Mexico at Azteca is one heck of a home field advantage.  England or the DR Congo are going to have their hands full.

The only comparable in D3 men's soccer might be Colorado College, which hasn't lost a home game since September 1, 2023 (2-1 to Pacific Lutheran).  Colorado College's 6000 feet elevation isn't quite as high as the ~7300 feet of Azteca, nor is the fan base as rabid, but the views of the Rockies from campus are pretty impressive

Quote from: Ron Boerger on Yesterday at 04:33:00 PMThey already secured the football AQ with the subterfuge of Gallaudet joining for the season-ending football tournament (only).  It will be interesting to see if that continues once Millsaps rejoins.

I forgot about that.  It's got to be one of the things - along with the C2C that another poster mentioned in the Future of DIII on the main board - that has spurred the DIII Working Group to investigate conference alignments and NCAA tournament eligibility.

Big news out of the SCAC.  They effectively traded Southwestern and Trinity for Millsaps.  I assume this was mostly about getting back Millsaps football team so they can still satisfy the AQ minimum after losing schools to the ASC.

Millsaps College Set to Return to the SCAC in 2027-2028

QuoteThe Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) announced today that Millsaps College will return to the conference beginning with the 2027-28 academic year after the SCAC Presidents Council approved the college's formal application for membership.

When Millsaps returns in 2027, the Jackson, Mississippi-based institution will rejoin the conference it first called home in 1989 after competing as an NCAA Division III independent since 1973. At the time, the league was known as the College Athletic Conference, and the Majors became one of its longest-tenured members before departing with six fellow institutions in 2012.

"Joining the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference is a natural fit for Millsaps and an important step in advancing our institutional priorities," said Millsaps College President Frank Neville. "This transition reflects our commitment to providing an exceptional student-athlete experience while supporting the goals of our strategic vision. We are excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to building an even stronger tradition of competitive excellence in Millsaps athletics."

Millsaps currently has 19 varsity programs and approximately 385 student-athletes. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis and track and field. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, flag football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

That Netherlands-Morocco PK shootout was drunk.  If a D3 men's NCAA Tournament game had a shootout with balls hitting the post, going over the cross bar, being back-heeled into the goal by the goalkeeper after a save, and being saved by the goalkeeper with one hand while standing upright, the level of play would be endlessly mocked by D1 players/commentators. I was waiting for one of them to copy Johns Hopkins and use no run-up at all. Pressure is the great equalizer for skill, technique, and athleticism.

Some ASC Schedules

Mary Hardin-Baylor

Third year in a row that UMHB takes a big airplane trip to get some more non-conference games.  In 2025 they went to Colorado Springs to play Colorado College and Whitman and in 2024 they went to Northfield, MN to play St. Olaf and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.  This year, they travel to Spokane, WA to play Whitman and Whitworth.  Combined with games against Concordia (TX), Trinity (TX) and Texas Lutheran, that's a pretty strong non-conference schedule.  With McMurry and Schreiner moving from the SCAC to the ASC, they'll need it because the conference strength of schedule will be taking a hit.

Hardin-Simmons

H-S had a bad season last year until surprising UMHB in the ASC tournament and qualifying for the NCAA tournament.  This season, they drop Christopher Newport and Centenary and add Lyon and University of Dallas.

More NESCAC schedules

Trinity (CT)

Opening at National Champion Tufts is a kick in the mid-section for a team that hasn't won a single conference game in the last two seasons.  It also doesn't bode well that they have Wesleyan, a team that beat them 4-1 last season, on the schedule TWICE (although they seem to be trolling the Cardinals by not identifying EITHER game as a NESCAC game).  As far as non-conference games, they drop Western New England in favor of Hunter College.

Hamilton

Hamilton had a stingy defense and some solid results last season, including a 0-0 tie with Middlebury, 1-0 victory over Bowdoin, and a 2-2 tie with Wesleyan, but couldn't get over the hump.  Because of their location away from most other NESCAC schools, they tend to have a more diverse (and sometimes more competitive) non-conference schedule.  This year, they trade out Oswego State, SUNY Poly, and SUNY Oneonta for Clarkson, Rochester, and SUNY Morrisville.

Some NESCAC schedules

Trinity (CT)

Opening at National Champion Tufts is a kick in the mid-section for a team that hasn't won a single conference game in the last two seasons.  It also doesn't bode well that they have Wesleyan, a team that beat them 4-1 last season, on the schedule TWICE (although they seem to be trolling the Cardinals by not identifying EITHER game as a NESCAC game).  As far as non-conference games, they drop Western New England in favor of Hunter College.

