NCAA D1 Conference Comparison – Week 8

Three conferences kept things internal for this week and did not have a single team play outside of the league. For those that did, there were a total of eight games. By conference, they went:

America East 3-0, ACC 1-0, NEC 1-0, Ivy League 1-1, MAAC 1-2, SoCon 1-2,  Patriot 0-1, Independents 0-2. So what did that do to the overall standings?

Even with the America East winning all three over their games, it was not enough to overtake the Patriot (oddly enough, the Patriot’s one loss was to the AE). Outside of that pairing, there were no big movers this week. So, let’s take a look at a few of the notable non-conference games.

Cornell started things out with an overwhelming show of offense against Air Force. This was one of those rare games where both head coaches are actually carrying the interim label. Air Force had significantly more turmoil this offseason, and they are definitely showing it. Cornell on the other hand as risen from the ashes of a few disappointing seasons to look like they used to.

The other Ivy game was Harvard facing off against Albany. That one went about as well as one could expect. Despite Harvard really trending up recently, they are just not to that level yet. And Connor Fields being on the sideline was no help for the Crimson. To highlight the strength of Albany’s defense, just look at how they contained Morgan Cheek of Harvard to just two goals and one assist. He does average about two goals per game, but he also averages almost 4 assists per game.

Then, there was the battle of Virginia where UVA took on Richmond. UVA did win 14-10, which seems routine. But out of the four previous seasons Richmond has existed, this has been just a one goal game. It also looked like it would be another one for awhile. But, if it wasn’t for a 7-1 run over the last quarter and a half, UVA may have been in trouble.

So no major upsets in the non-conference world and the standings were relatively stable. Let’s hope there’s a little chaos next week!