The Daily doesn't typically use this space to trumpet the causes of its sports teams, but we could no longer ignore how the National Field Hockey Coaches Association has shortchanged the Tufts field hockey team of its rightful place atop the national rankings.
The Jumbos defeated a historically strong Williams squad 3-1 on Saturday to improve to 11-0 on the season and remain the only undefeated team in the nation. But rather than being rewarded for its continued flawless play, Tufts remained stalled in the No. 5 spot in the NFHCA rankings for the second week in a row, behind three teams with one loss and another with two.
In a banner fall sports season on the Hill -- one that has seen the women's tennis team produce a national championship in doubles, the volleyball team jump out to a 22-1 start and the football team beat Williams for the first time in 21 years -- the undefeated field hockey team has stood out as the best of Tufts athletics. It's too bad the NFHCA hasn't noticed.
It's not that we necessarily think the Jumbos should have climbed all the way to No. 1 by now, particularly when it still has games against No. 9 Trinity and No. 2 Bowdoin to play over the next two weekends. But to keep the team locked in the fifth spot just doesn't seem to do justice to what it has accomplished this season, having managed a spotless record against a schedule that has included No. 16 Babson and No. 3 Middlebury.
That's not to mention the rest of the Jumbos' schedule, which features teams from easily the most competitive region in the nation. No conference has had a more palpable presence on the national scene than the NESCAC, which has sent three representatives to the 24-team field at the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years. Last season, the national championship game was an all-NESCAC affair between Bowdoin and Middlebury, and who would be surprised to see something similar happen in 2008, considering that the NESCAC boasts four of the top nine teams in the NFHCA rankings?
As the best team in the best conference in the country, Tufts surely belongs at or near the top of the national rankings. That basic logic seems to have eluded the NFHCA, which continues to reward teams from the Mid-Atlantic region at the expense of the Jumbos.
In the current polls, The College of New Jersey, Ursinus and Messiah are all ranked higher than Tufts, despite the fact that the Mid-Atlantic's dynastic stranglehold on Div. III field hockey is long over. It's time for the NFHCA to recognize that the balance of power in the sport has shifted to New England and to give the Jumbos their due.
As Tufts closes in on its best regular-season finish ever, it continues to rack up program records and make its mark in the NESCAC. But as for the respect the Jumbos deserve? That's something they'll apparently have to live without.
