Welcome to the NESCAC, the strongest Div. III conference in the country and home to national powerhouses across the board. The 11 members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference, including Tufts, took a combined six 2009-10 national championships: Tufts in men's lacrosse, Williams in women's tennis and crew, Trinity in men's squash, Amherst in women's hockey and Middlebury in men's tennis. In addition, NESCAC schools took four of the top six spots in the final Directors' Cup standings: Williams (1st), Amherst (2nd), Middlebury (4th) and Tufts (6th). Any Div. III athletic knowledge starts and ends with the NESCAC; so without further ado, the Daily brings you a brief look at the 10 other schools that share a conference with the Jumbos.
Middlebury Panthers
Location: Middlebury, Vt.
On the Field: Middlebury's men's lacrosse team won every conference championship between 2001 and 2007 and Middlebury won a combined 21 national titles from its lacrosse and hockey programs between 1995 and 2006. Most recently, the Panthers' men's tennis team took home the national title in 2010.
Mascot Madness: Thirty-three schools in the country have "Panthers" as their nickname, the fourth-most behind "Eagles," "Tigers" and "Bulldogs." Real original, Middlebury.
Bowdoin Polar Bears
Location: New Brunswick, Maine
On the Field: Bowdoin's women's basketball team has been a dominant force in the 2000s, earning five NCAA Elite Eight appearances in the past decade, including a Final Four slot in 2004. But field hockey is where Bowdoin does the most damage, having won consecutive national titles in 2007 and 2008, defeating Middlebury and Tufts, respectively.
Mascot Madness: Adm. Robert E. Peary, part of the team that discovered the North Pole and a member of the Bowdoin Class of 1877, helped bring the Polar Bear moniker to New Brunswick. It was officially chosen as the mascot in 1912, making Bowdoin the only college outside of Alaska to have this cuddly and fuzzy mammal as a mascot.
Colby Mules
Location: Waterville, Maine
On the Field: Seriously, not much. Athletics isn't even on Colby's Wikipedia page. In 2009-10, the Mules finished fifth in the country in women's lacrosse and took back-to-back NESCAC titles in 2008 and 2009.
Mascot Madness: "Quick, everyone run! The ferocious mule is on its way! Oh wait … it's just sitting there and casually eating grass. Never mind."
Bates Bobcats
Location: Lewiston, Maine
On the Field: In 1875, Bates played the first college football game in Maine against Tufts. So … at least they have that going for them.
Mascot Madness: Class of 1911 member Jack Williams suggested the bobcat as the new mascot for Bates, writing in a letter that "It is small — but Oh! how it can fight." This accurately sums up Bates — small, with only 1,776 undergrads, but feisty. Unfortunately for them, winning those fights hasn't become commonplace.
Amherst Lord Jeffs
Location: Amherst, Mass.
On the Field: Amherst is historically one of the most successful athletic programs in Div. III history, having won six NCAA team titles and 60 individual championships. In 2009-10, the Lord Jeffs captured their sixth straight NESCAC women's tennis title and became the first program to repeat as women's ice hockey champions.
Mascot Madness: The Lord Jeffs are named after none other than Jeffrey Amherst, a British commanding general in North America. Seriously, could Amherst have a more self-centered nickname? That would be like the Jumbos being nicknamed "the Charlies," after founder Charles Tufts.
Connecticut College Camels
Location: New London, Conn.
On the Field: Conn. College has never won a NESCAC championship, not even in 2005-06, when nine different schools won conference titles. On the upside, Dwight from "The Office" once hooked up with a girl whose fake basketball team was playing the Camels the next day.
Mascot Madness: Try and make sense out of this one: a blue camel in Connecticut. Go ahead, we dare you.
Wesleyan Cardinals
Location: Middletown, Conn.
On the Field: As one of two universities in the NESCAC — Tufts is the other — Wesleyan has almost 3,000 undergraduates on campus. The Cardinals, however, have been unable to parlay that into national athletic success: The 1994 baseball team is the only Cardinals squad to play in a Div. III championship game. Wesleyan did, however, win the 2010 NESCAC softball title.
Mascot Madness: The nickname originally referred to the color but the school eventually pluralized it and adopted the bird as its mascot. At least Wesleyan has more sense than the Stanford Cardinal, which has a giant Christmas tree as its mascot.
Trinity Bantams
Location: Hartford, Conn.
On the Field: The last time Trinity lost a match in men's squash was in 1998 and its baseball team took home a national title after a 45-1 record. In fact, if you drive down I-84 West into Hartford, those two facts are on a roadside sign. How fun!
Mascot Madness: Strangely resembling the San Diego chicken, a bantam is a small variety of poultry. According to Trinity's website, the new version of the mascot "was designed to represent determination, confidence, and health." Well, that and fried deliciousness.
Williams Ephs
Location: Williamstown, Mass.
On the Field: Over the past 10 school years, the Ephs have won 104 total NESCAC championships. Williams has more Div. III titles in more sports (nine) than any other school and has 23 national crowns.
Mascot Madness: An eph is a purple cow. Really, a purple cow. The mascot, Ephelia, was named after Col. Ephraim Williams.
Hamilton Continentals
Location: Clinton, N.Y.
On the Field: Starting in the 2011-12 academic year, the Continentals will become full-fledged members of the NESCAC. Currently, 21 of Hamilton's 28 varsity squads participate in the conference, but come next year, men's and women's basketball and field hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, and men's and women's soccer will finally leave the Liberty League for the opportunity to be beaten by Amherst and Williams.
Mascot Madness: What a noble mascot, named after the American soldiers in the Revolutionary War in a true patriotic gesture. And then there's Al-Ham — the pig named after Alexander Hamilton — which represents the Continentals at many athletic games. I'm sure the founding fathers would be proud.
Editor's Note: This article contains information adapted from a similar feature in a Sept. 2, 2009 issue.
