FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

Where is my favorite troll, Scoops? Miss you too, Charlie. Great season by the Cards, first ever back to back and last time beat the Bants back to back was 97 and 98. The Whalen and Dice project is continuing to make progress.
OPOY has to be FitzSIMONS (not Simmons)
DPOY should be Dylan Connors
ROY has to be D Kelly
Apologies for my absence this season

Totally agree with you on Fitzsimons and Kelly.... DPOY will be very interesting, as I feel like there a number of strong candidates throughout the league including 3 from the CBB: McNamara on Colby, Rozich on Bates, and Leary on Bowdoin
 

Tough to give DPOTY to players that played on second division teams on defenses that were "MEH" at best...all of those mentioned had nice years and should be 1st Team All-NESCAC, but DPOTY...nope. We will soon post our definitive view on all of the NESCAC award winners...stay tuned.

[Nescacman]

Haven't seen the Battle of the Birds tape yet but very impressed with the Wes ground game and the performance of Angelo LaRose. Wes seemed to be a ground attack "by committee" during the year but LaRose really stepped it up in huge game. Can't remember many times over the years when anyone ran the ball like that against Trinity. Very surprising.
Another thing that jumped out to me was the fact that Wes was able to contain O'Brien who I consider the most explosive, dangerous player in the league. If he was at full strength the Cards did a great job containing him.
Looks like the Dante Kelly was the best receiver on the field on Saturday. He is destined to be in O'Briens class in terms of explosiveness if he is not at that level now. He's going to be a huge headache for opponents for the next 3 years.

Obrien was hurt most of the year and throughout his career in the NESCAC. Dante is the best WR I have seen in the NESCAC despite his size. I even think he would be faster on a real turf field instead of that Mud pit Wesleyan plays on.

I am surprised why the NESCAC has not come down on Wesleyan if they continue on playing football there they have to fix that field more like a used polo grounds then a football field. A great venue to watch a game but the field needs a great deal of work.

Wesleyan did a great job against Trinity nice game plan they had and Trinity despite making the adjustments at halftime seemed to be in a fog all game. The game resembled a lot of the Trinity Colby game bizarre play calling on offense. On defense Trinity tried stunting a great deal which was not working out due to the field conditions and Trinity had a great deal of Blown assignments missed tackles very uncharacteristic of them. I am taking nothing away from Wesleyan I tip my hat to them great performance and coaching and they deserved to win.

Hey Chuck, Andrus Field is the oldest/longest continuously used college football field in the country. It's not going anywhere and Wesleyan will NEVER permanently play anywhere else. With that being said, plans are in place to totally redo the playing surface prior to the 2026 season. Stay tuned on that. It is (by far) the best home venue and game day experience in the NESCAC hands down. It's why Wesleyan leads the NESCAC in home attendance every year.

NM

[Nescacman]

2025 NESCACMAN Week 9 Power Rankings

Welcome to the Week #9 (Final) Power Rankings for November 8, 2025.

NESCACMAN went 4-1 last Saturday calling every game correctly except for the UBates loss to Hamilton.

Congratulations to the back-to-back NESCAC Champion Wesleyan Cardinals who defeated runner-up Hartford State 31-28 in the NESCAC Championship Game in Middletown. For the second straight year, Wesleyan came in as underdogs and beat Hartford State. Wesleyan moves into the #1 spot in our rankings in the final week of the season. For the record, we almost exactly predicted the game score (our prediction: 30-27 Wesleyan) and the Wes win.

This is our last ranking of 2025. Here are our NESCAC headlines for 2025:

- Wesleyan wins their second consecutive NESCAC title and their 4th consecutive Little 3 Championship.
- Colby has their first winning season and best record since 2005 garnering 3rd place in the NESCAC with a 6-3 record.
- Hartford State loses on opening day to Colby and the last day of the season to Wesleyan ending their year with a disappointing 7-2 season.
- 2025 was the year of new QBs in the NESCAC. Several stepped up (Fitzsimons, Carroll, Hill, Weidman) while some struggled.
- Amherst has their first winning season since 2021 and comes in 2nd place in the Little 3.
- Ravaged by injuries (again), Williams loses their last 3 games to end the season at 5-4 and a share of 4th place in the NESCAC.
- Middlebury wins their last 3 games to get north of .500 for the year.
- Despite high expectations, UBates, riddled with injuries, loses their last 4 games (including 3 of those loses by a TD or less) to finish the year at 2-7 equaling their 2024 record. Will be interesting to see if they take the leap in 2026 when they get their guys back.

