With the departure of Ray Cuevas, 2026-2027 could be a tough year for the polar bears. Losing Cuevas definitely hurts but the offense was almost too reliant on Cuevas and his ability to create his own shot. As an outsider, the Polar bears offense seems to rely on isolation play more than any other team in the CAC and I can't say the results of this have paid off for the bears. 

The Polar bears haven't gone above .500 in conference play since 2014-15. The Alex Lloyd regime change has certainly been a breath of fresh air and the recruiting seems to be a strong point for the bears (though I don't think you can count on getting a Ray Cuevas caliber talent every year and talent retention remains a struggle... what happened to Natrell Allen???) 

I expect big things from rising Sophomore Mason Dawkins who has impressed with his defensive prowess and ELITE athleticism. A sizeable jump in his jumpshooting ability could put Dawkins in serious consideration for player of the year. I remain optimistic that the offense will look different (better) next year and that we will see a Bowdoin team without major injuries for the first time in what feels like forever.

Way too early 2026-2027 Record Prediction: 13-12 overall (4-6 in conference play with wins over Colby, Bates, Conn, and Hamilton)

Well placed moles in Brunswick Maine continue to rave about the potential of Bowdoin Sophomore Ray Cuevas.

Will be interesting to see how he fairs as the focal point of this year's team. Feels like this Bowdoin offense has been fairly stale the last couple of seasons.

IMHO - it as though isolation focused offense has led to struggles for guys stepping into primary scoring roles (I.e. McGowan avging 18 as a sophomore and 11 as a junior).

Regardless, very excited about what the boys are building up north. Lloyd continues to recruit long, tall, wings with a nice blend of athleticism and ability to make plays from the wing.

Think this team surprises some people with their ability to defend, especially if they decided to switch ball screens versus their typical drop coverage.

Winter is coming and don't expect to get any easy wins nor buckets if you're visiting the igloo in 2025/2026.

Cheers.

I agree with you nescac1. i should have included them in the 5-9 range where it's hard to project just where any of those teams will fall. My tentativeness with the mammoths may also be biased by the recent success of young bigs across the nescac. For the last couple of years we've been spoiled with young bigs coming in and being dominant right away (I.e. Rogers, Karen, etc.). While Amherst's young bigs have had their share of good games, I'm just not sure who takes the jump this year, especially given the rotations Sears ran last year. Felt like every big fella got decent minutes but enough to dominate. I agree with you Amherst certainly has top 3 size in the Nescac but let's not conflate size with skill. All in all a very interesting season ahead for the whole league.

Way too early prediction of NESCAC Final standings:

1. Williams - too much continuity year to year to see any real fall off. Williams remains loaded with size and skill thag I'm not sure any other team can match.
2. Middlebury - talented core stays intact minus Sobel. Think Sam has a bounce back year and underclassmen bigs seem ready to go.
3. Trinity - really like the core group of guys Trinity has and freshman class looks very good. BCG set for a massive year .
4. Hamilton - lost a number of senior players this year. Wouldn't be surprised if they finish even higher behind Singh & co.
5. Tufts - Tufts keeps a number of important pieces but loses big pieces in Aronson and Thoerner. Really could've put team 5-8 in any order. Not sure how it'll play out with these 4 teams.
6. Bowdoin - Think the polar bears make a big jump year 3 under Lloyd. As mentioned in other posts, the team success is dependent on a healthy McGowan but have brought in a talented frosh class.
7. Wesleyan - Wes is the big question mark for me. Had a really successful year last year and are very well coached but I just don't have a sense for who replaces maccoux, ravetz, etc.
8. Conn - While conn didn't lose a lot this off-season, the camels remain on the smaller side and haven't seen too many underclassmen ready to contribute
9. Amherst - still not sure what to make of the mammoths recruiting strategy. Really tall bugs and short guards. Won't be shocked to see them surprise people but I'll have to see it to believe it .
10. Colby - Another roster that lost a lot of seniors this year. Will be interesting to see how it shakes out for them
11. Bates - Baxterless bates seems like they may be in for a tough year

To echo nescac31hoops, I expect the polar bears to be in rare form next year. The size and length of the young bears in Brunswick is nothing to overlook. Couple that with the fact that well placed moles in Brunswick, Maine are telling me that McGowan has only gotten better since his foot injury last season... could be scary for opposing teams to enter the igloo next season