NEC Information

[MDFAN]

I was hoping someone could give me some insight as to the NEC as far as Football, Scholarshops, Education, etc. My son has been speaking to several schools in the conference regarding 2008 recruiting. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[danefan]

General information is probably all you'd want from here as to avoid any potential recruiting violations. Not likely, but possible.

General info is - NEC teams can give up to 30 scholarships as of right now. As for football, there is hierarchy amongst teams (as in any conference). I characterize it into three levels:

Top Tier:
Central Conn.
Monmouth
Albany

2nd Tier:
Wagner
Robert Morris
Duquense (they start NEC play next year)

3rd Tier:
St. Francis
Sacred Heart

Most schools are small private schools with the exception of Albany and Central Conn. All pretty good academics.

Also joining in the conference once there transitional period is up (2012) is Bryant College in Rhode Island.

When the NCAA expands the playoffs from 16 to 18 teams (possible in 2008, likely in 2009), the NEC is in line for an auto-qualifing bid. As of right now, the NEC champion does not get an auto-bid to the playoffs and no NEC team has ever been chosen for an at-large.

[DetroitFlyer]

I am a PFL fan, but I follow the NEC as well. I believe that NEC schools can offer 30 scholarships in 2008. Many NEC schools divide up the scholarships, so a large number of players receive a partial scholarship. If your son is offered a full ride, the school wants him bad! If your son cannot attend Dayton, (best team in the PFL), I would look real hard at Saint Francis. They are an up and coming team that has been slowly improving. The campus is beautiful and the academic program is very good as well!

Just my biased opinions. Good luck in finding the best opportunity for your son

[danefan]

NEC teams are generally considered the lower end of FCS (formerlly IAA) football. The NEC and PFL have historically been considered mid-major teams, but the moniker is fading away as the PFL becomes more competitive nationally and the NEC is offering scholarships.

NEC teams schedule the top FCS schools for out of conference games. Evidence of this is Albany who will play UMass, New Hampshire, Delaware, Hofstra and Fordham next year. Central Connecticut played Western Michigan this year (an FBS (I-A)) team.

[danefan]

I am a PFL fan, but I follow the NEC as well. I believe that NEC schools can offer 30 scholarships in 2008. Many NEC schools divide up the scholarships, so a large number of players receive a partial scholarship. If your son is offered a full ride, the school wants him bad! If your son cannot attend Dayton, (best team in the PFL), I would look real hard at Saint Francis. They are an up and coming team that has been slowly improving. The campus is beautiful and the academic program is very good as well!

Just my biased opinions. Good luck in finding the best opportunity for your son

St. Franics has been an "up-and-coming" team for years. No progress football wise appears anywhere on that horizon (in my opinion). Beautiful campus in the middle of nowhere. If that's what you're looking for then more power to you.

[MDFAN]

Thanks for the info. I would assume as far as facilites the higher they are in the tier the better the facilities.

Albany looks like they will have a brutal schedule next year!!!!

[danefan]

Thanks for the info. I would assume as far as facilites the higher they are in the tier the better the facilities.

Albany looks like they will have a brutal schedule next year!!!!

Yes and no. I will be the first to tell you that Albany's current stadium (bleacher set-up) is horrendous. Definitly the worst in the NEC. With that being said the other facilities at Albany may be the best (weigt room, locker room, practice fields, etc...). Albany has plans to build a 15,000 seat stadium and ground should hopefully be broken within a year. I'm sure if your son is recruited by Albany they will gladly show him a picture.

Central has a pretty nice stadium (small but nice).
Monmouth is the same.
Wagner has the nicest campus in the NEC and one of the tops in the country if you ask me. Nice stadium set up as well.
Robert Morris just built a nice stadium.

I do have to warn you though, there is nothing currently in the NEC like you'll find below the Mason Dixon line. Football in the Northeast is a whole different animal. Albany led the NEC this year in attendance with an average of 3637 per game.

[DetroitFlyer]

Thanks for the info. I would assume as far as facilites the higher they are in the tier the better the facilities.

Albany looks like they will have a brutal schedule next year!!!!

Not exactly. Saint Francis has a small, but new stadium. Robert Morris also has a very nice place. I have not been there, but Wagner looks good in pictures. Albany fans are always saying they need a new stadium.... Of course the best thing to do is visit and see for yourself. The range in facilities within the NEC and within FCS in general can be very large.

[Seahawks Fan]

Wagner's campus is on a hill overlooking the New York harbor. We are a short ferry ride from Manhattan. By all means visit the schools and see for yourself. Good luck. xthumbsupx

[gophoenix]

Curious, which schools offer the full 30 and which don't? And do all the schools offer scholarships or are some truly non-scholarship still? And is Duquense going to start offering scholarships?

[UAalum72]

The ones I've heard about (Albany, CCSU and others) had 22-24 and were adding seven per year to spread them out evenly over four recruiting classes. If a letter of intent means a scholarship offer (even a partial) then even St. Francis and Wagner are offering scholarships, both mentioned NLIs in their recruiting class news releases last year. Wagner said 48 (!) sent NLI (so I guess that's partials); St. Fran said its class of 20 all had either sent an NLI, received grants in aid, or were preferred walkons.

Duquesne is expected to give up to 24 scholarships as well, for starters.

[FCS Preview]

Wagner's campus is on a hill overlooking the New York harbor. We are a short ferry ride from Manhattan. By all means visit the schools and see for yourself. Good luck. xthumbsupx

But....it's Staten Island. ;)

Actually SI is much better now that they closed the Arthur Kill landfill.

[Dane96]

The new stadium design is on page 3 of this post. Initially, it will feature only one deck...with the second one an expansion bringing total capacity to around 26-29k including the grass. The current plans call for 12-15k to start.

From groundbreaking, stadium completion date is 18 months.

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19537&page=3&highlight=albany+stadium

[danefan]

When you've got buldings like this, it makes Staten Island look pretty.

http://thumb12.webshots.net/t/56/156/7/19/14/402371914ABEDGq_th.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1402371914031860892ABEDGq)