2009 NEC non-conference schedule

[danefan]

Thanks to aceinthehole over at AGS for the following compilation of the NEC's OOC 2009 schedule:

Albany – 9/5 at Georgia Southern (SoCon), 9/12 at UMass (CAA), 9/19 vs Maine (CAA)
CCSU – 9/5 at Lehigh (PL), 9/12 at William & Mary (CAA), 9/26 at Columbia (Ivy)
Duquesne – 9/5 vs. Bucknell (PL), 9/12 at Nichols State (SLC), 9/26 at Dayton (Pioneer)
Monmouth – 9/5 at Colgate (PL), 9/12 at Coastcal Carolina (Big South), 9/26 at Old Dominion (Indy)
Robert Morris – 9/5 at VMI (Big South), 9/12 at Bucknell (PL), 9/19 vs. Dayton (Pioneer)
Sacred Heart – 9/5 vs Marist (Pioneer), 9/12 at Holy Cross (PL)
Saint Francis – 9/5 at New Hampshire (CAA), 9/12 vs Morehead State (Pioneer), 9/19 at Northern Iowa (MVC)
Wagner – 9/5 vs Stonehill (D-II), 9/10 at NY Maritime (D-III), 9/19 at North Dakota State (MVC)
Bryant - 8 NEC opponents plus - 9/5 vs. Southern Conn (D-II), 9/12 vs. Hofstra (CAA), 10/10 at Fordham (PL) (Bryant technically is not an NEC member until 2012, although they are playing a full NEC slate this year)


2009 NEC vs Conferences:
6 vs PL*
5 vs CAA*
4 vs Pioneer
2 vs MVC*
2 vs Big South
1 vs SoCon*
1 vs Southland*
1 vs Ivy
1 vs Indy
---
2 vs D-II
1 vs D-III

* denotes AQ conference

- 15 of the 26 games scheduled (58%) are vs. AQ opponents.
- All 9 NEC teams, have at least 1 AQ opponent.
- 5 of 9 NEC teams (56%), have at least 2 AQ opponents.
- 7 of the 9 NEC teams (78%), play only D-I opponents.
- 3 of the 26 games scheduled (12%) are vs non D-I opponents.

Very big step up in scheduling by the NEC. Our SOS should be much higher this year and our GPI and other computer rating numbers should improve greatly (no matter how flawed the computer systems are, they are a component of the Conditional AQ process).

To refresh, the NEC champ will get an AQ next year (09) if it meets the following conditions:
8 DI wins
2 wins against AQ conference teams
Average of 16 ranking in Coaches Poll, Sportsnetwork Poll, and NCAA GPI (computer ranking)

All teams except Bryant (not eligible yet), Wagner, and Sacred Heart can make it.
Last year only Albany, Monmouth and Central Ct. had the schedule to qualify.

Glad to see it, even though there is still more work to do on the scholarship front to keep Albany for anything other than a year-to-year when the contract runs out in 2010.

[dbackjon]

Great work getting the OOC schedules tougher. It is what is needed to get respect.

[UNHWildCats]

Did NDSU dump Sam Houston? they were scheduled to play the 19th if so our fav SHSU fan must be having a nutty over at AGS

[Willie]

No. They rescheduled it to Sept. 12 according to the Fargo Forum.

[dgreco]

glad to see the NEC schedules. Besides the DSU game screwing Wagner which made their schedule worse, it has been pretty good. I would like to see Wagner step up a little more and obviously would like to see Bryant drop the SCSU game next year.