FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Patrick Coleman]

Looking at the NPIs, I think if Nescac has two teams with one or fewer losses, it seems very likely to get both in the tourney. In the highly unlikely scenario of three one loss teams, all could get in.

That's what I've said all along, including on 9 Weeks last week.

[CarollFan]

1st NCAA National NPI Ranking is out:

https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/53089

Nice to see NESCAC well represented in the Top 50 and Top 25. Obviously, this is important for a potential at-large NESCAC team to make the play-offs, in addition to our AQ.

If you click the teams ranking you'll actually see the games currently being used to calculate a teams NPI.

[nescac1]

Some early thoughts on POTY possibilities:

OPOTY is easy/obvious: 1. Matt Fitzsimons, 2. Jaxon Carroll, 3. Marek Hill, 4. Luke Kurzum.  Great year for QB play at the top of the league, with Fitzsimons certainly the frontrunner as he has really been lighting it up so far (77 percent of passes completed through four games is insane), but it will come down to the games at the end of the season.   

DPOTY is much harder.  Some candidates I'd include: Angus Leary, Tommy Kilroy, Will Baker, Will Gale, Luke Pickard, and Matt Shaw, but no obvious frontrunner. 

Players on the watch list for ROTY: Jack Fabiano (hopefully he is not seriously hurt), Ace Etienne, Ryan Foley, Drew Weiler, and Nathan Rivera.

Speaking of Rivera, he was I think originally committed to Williams and then switched to Trinity, tough loss for the Ephs given that he is the rare FY starter for a loaded Trinity team.   It's pretty rare for an OL to receive a league-wide honor (I mean Thomas Perry never won POTY even if he was clearly the best player in the league) but this is the type of situation where it may actually happen. 

[lumbercat]

N1-

For DPOTY consideration you make no mention of Liam Keaney of Bates. For my money he's a strong candidate.

NESCAC leader in 3 categories:
#1 in Solo Tackles
#1 in Sacks
#1 (tied) in TFL
He has been all over the field for Bates.

Also, despite missing time due to injury, LB Ryan Rozich is always a force and a perennial all NESCAC player who deserves consideration as well.

Just wanted throw these guys in the mix.

[Trin9-0]

Some early thoughts on POTY possibilities:

OPOTY is easy/obvious: 1. Matt Fitzsimons, 2. Jaxon Carroll, 3. Marek Hill, 4. Luke Kurzum.  Great year for QB play at the top of the league, with Fitzsimons certainly the frontrunner as he has really been lighting it up so far (77 percent of passes completed through four games is insane), but it will come down to the games at the end of the season. 

DPOTY is much harder.  Some candidates I'd include: Angus Leary, Tommy Kilroy, Will Baker, Will Gale, Luke Pickard, and Matt Shaw, but no obvious frontrunner. 

Players on the watch list for ROTY: Jack Fabiano (hopefully he is not seriously hurt), Ace Etienne, Ryan Foley, Drew Weiler, and Nathan Rivera.

Speaking of Rivera, he was I think originally committed to Williams and then switched to Trinity, tough loss for the Ephs given that he is the rare FY starter for a loaded Trinity team.  It's pretty rare for an OL to receive a league-wide honor (I mean Thomas Perry never won POTY even if he was clearly the best player in the league) but this is the type of situation where it may actually happen. 

I'll throw in a NESCAC DPOY plug for junior LB Lincoln Moore who was just named to the d3football.com Team of the Week after logging a career-high 13 tackles, including a career-high nine solo stops, with a pair of pass breakups in Trinity's 37-6 win against Hamilton. The Bants lead the nation in first downs allowed and are 2nd in the nation in total defense and scoring defense allowing an average of 180 yards and 5 points per game.

Moore was 1st team All NESCAC as a sophomore and like most of the Bantam starting defense, he doesn't get as many second half reps. Otherwise his totals would very likely be at the very top of the league rankings and he's 5th in the league in total tackles as it is.

I didn't realize Rivera had initially committed to Williams. He did have offers from most of the league (Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Wesleyan). I guess it was just too hard to turn down that Trinity education. 


On an unrelated note, Logan Hansen (of the Hansen Ratings) tweeted what the playoff field would look, if every conference favorite earned their conference AQ. Based on his ratings Wesleyan would be among the four teams to just miss the cut.