New England Small College Athletic Conference The New England Small College Athletic Conference ( NESCAC ) is an NCAA Division III athletic conference , consisting of eleven highly selective liberal arts college s and universities located in New England and New York . Often referred to as the " Little Ivies " , most of the schools have competed against one another since the 19th century . The idea for such an athletic conference originated with an agreement among Amherst College , Bowdoin College , Wesleyan University and Williams College drafted in 1955 . In 1971 Bates College , Colby College , Hamilton College , Middlebury College , Trinity College , Tufts University , and Union College joined on and NESCAC was officially formed . Today ' s sustaining members include all the original members but Union , which withdrew in 1977 and was replaced by Connecticut College in 1982 . Mission . NESCAC schools share a similar philosophy for intercollegiate athletics . The Conference was created out of a concern for the direction of intercollegiate athletic programs and remains committed to keeping a proper perspective on the role of sport in higher education . Member institutions believe athletic teams should be representative of school ' s entire student bodies and hew to NCAA Division III admissions and financial policies prohibiting athletic scholarships while awarding financial aid solely on the basis of need . Due to the prestigious reputations of its member schools , the NESCAC is able to attract many of the most athletically and intellectually gifted student - athletes in the country . NESCAC members stress that intercollegiate athletic programs should operate in harmony with the educational mission of each institution . Schools are committed to maintaining common boundaries to keep athletics strong yet in proportion to their overall academic mission . Presidents of each NESCAC institution control intercollegiate athletic policy . Conference tenets are usually more restrictive than those of the NCAA Division III regarding season length , number of contests and post - season competition . The schools are all well - regarded academically . It should be noted that with the exception of Tufts , which is included in the USNWR " National Universities " list , the numbers in the table below represent the rank of the institution in the U . S . News & World Report list of " National Liberal Arts Colleges " . Member schools . Current members . The league currently has 11 full members : Conference championships . The NESCAC holds conference championships in the following sports : Football Scheduling . Due to the fact that there are 10 football - playing schools in the NESCAC , but only 8 regular season games , NESCAC football teams rotate their opening opponents on a two - year cycle . NESCAC schools always end the year against the same opponent , typically their biggest rival . These five matchups ( listed with the home team in odd years first ) are : Hamilton - Bates , Tufts - Middlebury , Trinity - Wesleyan Bowdoin - Colby , and Williams - Amherst . NCAA Division III competition . Four NESCAC institutions are among the 39 that founded the NCAA in 1905 : Amherst , Tufts , Wesleyan , and Williams . Prior to 1993 NESCAC generally did not allow member schools to send teams to NCAA championships . Since then all sports except football have had this freedom , many excelling in the NCAA Division III championships . The NACDA Directors ' Cup , awarded since 1996 to the college or university in each NCAA Division that wins the most college championships , has been claimed at the Division III level by a NESCAC institution every year except 1998 . In the 2012 - 2013 season , four of the top ten NACDA Director ' s Cup institutions were from NESCAC : Williams ( 1 ) , Middlebury ( 3 ) , Amherst ( 6 ) , and Tufts ( 8 ) . In addition to the ban on post - season play , the NESCAC football league is notable for member teams playing conference games only . While some Division II and Division III teams play only conference schedules , NESCAC is unique in all of its members playing only conference games . Middlebury leads NESCAC in total National Championship teams , winning 32 titles since the conference lifted its ban on NCAA play . Williams is second with 25 NCAA championships , Tufts next at 21 . Athletic spending . The U . S . Department of Education publishes statistics on athletic spending by colleges . In 2008 - 09 , athletic spending by NESCAC schools was as follows : Eight ( out of eleven ) NESCAC schools rank in the top 20 of Division III for total athletic spending . With the exception of Connecticut College , all NESCAC schools rank in the top 10 % of Division III for # of varsity athletes . Connecticut College athletic spending and # of varsity athletes are low because it does not have a football team . Tufts per - student athletic spending is low because it has nearly double the undergraduate population ( 5 , 100 ) of its nearest NESCAC rival ( Wesleyan , with 2 , 700 ) . Related athletic conferences . Amherst , Wesleyan , and Williams are also the members of the Little Three conference . Bates , Bowdoin , and Colby are also the members of the CBB conference . Notable alumni . Baseball . NESCAC schools currently count four Major League Baseball general managers among their collective alumni .