As the fall athletics seasons reach full-steam ahead, the NESCAC rankings become more defined, stratifying the league's best and worst and identifying perennial conferences goliaths.
Tufts is putting forth one stellar performance after another this fall, solidly in the top strata of NESCAC teams across the board. Tufts fields a 2-0 football team, a red-hot 3-1 women's soccer team that's ranked ninth nationally, men's and women's cross country teams ranked ninth and 12th nationally, a solid and potentially explosive 3-1 field hockey team, and a volleyball team who's 1-1 league mark (13-3, overall) drastically underestimates its skill.
Williams, Middlebury and Bowdoin are once again proving themselves as New England athletics powerhouses, taking one of the top two spots - and often both - in most fall sports. Williams' teams have a collective 13-5 record, and stand second in men's soccer with a 4-0 mark, women's soccer at 3-1, and volleyball at 3-1. The Ephs also boast a No. 2 national ranking for their women's cross country team.
Bowdoin is right on Williams' heels at 12-5, sitting atop the field hockey and football rankings at an undefeated 5-0 and 2-0, respectively. Middlebury has a one-game lead in men's soccer at 5-0, a No. 6 women's cross country ranking, and the most NESCAC Players of the Week with four, with Tufts a close second with three.
Women's soccer offers the most closely-matched play from top to bottom. No teams are undefeated and only Wesleyan is without a league win. In the middle of a six-game win streak, Tufts is tied for first with Williams at 3-1. Colby and Middlebury are right behind at 2-1-1, and Bates and Bowdoin follow at 3-2, making women's soccer competitive and exciting throughout the league.
Field hockey has followed suit, with only Bowdoin undefeated and Colby winless, 4-0 and 0-4 respectively, and six teams tied for the middle three rankings. A 2-1 overtime win on Sunday over national No. 6 Middlebury should bump the Polar Bears up from their No. 13 position in the nationwide rankings. Tufts and Williams are knotted at 3-1 for third place, followed by Amherst and Wesleyan at 2-2 before the records fall below .500.
As NESCAC football teams play no out-of-conference games, the league rankings are symmetrical, with four undefeated teams at 2-0, two teams at 1-1, and four on the bottom at 0-2. Tufts' 34-7 trouncing of Bates on Saturday, along with its 16-6 opening-day win over Wesleyan puts the Jumbos in the former group, tied for first with Bowdoin, Colby and Trinity.
In women's cross country, NESCAC schools fill five of the top 12 slots. Tufts, at No. 12, trails Amherst (No. 9), Middlebury (No. 6), Colby (No. 5), and Williams (No. 2). All New England's this weekend will pit several conference heavyweights against each other, both on the men's and women's sides.
As most fall teams reach the halfway point of their NESCAC schedules, this weekend's NESCAC match-ups will shake up the rankings and make for some exciting play across the league.