We also co-host "Nine Weeks: A NESCAC Football Podcast" along with Chris Grace, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Wesleyan Football Cardinals. Available weekly, the podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts including YouTube, Spotify, and Apple. Please follow us and take a listen. Season 2, Episode 9  is available now featuring Trinity Bantam Head Coach Jeff Devanney and Middlebury Panther RB Connor McClelland.  Season 2, Episode 10 will be available soon and will feature two more amazing guests, Wesleyan Cardinal Head Coach Dan DiCennzo and Wesleyan Cardinal RB Angelo LaRose. Should be another great watch/listen. We encourage you to check it out.

Here are our final 2025 rankings:

1). Wesleyan Cardinals (Record: 7-2; Last Week Rank: 2; 10 first place votes; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 6-3): So much for a rebuilding season for the Cardinals. Wesleyan beats Hartford State for the second straight year to capture their first back-to-back NESCAC titles in the program's long history. It was the first time they have beaten Hartford State in back-to back games since 1997 and 1998 and the first win in Middletown since 2014. A few highlights from this game: 1). Wesleyan, who came in the game near the bottom of the NESCAC rankings in rushing yards, ran for 215 yards on Hartford State (on 41 attempts). 2). Angelo DeRose ran for 218 yards, a TD, and was selected as the NESCAC OPOTW. 3). Wesleyan outgained Hartford State 493 to 292. 4). Wesleyan had an edge in time of possession 37 mins to 23 mins. 5). Wesleyan had 3 sacks against the Bants and 8 QB hurries. 6). Wesleyan held Hartford State to 37 yards rushing on 19 attempts.  7). Bantams' receiver Nolan O'Brien was held to 3 catches for 28 yards (and 2 punt returns for 8 yards). 8). HS QB Jaxon Carroll less than 50% of his passes. Wesleyan should be in the mix for a three-peat in 2026 with many key, returning starters including NESCAC OPOTY candidate Matt Fitzsimons and NESCAC ROTY candidate Dante Kelly leading the charge.

2). Hartford State Bantams (Record: 7-2; Last Week Rank: 1; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 7-2): [/b]There is a high bar for success in South Hartford and bracketing the season with an opening day loss at Colby and an end of season loss at Wesleyan cannot feel good for Hartford State. Yes, the Bants were 7-2 and yes, "technically" they are considered NESCAC co-champions by the "participation trophy" powers that be in NESCAC Conference HQ, but as Coach Devanney said on our podcast, you don't get rings for a tie and losing to the team you tied with. They tried to avenge their 2024 loss in the Coop to the Cards and failed. Something tells us they will be back with a vengeance in 2026 (more on that in a future Blog).

3). Colby Mules (Record: 6-3; Last Week Rank: 4; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 record: 4-5): Congratulations to the Colby Mules on not only achieving their first winning season since 2005 but also finishing 3rd in the NESCAC and winning the coveted C-B-B title. Colby's formula all year was to play solid defense, play error free football, try to control the clock on offense and limit penalties. That formula was in play for Colby in their finale win against the Kitties which was their 4th win in a row. Interestingly, Colby had 16 TDs on the season of which only 13 were offensive TDs (10 rushing, 3 passing) in 9 games. However, their defense led the NESCAC in scoring defense.

4). Amherst Lord Mammoths (Record: 5-4; Last Week Rank: 5; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 2-7): Congratulations to the Amherst Lord Mammoths on their 2nd place finish in the Little 3. They clinched runner-up status with a thrilling win at home in Amherst. With that win, they finished above .500 for the first time since 2021. The main driver in their 2025 improvement was the continued high-level play of their defense and the development of QB Marek Hill.

5). Williams Ephs (Record: 5-4; Last Week Rank: 3; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 5-4): The last two games of the 2025 season will be remembered in Williamstown for a very long time. Two weeks ago, they lost to Wesleyan in OT and this past Saturday, they lost on what could have been a four-point swing on a "pick 2" interception by the Lord Mammoths that set-up the game winning field goal. Injuries were the headline story for Williams all year, the last game being no exception. They will have to figure that out if they expect to improve in 2026.