Hamilton

Hamilton had a stingy defense and some solid results last season, including a 0-0 tie with Middlebury, 1-0 victory over Bowdoin, and a 2-2 tie with Wesleyan, but couldn't get over the hump.  Because of their location away from most other NESCAC schools, they tend to have a more diverse (and sometimes more competitive) non-conference schedule.  This year, they trade out Oswego State, SUNY Poly, and SUNY Oneonta for Clarkson, Rochester, and SUNY Morrisville. 

Some ASC Schedules

Mary Hardin-Baylor

Third year in a row that UMHB takes a big airplane trip to get some more non-conference games.  In 2025 they went to Colorado Springs to play Colorado College and Whitman and in 2024 they went to Northfield, MN to play St. Olaf and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.  This year, they travel to Spokane, WA to play Whitman and Whitworth.  Combined with games against Concordia (TX), Trinity (TX) and Texas Lutheran, that's a pretty strong non-conference schedule.  With McMurry and Schreiner moving from the SCAC to the ASC, they'll need it because the conference strength of schedule will be taking a hit.

Hardin-Simmons

H-S had a bad season last year until surprising UMHB in the ASC tournament and qualifying for the NCAA tournament.  This season, they drop Christopher Newport and Centenary and add Lyon and University of Dallas.

Heck of a final two games of group play.  Messi comes on because the game needed some Messi and a game broke out in stoppage time of what was setting up to be the Disgrace of Gijon II between Algeria and Austria

Quote from: AndrewB on June 26, 2026, 08:38:35 PM

Quote from: Kuiper on June 26, 2026, 08:00:27 PM

Quote from: AndrewB on June 26, 2026, 07:16:00 PMAnd about the automatic bids.
Keep them the way they are now.
Reward the small conference's in D3. A team like Lakeland WI, will Never win the D3 championship.  But It can win it's conference.  Just like in basketball, let them enjoy and be part of the playoffs.  My grip is 8 more teams should be added.
Protect the top 16 from Playing in the first round. Have 16 games week 1 (17-48), and 16 games week 2. 
 

I may be wrong, but I don't think the issue was on the agenda for the point of eliminating them necessarily.  I suspect it's about reducing the incentives for schools to switch conferences (which might increase travel costs etc) because of concerns about college closures or moves leaving schools in conferences with below the minimum number of schools to receive an automatic bid.  They also suggested investigating the NPI and its effect on conference movement (and presumably on scheduling expensive non-conference games to make up for weak conference NPI scores).

The only solution to these problems is to let more teams in the playoffs.  Every team will try to help themselves with scheduling and conference alignment.  Look at Lake Forest a few years ago.  That's the goal of many teams, just do enough to get the best results.  I figure this is going to be called the UMHB rule.

There are probably some incremental moves that they could contemplate, such as providing even more flexibility for conferences that dip below the minimum numbers to avoid schools moving in anticipation of a crisis. They could also limit numbers per conference just as easily as increasing them, which makes moving to the conference that regularly gets a bunch of slots less attractive. This is all very speculative, though, because the report doesn't even fully articulate the issue they are seeking to address.

Quote from: AndrewB on June 26, 2026, 07:16:00 PMAnd about the automatic bids.
Keep them the way they are now.
Reward the small conference's in D3. A team like Lakeland WI, will Never win the D3 championship.  But It can win it's conference.  Just like in basketball, let them enjoy and be part of the playoffs.  My grip is 8 more teams should be added.
Protect the top 16 from Playing in the first round. Have 16 games week 1 (17-48), and 16 games week 2. 
 

I may be wrong, but I don't think the issue was on the agenda for the point of eliminating them necessarily.  I suspect it's about reducing the incentives for schools to switch conferences (which might increase travel costs etc) because of concerns about college closures or moves leaving schools in conferences with below the minimum number of schools to receive an automatic bid.  They also suggested investigating the NPI and its effect on conference movement (and presumably on scheduling expensive non-conference games to make up for weak conference NPI scores).

Nate Bell, the CUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2025 at Brooklyn College, leaves for DI Long Island University

QuoteNate Bell has been named Long Island University's new Head Men's Soccer Coach, Director of Athletics Elliott Charles announced Thursday.

"Coach Bell emerged as the best candidate to continue our rich legacy of LIU men's soccer and he is committed to the growth of our soccer brand on Long Island and throughout the metropolitan area.  We are excited to have him back as we push to greater heights," Charles said.

This marks a return to LIU's men's soccer for Bell, who served as lead assistant in Brooklyn for LIU's DI men's soccer program from 2014-17. The coach's first LIU tenure was highlighted by an NEC Title (and subsequent NCAA Tournament appearance) in 2015. Bell also went on to help ten student-athletes earn end-of-season awards and/or All-Conference selections 

Most recently, Bell was head men's soccer coach at Brooklyn College, where he won CUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2025 after leading the team to its first regular season title in 44 years (with a 10-6-1 record) while recruiting and coaching the CUNYAC Player and Rookie of the Year.

