Loving this discussion, but I have to say a few words in support of my Jeffs!  For starters, a lot of different time frames have been thrown around, so I will do my best to be brief but comprehensive.

Most accomplished team over one season.  To me this has to be Amherst 2013.  They went 30-2 (without losing a game for all of 2013 or whenever our preferred starting five all dressed), won the NCAA Tournament, the NESCAC Championship, and the NESCAC regular season.  To date they are the only team ever to accomplish this trifecta.  For bonus points they went undefeated in both NESCAC and Little 3 play.

Most accomplished team over two seasons: Much as it pains me to say it, the Williams run of 2003-04 is the strongest contender.  They followed up a Championship in 2003 with another trip to the Championship game in 2004.  While Amherst 08 did this as well, Williams won two NESCAC championships and one NESCAC regular season title during this time whereas Amherst 08 *only* had the two NESCAC regular season titles.  The Holy Cross win is also a nice touch.  I am honestly not sure how much weight margin of victory should play into things, but if you are going to look at it, then it seems to me it must go both ways.  Yes Williams narrowly lost to Stevens Point in 04 (I was privileged to be court side for that game right by where Crotty attempted a last gasp desperation heave for the win), but they also very narrowly won both of their Salem games in 2003, and the team they beat in the finals in 2003 was not a particularly credentialed one (in fairness neither was the team we beat in 2013).  As an aside, I do think the most impressive "Salem" performance by a NESCAC team was Amherst in 2007.  We beat Wooster by 7 in the Semifinals and then beat Virginia Wesleyan by 13 in the finals.  Wooster and Virginia Wesleyan were two of the top five teams all season long and Virginia Wesleyan was the defending champion with its two best players returned.

Most accomplished team over 3 seasons (and this is where most of the recent conversation has been): Here there are a lot of good candidates but I have to make the case for Amherst 06-08.  Of course, if we are only looking at NCAA Tournament performance then this is actually an open and shut case.  Amherst, like Trinity, made three consecutive final fours, but the Jeffs actually won an extra game as we won it all in 2007 and made the championship game in 2008.  Now it is true that Trinity won 3 NESCAC Championships during this time whereas Amherst *only* won one but to me this is offset by the fact that this Trinity group has never had the best regular season NESCAC record, a feat Amherst accomplished every year during this time.  And, if NESCAC performance can make up for NCAA Tournament shortcomings, then I think we have to throw Amherst 2012-14 back in the mix.  That team won a national championship, made another final four, and lost a total of 1 NESCAC game in three years, winning the NESCAC Championship and regular season titles in all those years.  It is true that Trinity had a better overall three year record than Amherst over that period of time but I dont think it is by that much.  I have Amherst at 85-10 and Trinity 89-8.  But, of course, so much of this depends on how one schedules the out of conference opponents which obviously isnt as tightly controlled as NESCAC or NCAA tournament play.  For instance one year during this stretch we played (and lost to) an NAIA team down in Florida.  We obviously also have the annual Little 3 showdowns which typically toughens up our schedule (although Williams was down for a good chunk of this time).  I honestly don't know, but has Trinity scheduled a particularly formidable non-conference schedule these past three years?

Most accomplished team over four seasons: To me the two frontrunners here are Amherst 08 and Amherst 14.  For Amherst 08 we have one national title, two championship game appearances, three final four appearances, two NESCAC championships and four NESCAC regular season titles and an overall record of 111-12.  Amherst 14 also has a national championship and one additional final four appearance, with an elite 8 and sweet 16 rounding out the NCAA resume.  That Amherst team also won three NESCAC championships and three NESCAC regular season titles and had two consecutive undefeated NESCAC seasons. Also, no NESCAC team ever beat the Amherst Class of 2014 in LeFrak. Not once in four years.  That is particularly impressive when you consider that that Amherst team hosted three NESCAC tournaments so the best teams in the NESCAC (and this is when Williams and Middlebury were really good) had multiple bites at the apple and couldnt get the job done.  The Amherst Class of 2014 had a career record of 108-13 (if my math holds).

Oh, I have no doubt that your assessment of Wilson is correct, nescac1.  I've heard nothing but glowing things about him.  And, if anything, I have heard even more sterling assessments about Rehnquist who seems to have a true legendary status among the Amherst basketball old timers.  I wish I could have seen them both in Purple & White, but I've been treated to more than my fair share of great Amherst players so I cannot complain. 

For me, Aaron Toomey is the Amherst GOAT but Andrew Olson is obviously also a solid choice.

For the related question of the Amherst Mount Rushmore, I think I would currently have it as Toomey, Olson, Willy Workman and John Bedford, with honorable mention to Brian Baskauskas. But I only started following NESCAC basketball in 2001 so I cannot evaluate Wilson or Rehnquist.

Very exciting to be back dancing!