6). Middlebury (Record: 5-4; Last Week Rank: 6; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 7-2): Middlebury wins their last 3 games to finish over .500 for the year. Anytime you finish 5-4 in Middlebury, it is a disappointing season. This was their worst season since they finished 3-6 in 2021. Next year, they will try to get back into the mix for a NESCAC title with a new signal caller as they lose QB Brian Moran to graduation.

7). Tufts Jumbo's (Record: 4-5; Last Week Rank: 7; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 5-4): Tufts loses to Middlebury and ends 2025 with a losing season. One of the most head scratching seasons for any NESCAC team in recent memory. They start out 2-0, including a win against league champ Wesleyan. Then they lose 3 in a row. Then they win 2 in a row. Finally, they lose their last 2 including a blow-out to Colby (giving up 33 points to the anemic Colby Mule offense) and lose in OT to Middlebury in week #9.

8). Hamilton Continentals (Record: 2-7; Last Week Rank: 10; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 1-8): Win in week #9 gives the Conts 2 wins and marginal improvement in 2025. With Luke Kurzum returning at QB, there is some hope in Clinton for 2026.

9). Bowdoin Polar Bears (Record: 2-7; Last Week Rank: 10; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 record: 3-6): Worst year for the Polars since 2021. Played a lot of young players so they will be looking to improve in 2026.

10). University of Bates Bobcats (Record: 2-7; Last Week Rank: 9; NESCACMAN Predicted 2025 Record: 5-4): Very disappointing season for the Kitties as they equaled their win total from 2024. They will be looking to dramatically improve in 2026 when they get their guys back.

2025 Week8 NESCACMAN Offensive Player of the Week: RB Angelo LaRose, Wesleyan

2025 Week8 NESCACMAN Defensive Player of the Week: DL Dean Sokaris, Wesleyan

2025 Week8 NESCACMAN Special Teams Player of the Week: K Hudson Felcher-Melendy, Amherst

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2025 Week8 NESCACMAN Offensive Player of the Year: Should Win: QB Matt Fitzsimons, Wesleyan; Will Win: QB Matt Fitzsimons, Wesleyan

2025 Week8 NESCACMAN Defensive Player of the Year: Should Win: DB Dylan Connors, Wesleyan; Will Win: DB Dylan Connors, Wesleyan

2025 Week8 NESCACMAN Rookie of the Year: Should Win: WR Donte Kelly, Wesleyan; Will Win: WR Dante Kelly, Wesleyan

2025 Week8 NESCACMAN Coaching Staff of the Year: Should Win: Wesleyan (Dan DiCenzo); Will Win: Colby (Jack Cosgrove)

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**********

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[Charlie]

Haven't seen the Battle of the Birds tape yet but very impressed with the Wes ground game and the performance of Angelo LaRose. Wes seemed to be a ground attack "by committee" during the year but LaRose really stepped it up in huge game. Can't remember many times over the years when anyone ran the ball like that against Trinity. Very surprising.
Another thing that jumped out to me was the fact that Wes was able to contain O'Brien who I consider the most explosive, dangerous player in the league. If he was at full strength the Cards did a great job containing him.
Looks like the Dante Kelly was the best receiver on the field on Saturday. He is destined to be in O'Briens class in terms of explosiveness if he is not at that level now. He's going to be a huge headache for opponents for the next 3 years.

Obrien was hurt most of the year and throughout his career in the NESCAC. Dante is the best WR I have seen in the NESCAC despite his size. I even think he would be faster on a real turf field instead of that Mud pit Wesleyan plays on.

I am surprised why the NESCAC has not come down on Wesleyan if they continue on playing football there they have to fix that field more like a used polo grounds then a football field. A great venue to watch a game but the field needs a great deal of work.

Wesleyan did a great job against Trinity nice game plan they had and Trinity despite making the adjustments at halftime seemed to be in a fog all game. The game resembled a lot of the Trinity Colby game bizarre play calling on offense. On defense Trinity tried stunting a great deal which was not working out due to the field conditions and Trinity had a great deal of Blown assignments missed tackles very uncharacteristic of them. I am taking nothing away from Wesleyan I tip my hat to them great performance and coaching and they deserved to win.

Hey Chuck, Andrus Field is the oldest/longest continuously used college football field in the country. It's not going anywhere and Wesleyan will NEVER permanently play anywhere else. With that being said, plans are in place to totally redo the playing surface prior to the 2026 season. Stay tuned on that. It is (by far) the best home venue and game day experience in the NESCAC hands down. It's why Wesleyan leads the NESCAC in home attendance every year.

