The New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eleven highly selective liberal arts institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The eleven institutions are Amherst College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Colby College, Connecticut College, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College.
The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at any other NCAA Division I college in the country. Like the other Ivy League colleges, Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships.
Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States. The first intercollegiate race was a contest between Yale and Harvard in 1852. In the 2018–19 school year, there were 2,340 male and 7,294 female collegiate rowers in Divisions I, II and III, according to the NCAA. The sport has grown since the first NCAA statistics were compiled for the 1981–82 school year, which reflected 2,053 male and 1,187 female collegiate rowers in the three divisions. Some concern has been raised that some recent female numbers are inflated by non-competing novices.
The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of the summer of 2023, Stanford's program has won 134 NCAA team championships, the most of any university. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 47 consecutive years, starting in 1976–77 and continuing through 2022–23. Stanford athletes have won 544 individual NCAA titles.
The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 36 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams. Both men's and women's teams are called Navy Midshipmen or "Mids". They participate in the NCAA's Division I, as a non-football member of the Patriot League, a football-only member of the American Athletic Conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and a member of the Collegiate Sprint Football League (men), Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (men), Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges, Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League (men), Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference (men) and Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. Navy is also one of approximately 300 members of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The Middlebury Panthers are the 31 varsity teams of Middlebury College that compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. The Panthers lead the NESCAC in total number of national championships, having won 42 team titles since the conference lifted its ban on NCAA play in 1994. Middlebury enjoys national success in soccer, cross country running, field hockey, men's basketball, women's hockey, skiing, men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse, and fields 31 varsity NCAA teams and several competitive club teams including a sailing team (MCSC), a crew team, a water polo team, an ultimate frisbee team, and a rugby team. Since 2000, Middlebury's varsity squads have won 84 NESCAC titles. Currently, 28% of students participate in varsity sports.
The Grand Valley State Lakers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Grand Valley State University, located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The GVSU Lakers compete at the NCAA Division II level and are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
The Brandeis Judges are 17 intercollegiate sports teams that represent Brandeis University. They compete in the NCAA's Division III in the University Athletic Association conference, which they joined in May 1987. The team colors are blue and white, and their mascots are The Judge and Ollie the Owl.
The Iona Gaels are the athletics teams of Iona University, in New Rochelle, New York. They compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and participate in 21 NCAA Division I programs.
The Hobart Statesmen are composed of 15 teams representing Hobart and William Smith Colleges in intercollegiate athletics, including men's alpine skiing, basketball, baseball, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, sailing, soccer, squash, swimming and diving, tennis, and volleyball. The Statesmen compete in the NCAA Division III and are members of the Liberty League for all sports except men's volleyball, men's ice hockey (NEHC), and men's lacrosse, which competes in NCAA Division I, as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The Tufts Jumbos are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The Jumbos compete at NCAA Division III level as member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Like all Division III schools, Tufts does not offer athletic scholarships. Coed and women's sailing are the only Division I sports at the school.
The Williams Ephs are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
The St. Lawrence Saints are composed of 33 teams representing St. Lawrence University in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's alpine skiing, basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, nordic skiing, riding, rowing, soccer, squash, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Men's sports include baseball and football. Women's sports include field hockey, softball, and volleyball. The Saints compete in the NCAA Division III and are members of the Liberty League for all sports except ice hockey, which competes in NCAA Division I, as a member of ECAC Hockey.
The Bowdoin Polar Bears are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowdoin College, located in Brunswick, Maine. The Polar Bears compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Bowdoin College currently fields teams in fourteen men's sports and sixteen women's sports. The polar bear team name was selected to honor Robert Peary of the class of 1877 who lead the first expedition that reached the North Pole.
The Colby Mules are the varsity and club athletic teams of Colby College, a liberal arts college located in Waterville, Maine. Colby's varsity teams compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. The college offers 32 varsity teams, plus club sports, intramural sports called I-play.
The Bates Bobcats are the athletic teams of Bates College largely based in Lewiston, Maine and the surrounding areas. The college's official mascot has been the bobcat since 1924, and maintains garnet as its official color. The school sponsors 32 varsity sports, most of which compete in the Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The school's men's and women's ski teams and men's and women's squash teams compete in Division I. Bates has rivalries with Princeton in Squash and Dartmouth in Skiing and selected hockey bouts. The college also competes with its Maine rivals Bowdoin and Colby in the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB). This is one of the oldest football rivalries in the United States. This consortium is a series of historically highly competitive football games ending in the championship game between the three schools. Bates has won this championship at total of twelve times including 2014, 2015, and in 2016 beat Bowdoin 24–7 after their 21–19 abroad victory over Colby. Bates is currently the holder of the winning streak, and has the record for biggest victory in the athletic conference with a 51–0 shutout of Colby College. The three colleges also contest the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Chase Regatta. The college is the all-time leader of the Chase Regatta with a total of 14 composite wins, followed by Colby's 5 wins, concluded with Bowdoin's 2 wins.
The NCAA Division III Rowing Championship is a rowing championship held by the NCAA for Division III women's heavyweight collegiate crews.
Jim Plumer is an American ice hockey coach. He is the current head coach of the Vermont Catamounts women's ice hockey team. He previously served as the women's hockey head coach at Amherst, where he guided them to back-to-back NCAA Division III national championships.
The Middlebury Panthers men's ice hockey team represents Middlebury College in men’s hockey and has done so since 1922. The Panthers currently play at the Division III and have won the most championships (8) of any D-III program. For a time the team did play along with top-level programs but when men's ice hockey divided into separate tiers in the mid-1960s Middlebury left the upper echelon.
John M. Dunham is a retired lawyer and ice hockey coach who previously led the men's program at Trinity College for 37 years.