D3, this Trinity senior class is certainly already in the NESCAC Mount Rushmore — no argument from me there. However, I actually think winning the NESCAC Championship three times in a row at home is much more impressive. For three straight years that Amherst team was tops in the NESCAC in both the regular season conference slate as well as the conference tournament. But again, three in a row is a tremendous accomplishment however one slices it.

Quote from: nescac1 on March 01, 2026, 01:36:57 PMYeah kinda felt like Trinity was saving this extra gear.  They are now fully in tourney mode and will be very tough to beat.  They can raise their defense up to such an intense level that it wears you down inevitably. I think with three Nescac titles, and what they've done and will likely keep doing in the NCAAs, they've locked down best Nescac team ever and are firmly in the D3 pantheon.  Especially if they reach a third straight final four, which is very, very rare.

Best team ever? Not so fast my friend.  I of course agree that the book on Trinity has not been written yet and a repeat National Championship would be an unprecedented accomplishment in the NESCAC but I do not think anything is "locked down" just yet.  I feel honor bound to remind you that Amherst won three consecutive NESCAC championships from 2012-14 and only lost ONE conference game during that stretch (which of course included some pretty good competition).  We were an overtime a way from a four-peat.  The 2013 team remains the only NESCAC team to win the NESCAC regular season, NESCAC Tournament and NCAA Tournament all in one season. 

I haven't followed NESCAC basketball quite as closely this past decade as I did the decade before but I always have a hard time resisting any conversation about the best players or teams over a given period of time.  If I had to pick the best 5 NESCAC players over the past decade (not necessarily the best "team"), I would go with:

1. Alex Sobel (agree with nescac1 that he is the clear number 1 and perhaps the only lock on this list).
2. Hank Morgan (could be some recency bias here but I think it is hard to argue).
3. MSA
4. Shane Regan
5. David Murray

Four of my five picks are former Conference Players of the Year.  Regan was not and maybe Wes fans think Peek a better choice.  Anyway, always a fun exercise and as nescac1 rightly states, there are plenty of great players to choose from.  Here's hoping that my 2025-2035 All NESCAC team is filled with Jeffs!

The accolades keep rolling in for Coach Hixon.  Amherst has announced that Coach Hixon will receive an honorary degree during Commencement on May 25.  This will also mark the 50th anniversary of Hixon's own graduation from Amherst. Very fitting indeed!

https://www.amherst.edu/news/news_releases/2025/march/internet-pioneer-hall-of-fame-basketball-coach-and-four-others-to-be-honored-at-amherst-college-s-commencement-on-may-25

NM,

Whose offense is worse, the Lord Jeffs or our Giants?

As for Amherst, I'd say the two standout players who never got all league recognition were Allen Williamson and Tim McLaughlin. Interesting both made all NCAA Tourney teams and Allen was named the most outstanding player.

Allen almost certainly deserved all league recognition but his senior year Toomey, Willy and Big Pete all got it and there was just no way Amherst was getting four guys on all league teams — especially back when the teams were five aside.

TMac was perhaps a lot like Nate. A very solid "role player" on excellent teams who was much beloved by fans of the team but didn't exactly light up a stat sheet

I guess I'll take one more shot at this but I really don't understand why the NESCAC keeps flipping back and forth on tie-breaking procedures.

In 2002 (when I was a student), Williams and Trinity each finished 7-1 and were named co-champions. My Williams friends (I have only a very select few) were upset because they beat Trinity that year (but lost to Amherst in a glorious upset for Coach Farley's last game!) and felt that they should win the tiebreaker. But there was no tiebreaker.

In 2018 Amherst and Trinity both finish 8-1 yet Trinity claims the sole crown based on its win over Amherst which all of a sudden counts as a tiebreaker. Now Midd and Trin both finish 8-1 but Midd's win over Trin is not considered a tiebreaker. What gives?? Why keep flipping back and forth on this? Is the rule that Trin wins regardless of the rules???!

I think Amherst should now claim a share of the 2018 title. Seems like we were robbed!

Unbelievable! They switched the tie-break rules again?? When did this happen? Any chance we can retroactively get Championship credit for 2018 now?!

Phenomenal win for my Jeffs against Williams yesterday!! It's funny how this rivalry works. A decidedly mediocre season can end on a magnificent note just by nudging out a win against our archrival (sadly, it is also the case that otherwise great seasons can leave a bitter taste in the mouth when we end the year with a loss).

Congratulations to Coach Mills and his staff and team for putting an end to Williams's recent winning streak against us. I know this isn't the best Williams team of recent vintage but all wins over the Ephs are sweet!