NM

Again I was merely saying the field itself is terrible. I am taking nothing against the fan base , viewing of game etc. I just think NESCAC or the NCAA need to make the playing surface up to football standards so players safety is not jeopardized. I think the tailgate is great and the games are exciting just need to fix the field and while they are at it the locker room situation heard teams are having to get ready in a bunker from the 70's.

[lumbercat]

Unquestionably a great Football venue at Andrus. Part of the issue is that the football field is part of the Baseball field in the spring.
Why not Turf the whole thing? It would be a very large Turf project but maybe makes sense in the long run.

[Charlie]

I agree on turfing the area. he venue is great to watch games and is great atmosphere.

I would have to say while giving out awards as much as I would love to give Coaching accolades to Wesleyan my choice would be Amherst.

Let's face facts nobody predicted they would play as tough as they did , compete and be a couple losses away from being considered into championship talks. I will grant you that they loss to Bates and Colby. However they played Trinity & Wesleyan tough and beat Williams. I know tough to give out awards for a team that went 5-4 at least most improved team by far in the NESCAC.

One interesting tidbit here. Has anyone else looked back at Trinity. I will even go as far as the Fetter era. If you look at schedule every game that has championship or first place implications on the line they have lost.

2023 Lost To Middlbury last seconds to get C0 Champs
2024 Lost To Wesleyan final Game for Championship
2025 Lost to Wesleyan C0-Champs

All of these were not Stella performances by Trinity on the field and in Coaching. I am just saying that it appears the Coaching staff will have to look at themselves , personal and game plan and figure out why they freeze up and not play up to their standards in big games. I am just saying looks to be a pattern. Do not get me wrong Trinity has incredible winning percentage played some tough teams and have won many titles it just so happens they are on this streak of loosing in big games.

[lumbercat]

Charlie-

On the coaching front Mills is the best coach in the conference hands down in my opinion.
However Dice at Wes did a pretty darn good job this year and capped it off with a monumental win against Trinity in a huge game.

You point out that Devanney has come up short in "big" games but you're not going to win all of those games with the whole conference gunning for you. Still a lot of rings on Bantam fingers.

Conversely, Dice has a pattern of surprising losses in "small" games. Losses to Bowdoin and Bates in recent years.

Interesting contrast between 2 fine coaches.

I think we will see more of this pattern of parity in the conference for the foreseeable future though I believe a bitter loss like this for Trinity will probably bring something in the way of  remedial measures.  They may look to elevate their arsenal even further. This would be bad news for programs in the conference striving to reach that Championship level.

[Charlie]

Charlie-

On the coaching front Mills is the best coach in the conference hands down in my opinion.
However Dice at Wes did a pretty darn good job this year and capped it off with a monumental win against Trinity in a huge game.

You point out that Devanney has come up short in "big" games but you're going to win all of those games with the whole conference gunning for you. Still a lot of rings on Bantam fingers.

Conversely, Dice has a pattern of surprising losses in "small" games. Losses to Bowdoin and Bates in recent years.

Interesting contrast between 2 fine coaches.

I think we will see more of this pattern of parity in the conference for the foreseeable future though I believe a bitter loss like this for Trinity will probably bring something in the way of  remedial measures.  They may look to elevate their arsenal even further. This would be bad news for programs in the conference striving to reach that Championship level.

Well Trinity will be without O'Brien next year at WR he is supposedly entering the transfer portal. While I think this is a loss for Trinity and that he was a good player I think Trinity excelled this year by having multiple WR & TE players involved in offense. I think they had a more balanced attack this year. While O'brien was instrumental to the team his production significantly tapered off the last four games of the year. Unfortunately O'brien had an overall injury plagued career. Not sure what interest there will be with only one year eligibility. I have to say I dont think this was best move for him he is not as dynamic as Tomlinson or Lutz was and I think both had two years eligibility when they entered versus one year. I think Trinity will be able to move on but should make for great conversation this off season.

[Trin9-0]

Count me firmly in the NEVER turf Andrus camp. The grass surface and not having track between the field and the stands is part of what makes for such a unique venue in the league. If they can improve the actual playing surface, as Nescacman alluded to, then that's the best of both worlds. It was always my favorite road game venue as a player and from a safety standpoint it's been proven that natural grass is far superior to artificial turf.


Also, I realize it's pile on Trinity time but I'm zero percent worried that somehow Devanney and his staff have suddenly forgotten how to win big games.

