Established 1965 Division Division III Region New England | Association NCAA Members 8 | |
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Sports fielded 1 (men's: 1 (football); women's: 0) | ||
The New England Football Conference (NEFC) was an athletic conference that competed in football in the NCAA's Division III from 1965 through the 2016 season. Member teams were located in New England. Before a conference split that took effect with the 2013 season, the NEFC was divided into the Boyd Division and the Bogan Division, with the division champions competing in Division III football's only season-ending conference championship game.
Contents
After the 2012 season, the conference split, with the seven Massachusetts state institutions and Plymouth State playing in the MASCAC for football. The conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs continued to be held by the eight remaining members: Curry, Endicott, Maine Maritime, MIT, Nichols, Salve Regina, Coast Guard, and Western New England. In the 12 seasons the NEFC hosted a championship game between its two division winners, these remaining eight members accounted for 16 of the 24 championship game participants and 8 of 12 conference champions.
In October 2015, the Commonwealth Coast Conference announced that it would add football by effectively absorbing the NEFC, starting with the 2017–18 school year. Accordingly, the 2016 season was the last for the NEFC as a separate entity.
Membership evolution
1965 - The New England Football Conference is founded by charter members Curry, Bridgewater State and Maine Maritime.
1971 - Plymouth State and New England College become conference members.
1972 - Nichols College and Boston State become conference members.
1972 - New England College suspends football program following '72 season; Mass. Maritime Academy becomes conference member.
1973 - Framingham State and New Haven become conference members.
1979 - Western Connecticut State becomes conference member.
1981 - Western New England College becomes conference member.
1981 - New Haven leaves conference, moves to Division II.
1981 - Boston State suspends football program following '81 season.
1982 - Westfield State becomes conference member.
1985 - Fitchburg State and Worcester State become conference members.
1985 - Western Connecticut leaves conference to pursue independent schedule.
1987 - UMass Lowell becomes conference member in 1987, initiating a split into two six-team divisions with divisional winners meeting in championship playoff game.
1988 - UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth become conference members.
1988 - Western New England leaves conference following '88 season.
1992 - Plymouth State and UMass Lowell join the Freedom Football Conference; Curry and Nichols join the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference.
1992 - The conference now numbers nine colleges that play a round robin schedule.
1997 - Five new members begin conference play in 1998: Curry, Nichols, MIT, Salve Regina and WNEC. The 14-team conference will have two 7-team divisions.
1999 - Bridgewater State (10-0) receives first automatic qualification to NCAA playoffs.
2000 - The first Championship game in the 14-team Conference is scheduled. Wal*Mart agrees to sponsor the game. The Divisions are renamed with the Red being the Bogan Division and the Blue becoming the Boyd Division named after the NEFC's first two commissioners. Bridgewater State defeats Salve Regina 27-24 for the championship. UMass Boston drops football.
2001 - The Bogan Division plays with only six teams while the Boyd continues with seven. Endicott College begins a football program and is admitted into the Boyd Division beginning with the 2003 season.
2004 - A Most Valuable Player Award is established for the NEFC Championship Game and is named the William Mottola Award in honor of the long-time conference commissioner.
2005 - Plymouth State University and the United States Coast Guard Academy are admitted as members for play beginning in the 2006 season. Plymouth will enter the Boyd Division and Coast Guard Academy will compete in the Bogan Division. The Conference decides that the Championship Game will be played at the campus of the Bogan Division winner in even numbered years and at field of the Boyd Division champion in odd numbered years.
2007- Curry College becomes the first NEFC team to win an NCAA Division III Championship Tournament game, defeating Hartwick College 42-21.
2008 - The NEFC qualifies two teams for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the first time. Conference champion Plymouth State University receives the automatic bid, and Curry College receives an at-large bid.
2010 - Maine Maritime Academy sets a new NCAA Division III season rushing record with 5189 yards in 11 games. The Mariners miss the all-Division mark set by the University of Oklahoma in 1971 by eight yards.
2011 - Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference institution presidents decide to form a MASCAC football league, which will consist of 9 schools, and the league champion will be awarded an automatic berth to the NCAA D-III Football National Tournament. Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Westfield State University, and Worcester State University are the 6 core schools deciding to join the new MASCAC conference. Also, Plymouth State University, UMass-Dartmouth, and Western Connecticut State will also be joining the MASCAC conference as flagship members; effectively in 2013.
2012 - The NEFC qualifies two teams for the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the second time in league history. Framingham State (10-1) won the NEFC Championship and received the automatic bid, while Bridgewater State (9-1) received an at-large bid. Framingham State lost in the First Round, 20-19 to Cortland State (NY), while Bridgewater State also lost in the First Round, 44-14 to Widener University (PA).
2013 - Retired Bridgewater State University Director of Athletics John Harper is named Commissioner of the Conference
2014 - The Conference Championship traveling trophy is named for former Maine Maritime Academy Director of Athletics and football coach Bill Mottola. Mottola was NEFC Commissioner from 1997-2007 and was affiliated with the conference for four decades.
2015 - Maine Maritime Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the United States Coast Guard Academy announce plans to leave the NEFC following the 2016 season in order to compete in the NEWMAC, which will begin sponsoring football as a championship sport in 2017.
2015 - Gregg Kaye, Commissioner of the Commonwealth Coast Conference, is named NEFC Commissioner.
2017 - The NEFC is renamed Commonwealth Coast Football and will continue to operate as a single-sport conference administered by the Commonwealth Coast Conference.
Final members
Former members
The years of departure listed are the calendar years in which each school left the conference. Because football is a fall sport, the year of departure is the calendar year after the last season of competition.
Primary conferences
During the existence of the NEFC, its teams competed in other conferences in other sports. See also: Commonwealth Coast Conference, Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges, Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges, Eastern College Athletic Conference, New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.