It's remarkable how many wacky plays seem to pop up during the Biggest Little Game and yesterday's tilt was certainly no exception. Three of the game's five scores came as the result of somewhat fluky defensive or special teams plays. Our first touchdown came as the result of an opportunistic INT when the Williams receiver bobbled the ball as it looked like he might walk right into our end zone. A 75-yard return set up a nice 20 yard TD pass a play later.

Our second TD came on a long fumble return after a short little Williams completion. On the flip side we all but gifted Williams a TD by airmailing a long snap to our own 3 yard line.

But when we needed a TD late in the game it was Mike Piazza who led us on a stellar drive the old fashioned way. Piazza has really played phenomenal ball the last few weeks. It's particularly nice to see from the Senior as we endured more than our fair share of struggles on offense over the past few seasons (and #11 is FAR from the only responsible party), but it counts most how you finish and it is hard to finish any better than he did. In fact, one wonders if we might have won an extra game or two if we turned to him earlier.

On defense Christian Moore (two picks and a fumble return for a TD), Andy Skirzenski and Luke Harmon were all over the field all day.

Obviously 4-5 is not ideal but any season that ends with a win is fine by me. As for next year, hard to know yet what to make of things. The defense should be stout (particularly the secondary), and we still have some questions on offense. Either way I am looking forward to it.

But for now, congrats to our Seniors for ending their Amherst careers in style!

Quote from: lumbercat on November 12, 2023, 08:18:11 PM
Good point Bucket

Trinity is a great, dominant team and when they get the lead they'll kill you - but in close games they play a little out of character
but that seldom happens because they are too good to be in close games in this conference.

If you kill everyone on your schedule for years, when you do get into that infrequent close game, like Middlebury this year, it's unfamiliar territory. Kind of like fighting the big kid in the neighborhood, he's bigger and tougher but he's not used to taking that random punch.

it's a different dynamic to play 9 games and dominate 7 or 8 of them, EVERY YEAR......a territory most teams don't know and will never experience.

Sometimes I wonder if there is ever any debate in Hartford that the Bantams have outgrown the NESCAC and should move on to a conference where they can compete for national recognition but actually have a reasonable chance of losing every week.......or maybe it's more fun always being the big kid on the block.

At the end of the day congratulations to the Trinity program for their standard of excellence and another NESCAC title barring something crazy next weekend.

Wait, doesn't Middlebury win the NESCAC crown outright if they take care of business next weekend? Or have they changed the tie-break formula again?

Quote from: ephoops on October 24, 2023, 10:00:28 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on October 17, 2023, 08:35:38 PM


AmherstStudent05, I wish I could remember Williams' 2003 non-league schedule as well as you do, but I have no idea, and alas, the Sports Info archives don't go back that far, which is a shame!

https://web.archive.org/web/20041225112352/http://www.d3hoops.com/school_info.php?school=Williams&team=m&year=2003

Above is the link to Williams 2003 schedule.  I believe Hamilton (coached by Tobin Anderson) was ranked that season in addition to Amherst.  The Ephs beat Hamilton twice that season (once in the regular season and again in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game -- both games were at home).  In 2003, Hamilton was in the Liberty League, not the NESCAC.

I took the liberty of going through all 15 d3hoops polls from 2002-03 (available here if anyone wants to double check me, https://d3hoops.com/top25/men/previous).  Hamilton was never ranked that season (although they did start getting some votes at the very end of the season).  As an aside, I was actually at that NCAA Tournament game between Williams and Hamilton in Chandler (Amherst was in that same pod against Rochester).

To be clear, I have a ton of respect for that Williams team -- a team I was fortunate enough to see play live several times (not that they need my respect, they won a national championship!). I do not want to be seen as knocking them at all.  I was just trying to point out that to the extent Williams supporters want to argue that Coach Hixon "loaded up on creampuffs" (which is not true) they should be prepared to say the same about their own vaunted teams of that era.

Whether Hamilton was ever ranked in 2002-03 or not (they don't seem to have been), you will have a hard time convincing me that that regular season schedule posted by Ephoops was materially more challenging than any schedule Hall of Famer Coach Hixon put together for his legendary teams.   

Quote from: SpringSt7 on October 18, 2023, 07:36:13 AM
Personally I find nescacman's Wesleyan bias a stark and quite frankly, disgusting, contrast to the rest of the unbiased and truly neutral posters on this board.

I assume this is sarcasm?? I'm not sure why a true "neutral" would ever bother posting on a NESCAC football board.  As has been mentioned before, at the beginning of his posting career, Nescacman tried to mask his Wesleyan bias behind a supposed "consortium" of partisans from all (or was it nearly all?) the NESCAC. But in recent years he has been open about his rooting interests. While some of the snark might sometimes cross the line in my eyes, has anyone contributed more to this board in recent years?  The man knows NESCAC football (but less about how pass interference is enforced). To boot, like nescac1, Vandy, myself and presumably many many others, he is a diehard NY Giants fan!