Did their win over league runner-up Middlebury in 2022 not count as a big win? How about beating league runner-up Amherst in 2018 or their win over over league runner-up Middlebury in 2017, or their win over league runner-up Tufts in 2016? They also beat the league runner-up Middlebury in 2012 and Williams in 2008. And those are just their wins against the eventual 2nd place team. There are obviously other "big games" that take place throughout each season. Yes, they've come up just short recently (missing out on an outright title by an average of 6 points in those deciding games) but they're still winning enough every year to be in the games where everything is on the line and they've won more of those than they've lost.

In my opinion, the difference the past few years is the leveling of the talent in the NESCAC. Across the league, and at Wesleyan in particular, the high-end talent has risen substantially in recent seasons. In most years Trinity has been considerably bigger and more athletic than almost everyone they played. That certainly wasn't the case on Saturday. And while the Bants are in no way devoid of talent I think you could argue that (especially given their injuries) Devanney actually did more with less than Wesleyan this season.

The Cardinals were every bit as physical as the Bantams up front (if not more so) they had better QB play and had more dangerous receiving options to go along with a fast/physical defense. Yet somehow, as Lumber noted, Wes still had their annual shocking loss to a team at the very bottom of the league and actually had two losses this year against teams with losing records.

Trinity has lost to a team with a losing record just once in the past 26 years(!), a 6 point season opening loss at Tufts who finished 4-5 in 2019. Now, before you come at me with pitchforks... of course I would rather suffer a loss to a bad team and then win the head-to-head with an outright title on the line. My point is that Trinity no longer has a significant talent advantage against the other top teams in the league and that, much more than coaching, is why they've had to share the league title in two of the past three seasons rather than celebrating their fourth consecutive outright championship.

[The #802]

The 2026 NESCAC football schedule is posted:
https://nescac.com/calendar.aspx?path=football&start=9/19/2026&end=11/14/2026

It appears they are starting the season one week later. The first game is not until 9/19. I'm curious how this will impact preseason report dates, which were already late. I also would have thought the NESCAC champion would have appreciated a bye week to get healthy before the playoffs.

This schedule would easily allow a non-conference game at the front end of the season, but it sounds like there is no traction there. Curious what others think.

[muleshoe]

The 2026 NESCAC football schedule is posted:
https://nescac.com/calendar.aspx?path=football&start=9/19/2026&end=11/14/2026

It appears they are starting the season one week later. The first game is not until 9/19. I'm curious how this will impact preseason report dates, which were already late. I also would have thought the NESCAC champion would have appreciated a bye week to get healthy before the playoffs.

This schedule would easily allow a non-conference game at the front end of the season, but it sounds like there is no traction there. Curious what others think.

Guessing this is due to the timing of Labor Day next year, which is later than normal.

Interestingly - it looks like the Colby-Bates game has moved back to its customary spot on the final Saturday of October. I'm happy to see this change - I always loved the CBB (like the Little 3) being decided in the final weeks of the season.

[Pat Coleman]

The 2026 NESCAC football schedule is posted:
https://nescac.com/calendar.aspx?path=football&start=9/19/2026&end=11/14/2026

It appears they are starting the season one week later. The first game is not until 9/19. I'm curious how this will impact preseason report dates, which were already late. I also would have thought the NESCAC champion would have appreciated a bye week to get healthy before the playoffs.

This schedule would easily allow a non-conference game at the front end of the season, but it sounds like there is no traction there. Curious what others think.

I'm sorry, the NESCAC presidents won't allow you to even ask for a non-conference game for 10 years. Thanks for (not) playing.

60% of the Division III playoff teams get a first-round bye, and an unbeaten or 1-loss NESCAC team would often be among that 60%. A bye at the end of the season might well mean two weeks off in a row for the NESCAC playoff entrant(s) and that might not be welcome.

[Nescacman]

Count me firmly in the NEVER turf Andrus camp. The grass surface and not having track between the field and the stands is part of what makes for such a unique venue in the league. If they can improve the actual playing surface, as Nescacman alluded to, then that's the best of both worlds. It was always my favorite road game venue as a player and from a safety standpoint it's been proven that natural grass is far superior to artificial turf.

Not only will Wesleyan NEVER move from Andrus Field (at least not in our lifetime), they will NEVER "turf" the venue. Natural playing surface, fortunately, is here to stay (new and improved for 2026).

NM