This past year, we saw the best players and teams rise to the top in the men's college ranks.
Though the Ivy League’s decision not to play a season loomed like a shadow over the Division 1 landscape, its absence created new opportunities for regional programs to cast their own lights. Vermont and Bryant won their conferences at a canter, qualifying for the NCAA tournament, and then both put up valiant fights against their opponents, bowing out with a shout and not a whimper.
In the Division 3 ranks, a similar pall was cast as three teams (Amherst, Bowdoin and Middlebury) in the NESCAC decided not to field men’s teams due to pandemic concerns.
But six other squads rose to the challenge and the conference produced a title contender in Tufts. Though the Jumbos did not ultimately win another national championship, they did give the eventual champion RIT all they could handle in the semis.
