The History of NESCAC National Titles

Most recent NESCAC National Champs: 2013 Amherst men's basketball

On Saturday night, the college hockey season ended when the Yale Bulldogs defeated the Quinnipiac Bobcats, 4-0, in Pittsburgh,PA, to take the Division I men's hockey title. For Yale, a number four seed and the 15th ranked team in the 16 field tournament, it was the first NCAA hockey title in school history. Besides being the lowest ranked team to ever win a D-I NCAA hockey championship, the Bulldogs also become the first team to ever beat three number one seeds (Quinnipiac, UMass-Lowell and Minnesota) in one tournament.

Yale's victory comes just six days after the most recent NESCAC national title, Amherst's Division-III NCAA championship victory in men's basketball.  The Lord Jeffs beat Mary Hardin-Baylor, 87-70, in front of a D-III championship record crowd of  6,284 at Phillips Arena, home of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. The NCAA moved the D-III title game, held in Salem,VA for the past 18 years, to Atlanta in order to include D-III in the 75th anniversary of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

The other NCAA title for a NESCAC squad in the 2012-13 academic calendar came in the fall of 2012, when the Tufts field hockey team won their first ever championship. The two trophies this season bring the all-time NCAA title count to 77 for the 'CAC; all but two came after the NESCAC lifted its ban on post-season tournament play in 1993. 

From its inception in 1971, the NESCAC -  New England Small School Athletic Conference- has stressed academics over athletics, or as the league puts it, "keeping a proper perspective on the role of sport in higher education." As part of that "proper perspective," the league banned post-season NCAA play for member schools from 1971 to 1993. Despite this ban, the Williams' women managed to win the NCAA D-III  swimming and diving titles in 1982 and 1983  by qualifying enough individuals to outscore any other team.

After breaking free in 93, the NESCAC has gone on to win a whopping 75 NCAA D-III national championships in the ensuing two decades. NESCAC football teams, like their brethren in the ivies, still have the postseason ban in effect. All other sports are free to chase after NCAA titles to their heart's content.

In men 's hockey, Middlebury is the only NESCAC school to win an NCAA championship, but they have done it a record eight times, including five straight titles from 1995-99 and a three-peat from 2004-06.

1995 Middlebury team: 1st NESCAC MIH NCAA title

The NADC Leadership Sports Directors' Cup is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the college that has the most success in athletics at their given level (D-I, II, III). Since the NADC Cup reached D-III in 1996, Williams has won the award every year except 1998 and 2012, with Middlebury winning in 2012. The award isn't solely based on national championships, but titles definitely help the cause.

Below, we have listed all 77 NCAA titles won by the 11 current NESCAC member schools. Union was an original NESCAC charter member, but they left in 1977 so they don't get included (Conn College took their spot in 1982). Even though Bates doesn't have a hockey program, we have included them on the list since the Bobcats are a NESCAC member in other sports. The point becomes moot though, as Bates has never won an NCAA title in any sport.

A cursory look at the list finds that Middlebury (31 titles) and Williams (27 titles) share the bulk of NESCAC's national success. The sum of all nine other schools' championships (19) is still less than either the Panthers or Ephs individual achievements. Besides Bates, Conn College and Wesleyan are the only other NESCAC schools that haven't won a national championship.

As far as the gender breakdown,  the 'CAC women have 51 titles to the men's 26. The sport with the most unique NESCAC champions is lacrosse, with five schools winning at least one championship in either men's or women's lax.

Our list does not include Trinity's impressive fourteen men's squash titles, as squash is governed by the College Squash Association (CSA) and is not an NCAA sport.  Same goes for Tufts sailing and the Middlebury women's skiing team, which won back-to-back titles in 1979 and 1980;  women's skiing was not an NCAA sport until 1983.

The NESCAC website has a full list of NESCAC national championships, which includes the non-NCAA titles. It, however, does not include Hamilton's 2008 NCAA women's lacrosse championship, as the Continentals played in the Liberty League for lacrosse at that time. Hamilton aligned all sports with the NESCAC after the 2010-11 season.

NESCAC NCAA Division III National Championships 
Amherst Lord Jeffs (10)
Total men's titles:  (3) Basketball (2: 2013; 2007);  Tennis (2011);

Total women's titles:  (7) Basketball (2011);  Ice Hockey (2: 2009, 2010);
 Cross Country (2008);  Lacrosse (2003); Tennis (1999); Golf (1990);

Bates Bobcats (0)

Bowdoin Polar Bears (3)
Women's Titles: (3) Field Hockey (3: 2008, 2009, 2011)

Colby Mules (1)
Women's Titles: (1) Rowing (2002-03)

Connecticut College Camels (0) 

Hamilton Continentals (1)
Women's Titles: (1) Lacrosse (2007-08)

Middlebury Panthers (31)
Men's Titles: (14) Hockey ( 8: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006); Lacrosse (3: 200, 2001, 2002); Tennis ( 2: 2004, 2010); Soccer (2007)

Women's Titles: (17) Cross Country ( 6: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010); Ice Hockey (5: 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006)

Trinity Bantams  (2)
Men's Titles (1): Baseball (2008)

Women's Titles (1):  Lacrosse (2012)

Tufts Jumbos (2) 
Men's Titles (1): Lacrosse (2010)

Women's Titles (1): Field Hockey (2012)

Wesleyan Cardinals (0)

Williams Ephs (27)
Men's Titles (7): Basketball (2003); Cross Country (2: 1994,1995); Soccer (1995); Tennis (1999, 2001, 2002)

Women's Titles (20): Rowing (8: 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012); Cross Country (2: 2002, 2004); Indoor Track & Field (2007); Swimming & Diving (2: 1982, 1983); Tennis (7: 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)