🤠 G’day Tuesday.

📆 What’s Happening Today. The NFHCA DIII preseason poll is released today.

🔈 What We’re Hearing. "Our student-athletes represent the determination, teamwork, and spirit that define UNE. By removing admission fees, we're inviting everyone to come cheer on the Nor'easters, enjoy a great game, and become part of our community." - UNE President James Herbert

🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It). Beyonce

“While interest in women’s sports is booming and Olympic sports organizers lock in preparations for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, advocates worry that the college athletic programs that feed both those systems may be strained further by increased demands from bigger sports.

Olympic sports haven’t had the opportunity to thrive on their own, according to Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Danette Leighton, because the business has centered one product: college football.

Leighton is calling on donors to set the agenda. Philanthropy can protect those teams, she said, by endowing scholarships for women’s gymnastics or men’s tennis.”

» Field Awareness. “College sports programs produce around three-quarters of the U.S. Olympians at a typical Summer Games, but some are on uncertain footing in the wake of the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to share more than $20 million in revenue directly with their athletes every year. Most of that money goes to football and basketball. A bill before the Senate would require protections — and funding — for Olympic and women’s sports.”

» Quotable. “There are a lot of philanthropists that are really passionate about women’s sports or men’s Olympic sports,” Leighton said. “They should make sure that that’s where their funding is going directly.”

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“For the third straight season, the North Central College football team enters a new year as the preseason favorite in the American Football Coaches Association Preseason Top 25 Poll, the organization announced Monday. The Cardinals received all 50 possible first-place votes.

North Central finished 2025 as the national runner-up, advancing to a sixth straight NCAA Division III National Championship. National quarterfinalist Bethel is the No. 2 choice and will visit Naperville in the season opener.

Rounding out the top five are Mount Union, Johns Hopkins and Wheaton.”

» How It Works. The Division III Board of Coaches will have 2 voters representing each Division III conference. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th. The Division III Coaches’ Poll will be released on Mondays and will run through the final week of the regular season in November. A final poll will be released the Monday following the NCAA Division III championship game.”

» Top 10. 1-North Central; 2-Bethel; 3-Mount Union; 4-Johns Hopkins; 5-Wheaton;
6-UW-Platteville; 7-UW-River Falls; 8-John Carroll; 9-Wartburg; 10-UW-La Crosse.

“ESPN’s Bill Connelly wrote a fascinating piece recently for ESPN titled "Your guide to getting the most fun out of college football season," which I read with great interest, particularly the sections on smaller-school football. As a former Division III player, Connelly's advocacy for small-school football over the years has certainly warmed my heart.

That also got me thinking it was time for a piece like this, and time for you, dear reader, to pick a NESCAC team.

To put it bluntly, these are teams that simply do not like each other, with angst that has been simmering not just for decades, but generations. Take the Little Three, as those teams have been playing each other since the 1890s. I played in eight Little Three games during my time in the NESCAC, with each one circled on the calendar the moment the schedule is announced.”

» Field Awareness. “This is the perfect year to start watching the NESCAC and, if possible getting to see a game in person. Because after decades and decades of NESCAC teams being ineligible for the Division III playoffs, 2026 marks the first year that the winner of the conference will earn an automatic spot in the Division III bracket.”

» The Big Picture. “NESCAC, it finally matters more. Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you which NESCAC team you should follow. That is a decision you need to make with your head, and heart. Maybe there is a team close to you, maybe someone in your family went to one of the NESCAC schools. Maybe you just like the idea of a purple cow, in which case Williams is the school for you. But if you are open to persuasion …”

» Tickets. “Beginning with the fall 2026 sports season, admission to all regular-season home athletic events at UNE will now be free for members of the public. The change removes the previous $6 ticket price at football, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's ice hockey games, making it easier for families, alumni, local residents, and sports fans throughout southern Maine to experience UNE Athletics.”

» Ice Hockey. The Hockey News continues its look at the top five most viable DIII schools for DI. Today, Utica.

» Finances. “Hunter College is grappling with a massive $14 million deficit, officials confirmed to The New York Post — after the City University of New York’s board of trustees discussed the flagship school’s dire financial situation during a secret “retreat.”

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