Eastern Collegiate Football Conference

Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
	ECFC
Established	2009
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	7 (6 in 2019, 7 in 2020)
Sports fielded	1 (football) men's: 1; women's: 0; ;
Region	Northeast
Headquarters	Wilmington, Vermont
Commissioner	Katie Boldvich
Website	easterncollegiatefootball.com
Locations

The Eastern Collegiate Football Conference is a football-only intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Founded in 2009, it combines six schools spread across the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York, plus Washington, D.C.. Starting in the 2020-2021 Season, Keystone College, located in Pennsylvania will be the 7th member of the conference.

History

The Eastern Collegiate Football Conference was formed in the spring of 2009 as an NCAA Division III single-sport football conference. The conference, named after the geographic location of the institutions, began competition in the fall of 2009. Founding members were Anna Maria College, Becker College, Castleton State College (now Castleton University), Gallaudet University, Husson University, SUNY Maritime, Mount Ida College, and Norwich University.

Norwich was the league's first champion, posting a perfect 6-0 conference record and defeating Mt. Ida in the season-ending ECFC Championship Game.[1] In 2010, SUNY Maritime earned the ECFC's first bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs after a perfect 10-0 regular season record.[2] SUNY Maritime would go on to lose 60-0 to Alfred University in the First Round of the NCAA Playoffs.[3]

2015 realignment

In April 2015, charter member Norwich announced it would be leaving the ECFC to join the NEWMAC when that conference began sponsoring football in 2017.[4] In November 2015, Becker announced it would also be leaving the ECFC in 2017 to join what was then known as the New England Football Conference, which by the time of Becker's departure would be rebranded as Commonwealth Coast Football.[5] Becker's departure would have left the ECFC without the minimum 7 teams necessary to maintain the league's automatic bid to the Division III playoffs. But on January 27, 2016, the ECFC announced that Alfred State College and Dean College would be joining the conference for the 2017 season.[6]

Later developments

The ECFC would later see two schools announce their departure from the conference, placing its automatic bid to the Division III playoffs in doubt once again. First, Husson announced in June 2017 that it would join Commonwealth Coast Football in 2019.[7] Then, in April 2018, the financially struggling Mount Ida announced that it would close at the end of the 2017–18 school year, with the campus to be purchased by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.[8] The following month, however, saw the announcement of a future member, as Keystone College, set to add football as a club sport in 2019 before upgrading to full varsity status in 2020, would join the ECFC upon reaching varsity status.[9]

Current members

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Primary Conference
Alfred State College	Alfred, New York	Pioneers	1908	Public	3,500	2017	ACAA (AMCC in 2019)
Anna Maria College	Paxton, Massachusetts	AMCats	1946	Private	820	2009	GNAC
Castleton University	Castleton, Vermont	Spartans	1787	Public (VSC)	2,130	2009	LEC
Dean College[lower-alpha 1]	Franklin, Massachusetts	Bulldogs	1865	Private	1,055	2017	NECC
Gallaudet University	Washington, D.C.	Bison	1864	Quasi-Private/Governmental	1,274	2009	NEAC
SUNY Maritime	Throggs Neck, New York	Privateers	1874	Public (SUNY)	1,289	2009	Skyline

Provisional Division III member.

Future member

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joining	Primary Conference
Keystone College	La Plume, Pennsylvania	Giants	1868	Private	1,600	2020	CSAC

Former members

Because NCAA football is a fall sport, the year of departure is the calendar year after each school's final season of competition.

Institution	Location	Nickname	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Primary Conference	Current Football Conference
Becker College	Leicester, Massachusetts	Hawks	1784	Private	1,739	2009	2017	NECC	CCC Football
Husson University	Bangor, Maine	Eagles	1898	Private	2,600	2009	2019	NAC	CCC Football
Mount Ida College	Newton, Massachusetts	Mustangs	1899	Private	1,300	2009	2018	N/A – closed in 2018
Norwich University	Northfield, Vermont	Cadets	1819	Private (Military)	2,200+	2009	2017	GNAC	NEWMAC

Champions

2009 Norwich (6–0)
2010 SUNY Maritime (7–0)
2011 Norwich (7–0)
2012 Mount Ida (6–1)
2013 Gallaudet (6–1)
2014 Husson (7–0)
2015 Norwich (6–1)
2016 Husson (6–0)
2017 Husson (7–0)
2018 Husson (6–0)
2019 Dean (4-1)

NCAA Division III playoff performance

The ECFC is generally regarded as one of the weakest conferences in the country.[10] The ECFC's only Division III playoff win came in 2017. As of the 2018 season, the conference is 1–9 in the playoffs, with its member schools' games decided by an average score of 45–13. The single win was by two points, and one loss was in overtime; every other loss has been by more than two touchdowns.

Year	ECFC champion	Playoff opponent	Result	Score
2010	SUNY Maritime	Alfred	Loss	60–0
2011	Norwich	Delaware Valley	Loss	62–10
2012	Mount Ida	Wesley	Loss	73–14
2013	Gallaudet	Hobart	Loss	34–7
2014	Husson	MIT	Loss	27–20 (OT)
2015	Norwich	Albright	Loss	49–0
2016	Husson	Western New England	Loss	44–27
2017	Husson	Springfield	Win	23–21
2017	Husson	Delaware Valley	Loss	37–15
2018	Husson	RPI	Loss	38–14

gollark: https://what-if.xkcd.com/48/

gollark: Technically it hasn't set on the British empire yet.

gollark: That sounds like something someone secretly from Venus would say.

gollark: Hello, people of Earth!

gollark: I quite liked The Daily Grind.

References

"Norwich Defeats Mount Ida, 49-14, to Win ECFC Championship". Eastern Collegiate Football Conference.
"Perfection! Football Ends 2010 Regular Season with 21-14 Win over Gallaudet in D.C." Joe Guster, SUNY Maritime Sports Information Director.
2010 NCAA Division III football season#Postseason
"New shuffle begins as NEWMAC adds football". Pat Coleman, D3Sports.com.
"CCC finds its seventh team". D3Football.com.
"ECFC gains two members". D3Football.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
"Husson To Become Eighth Commonwealth Coast Football Member in 2019" (Press release). Commonwealth Coast Football. June 5, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
DeCosta-Klipa, Nik (April 12, 2018). "Why is everyone mad about the UMass-Mount Ida deal?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
"Keystone College Named as ECFC's Newest Member" (Press release). Eastern Collegiate Football Conference. May 8, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
"Re-ranking the conferences for 2015". D3Football.com.

External links

Official website

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[10] Provisional Division III member.

[1] "Norwich Defeats Mount Ida, 49-14, to Win ECFC Championship". Eastern Collegiate Football Conference.

[2] "Perfection! Football Ends 2010 Regular Season with 21-14 Win over Gallaudet in D.C." Joe Guster, SUNY Maritime Sports Information Director.

[3] 2010 NCAA Division III football season#Postseason

[4] "New shuffle begins as NEWMAC adds football". Pat Coleman, D3Sports.com.

[5] "CCC finds its seventh team". D3Football.com.

[6] "ECFC gains two members". D3Football.com. Retrieved 13 February 2016.

[7] "Husson To Become Eighth Commonwealth Coast Football Member in 2019" (Press release). Commonwealth Coast Football. June 5, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2018.

[8] DeCosta-Klipa, Nik (April 12, 2018). "Why is everyone mad about the UMass-Mount Ida deal?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 21, 2018.

[9] "Keystone College Named as ECFC's Newest Member" (Press release). Eastern Collegiate Football Conference. May 8, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018.

[11] "Re-ranking the conferences for 2015". D3Football.com.