Additionally, Bell is the Founder and President of Brooklyn United Academy, one of the largest and highest-level youth soccer programs in the Northeast. The program, which competes in MLSNext, now boasts over 3,000 players after beginning with just seven in 2012.

The veteran coach has also worked in the New York Red Bulls youth academy and has lived and coached in the academy of Dinamo Zagreb. As a player, Bell previously suited up for NK Maksimir, Croatia's third division. 

"It is an honor to become the next head coach of the Sharks," Coach Bell said. "I want to thank President Cline and Elliott Charles for entrusting me with the leadership of this historic program. LIU has a rich soccer tradition and alumni who have made lasting impacts in the sport and in their industries." He added, "I am proud to follow in the footsteps of the many great coaches who built this program's tradition and am committed to honoring that legacy while building toward the highest level this program has ever reached."

With a M.S. in Sports Psychology and a B.A. in Creative Writing, both from Ithaca College, Bell has taught graduate Sports Psychology classes at LIU.

Regarding the 5 year proposal adopted by DI, it might be interesting to note that the possibility of DIII adopting the 5 year model is on the agenda for the NCAA's Division III Analysis Working Group 

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/committees/d3/workgrps/awg/Jun2026D3AWG_Report.pdf

QuoteDuring future meetings, the working group will further discuss this case study as well as
develop case studies for the following fundamental change concepts:
• Five-year (age-based) eligibility adoption – evaluate existing Division III eligibility
rules and proposed changes across other divisions. Use data to understand
eligibility trends (e.g., how many Division III student-athletes are using a fifth year,
credits students are coming into the division with, graduate programs, retention
rates, etc.), and pressure test against the division's philosophy

QuoteStudent-Athlete Eligibility Data
& Trend Report
Conduct a student-eligibility data report
(tracking attrition, retention, graduation
timing, waiver volume, and credit-withholding
prevalence) and produce a trend report to
inform future eligibility policy decisions —
including any reconsideration of the four-year
framework or competition trigger standard.

QuoteConsider New Standards /
Re-Evaluate Competition Trigger
Evaluate moving from 4 seasons in 10
semesters to a 5-year framework, and
separately reopen whether competition
(not practice) should trigger the eligibility
clock

Another item on the agenda that could be of interest is rethinking the the automatic qualification process and how it might be perversely affecting conference affiliations and travel/expenses:

QuoteRethink championships automatic qualification – address unintended conference
behavior driven by AQ requirements. Preserve championship access by identifying
opportunities for stability and cost savings to reshape conference realignments
decisions for AQ access that may result in inefficient, unstable membership
outcomes. 

George Fox

I'm not sure whether it is the wonky calendar this year because Labor Day is later in September and there is less preseason time, but I'm seeing some schools reduce their non-conference schedules.  George Fox has scheduled two scrimmages and then only two non-conference games, compared with four last season.  They are traveling this year, however, which may account for the reduction, although they traveled to Boston two years ago to play Emmanuel and Emerson and still played two more non-conference games at home.  This year, they are going down to SoCal to play at La Verne and Cal Tech.  This is the second time in three years they have played at La Verne without La Verne returning the favor.  George Fox did win that game, though, so they may like playing there.  In NWC play, the last 9 games of their season will be played in Oregon.  If they come out of the first half of the NWC season in the upper half of the standings (admittedly a long shot given that the team was 3-8-5 in the NWC last season and loses most of its regular starters), that could be a big advantage to have gotten major travel games out of the way already.

Christopher Newport

CNU's schedule is always fun because it is basically entirely non-conference games. Although they play most of their C2C conference opponents during the regular season, the conference technically only has a conference tournament in which games count for NCAA tournament bid purposes.  This year, they drop Merchant Marines, Redlands, Trinity, and Hardin-Simmons in favor of Moravian, Kean, Mount Union, @Montclair State, and @Methodist.  They also continue to play Dickinson and Washington & Lee, as well as C2C foe Mary Washington.

Emory

Emory follows up a 16-2-4 season and Final Four appearance with some non-conference travel after staying close to home for all but two of their non-conference games in 2025.  They open with a trip to Sewanee, play Belhaven and Brevard at its Sonny Carter classic and then travels to Southern California to play Redlands and Cal Lutheran.  It rounds out non-conference play with Pfeiffer, McMurray, and Berry at home, before playing Huntingdon away, Piedmont at home, and Covenant away.