Quote from: Kuiper on July 01, 2026, 12:47:39 AMMexico 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

Colorado College has signs that read "Where the air is rare"

The SCIAC and NWC are islands of schools that are very diverse.  It works for them.

Quote from: Kuiper on June 21, 2026, 02:00:49 PMThis feels like the next evolution of transfers, from grad, medical redshirt, and Covid transfers to transfers of proven players with lots of years left instead of relying upon unproven freshman.  The reason I mention it in this thread is that it might represent a more national trend, at least with some of the more attractive soccer/academic schools where they accept transfers, of the squeezing of DI rosters.  Middling D1 players and strong D3 players all enter the portal to move up and both may be finding that their best option is a better (academic/soccer/location) D3.  I'll be interested to see if other transfer-friendly schools like Johns Hopkins are doing the same thing.

In basketball,  Caltech had a freshman SCIAC Newcomer of the year transfer to Penn.

Oxy had two star players transfer to NYU and Johns Hopkins.

Quote from: Ralph Turner on June 17, 2026, 05:03:55 PMI saw this and thought...

Dorian Glogovac, CalTech (three years) to Penn.

Is he transferring to the basketball team or to the Wharton School of Business?

Probably both.  He was Newcomer of the year for the SCIAC.

A large list of D3 to D3 transfers listed on one of the basketball boards.

Quote from: olddog on June 01, 2026, 11:46:40 AMGo Dogs ....

Congratulation ladies.  National champs.

Quote from: Ralph Turner on June 03, 2026, 12:02:32 AMA tribute to a Schreiner former player (1950)...

I once heard the story that Ray Berry was catching practice balls out on the field. As he ran his routes, the sideline was not located correctly. Berry was right! The groundskeeper had to re-line the sideline. Berry was that precise in running his routes.

Raymond Berry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gt9MK-CsOA

Raymond not Ray

I didn't realized he recently passed.

https://mascac.prestosports.com/news/2025-26_News/Castleton_Release

This info was posted by Kuiper on the soccer boards.

The USA team has been announced for the WC.
Any comments on it or the WC in general.

And Linfield will never let you forget their "STREAK".  

There is even NIL at the high school level.

I'm not looking forward to an AI prostate exam.

Quote from: Ralph Turner on May 09, 2026, 08:06:35 PM

Quote from: Gray Fox on May 09, 2026, 05:58:46 PMA little SCIAC trivia.  The games this weekend are being played at Azusa Pacific. They will not be a SCIAC member until 2026-2027.

A little bit of good will from Azusa to their future conference.
Gray Fox, is it an above average venue for the SCIAC?

I would assume so since they have been playing at D2 level.

A little SCIAC trivia.  The games this weekend are being played at Azusa Pacific. They will not be a SCIAC member until 2026-2027.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 01, 2026, 01:41:15 PM

Quote from: jknezek on May 01, 2026, 10:43:01 AMLook, JHU is not a "peer institution" for the CC. That doesn't mean they don't belong in DIII, it just means it can feel a little unfair to those other institutions. But that's a conference decision, and I suspect the Presidents in the CC like being under the halo of being spoken of in the same breath as JHU, even if it is in sports and not medical research.

This halo effect works in reverse situations as well. Look no further than Caltech, which for decades has been dragged around like an anchor by the rest of the SCIAC, competitively speaking, because the cachet of sharing a conference with one of the most distinguished and prestigious research institutions on the entire planet was important enough for the rest of the SCIAC schools to retain the membership of an opponent that they beat like a rug in almost every sport year after year after year. To a lesser degree this halo effect characterized Macalester's relationship to the rest of the MIAC for many years as well, especially with regard to football.

It's common for current students to be somewhat myopic to the big-picture relationships that schools have with each other. There's certainly more to how schools relate to other institutions, both within and outside of conferences, than scoreboards and standings.

The SCIAC is on an island, and Caltech was an early member.  The admissions process required the professors to approve the students directly.  Maybe THAT was the reverse halo effect you mention.  They changed this a few years ago and actually encourage team membership (varsity or intramural) because that is part of the world they will work in.  The coaches now have some input. They still have trouble in some sports.  Everybody has trouble with pitchers.
I remember the national NPR news when they beat Oxy in basketball after years without a SCIAC win.

In the past there was a lot a bad vibes on the SCIAC basketball board about Caltech because some of the posters think D3 is all about winning.