/news/2025/3/25/inside-athletics-saint-francis-university-announces-move-from-ncaa-division-i-athletics-to-division-iii-athletics.aspx

I don't know that this is the first of MANY, but probably won't be the only one.

Quote from: jumbomumbo on February 16, 2025, 11:10:55 AMCoach Linton got his 100th career win over Bates last night.

That's a lot of wins over Bates!

Uhoh: https://penobscotbaypress.com/articles/latestnews-castinepatriot/mma-football-coaches-resign-midseason/?pubid=castinepatriot