NESCAC

[Sandon Mibut]

Sorry, small sample size.  We can cherry pick data ranges all day to prove points (and I think that's probably what you do on various message boards)

I'm not the same Sandon as any other message boards so feel free to be mad at the other one if needed.

I also don't care about NCAA selection criteria; I simply have crunched the numbers for recent seasons - particularly 2021-current as NPI has gained favor and committee discretion has lessened. NESCAC do well at NCAAs and if you want an arbitrary rule or you simply dislike the NESCAC that's fine but the data demonstrates that any NESCAC teams participating in NCAA perform as well or better than similarly ranked teams even if the NESCAC teams have fewer wins and more ties going into the tournament.

[Earl2]

Yes you can say that Amherst made it based on a great tourn run, but they were on the cusp to get in anyway before the tournament. In late Oct, they were 29th. So they were probably going to make it in anyway.

They (Amherst) will be tough to beat. I watched the game against Williams live. Previous posts imply their game is largely kick it long and be physically. They and Williams were much better technically than given credit for by many.

By the way, whoever is coaching Hamilton has done an incredible job. In fairness, they were never going to defeat the 5 national champs Tufts; but they are a more than capable team and could go deep in the tourney.

Any team from the NESCAC could win the Natty this year. The quality play and depth of talent in my humble opinion is materially different than in years past.

[Kuiper]

Region I - Poll 9 - November 10, 2026
Rank    School    Prev    W-L-T
1    Tufts University    NR    10-3-5
2    Williams College    NR    11-2-3
3    Middlebury College    NR    10-2-3
4    Connecticut College    NR    10-2-4
5    Amherst College    NR    8-4-6
6    Hamilton College    NR    7-4-5
7    Bowdoin College    NR    8-3-5
8    Wesleyan University    NR    7-5-4

[maineman]

Middlebury's opponents during the opening weekend are interesting from a historical perspective.  First, St Joes of Maine was their opening round foe in 2018.  Despite outshooting and out cornering them, Midd surrendered the first goal, worked all game to get the equalizer, then gave up the go ahead goal to SJC just minutes later.  STJ had a very good team that year and an exceptional goalie. If Midd can get by them and Wheaton bests Hobart, Midd will face Wheaton (Ma) in the second round.  They did so last year in the second round and gave up the first and only goal that they would be unable to answer.  Again outshooting and  out cornering Wheaton made no difference since the Panthers were unable to finish.

With Midd dropping its last two games of NESCAC play by giving up the first goal, it will be incumbent upon them to score first.  With the success they had early in the season, they have very little experience playing from behind.  Scoring the first goal will be huge.  Both of these teams along with Hobart can play and Midd will have to be at their best to advance.

[Bucket]

Middlebury's opponents during the opening weekend are interesting from a historical perspective.  First, St Joes of Maine was their opening round foe in 2018.  Despite outshooting and out cornering them, Midd surrendered the first goal, worked all game to get the equalizer, then gave up the go ahead goal to SJC just minutes later.  STJ had a very good team that year and an exceptional goalie. If Midd can get by them and Wheaton bests Hobart, Midd will face Wheaton (Ma) in the second round.  They did so last year in the first round and gave up the first and only goal that they would be unable to answer.  Again outshooting and  out cornering Wheaton made no difference since the Panthers were unable to finish.

With Midd dropping its last two games of NESCAC play by giving up the first goal, it will be incumbent upon them to score first.  With the success they had early in the season, they have very little experience playing from behind.  Scoring the first goal will be huge.  Both of these teams along with Hobart can play and Midd will have to be at their best to advance.

Midd's loss to Wheaton in last year's NCAA tournament was in the 2nd round, not 1st.

[maineman]

Whoops!  Thank you!

[Sandon Mibut]

More useless trivia that is probably only interesting to me:

Here's how every NESCAC team has been knocked out of NCAAs since 2021. I cannot find NPI rankings for 2023 but otherwise I'm referring to NPI rankings as of tournament selection date.

25 #1 Tuft Champs
25 #7 Conn tied #9 Bowdoin s16
25 #9 Bowd loss #1 Tufts in e8
25 #13 Wes loss #32 second rd
25 #15 Mid loss #21 second rd
25 #17 Wil loss #3 s16
25 #28 Amh loss #25 first round

24 #1 Midd loss #4 Amherst semis
24 #2 Tuft tie #32 second rd
24 #4 Amhe champs
24 #5 Conn runner up
24 #6 Will tie #18 s16
24 #16 Wes loss #10 second rd
24 #24 Bow loss #8 second rd
24 #30 Ham tie #12 second rd

23 Amhe runners-up
23 Midd loss to Amherst in e8
23 Conn tie in e8
23 Tuft loss in s16

22 #3 Amhe tie #31 in s16
22 #6 Bowd loss #31 in e8
22 #16 Mid loss #49 first round
22 #23 Wil runners-up
22 #24 Tuf loss #22 second rd

21 #1 Tuft loss #3 Conn in e8
21 #2 Amhe tie #3 Conn in finals
21 #3 Conn tie #2 Amherst in finals
21 #14 Mid loss #2 Amherst in e8
Also note that Wesleyan was ranked #8 in NPI in 2021 (10-3-3) but did not get an NCAA bid. Wesleyan was ranked 5th in NESCAC regular season and lost in the first round of the conference tournament to fourth-ranked Midd.

101 matches and only 1 time has a NESCAC team been bumped by an opponent that was ranked worse than 32nd.

63-18-20 overall

9-6-2 for NESCAC teams ranked 5th or below in their own conference. Interestingly, this group (8 teams) has never been bumped by an opponent ranked worse than 25th. While this group doesn't have many standout wins, they also are not falling to deadbeats. They are 2-6-2 against teams ranked #36 or better. They are 7-0-0 against teams all ranked 58th or worse.