The Top Team in the Northeast Conference the Last Three Years

This is the first post in our 24-part #SuperSquad series recognizing the best teams in every single Division I FBS & FCS Conference over the last three years, and the coaches & upper-classmen who make up those squads.

Congratulations Central Connecticut Blue Devils for being the Northeast Conference’s best team overall, the last three years!
(And for becoming Hierank’s first recognized Super Squad, ever!)

Special Honors to the 42 student athletes who were on the roster each of these three seasons, 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, listed by their name & position according to the Blue Devils’ rosters, here:

Tyshaun James QB/WR, Kristian Sapp RB, Mike Mushaw OLB, Emanuel Scott WR, Xavier Bass WR, Tajik Bagley DB, Antwann Anderson WR, Keonte Lucas RB, Aaron Dawson RB, Enyce Walker RB, Michon Hunt LB, Kendall Coles DB, Anthony Caramanica S, Joseph Zoppi K, Niam Coward DE, DJ Exilhomme DB, Tony Razor DL, Danley Exilhomme RB, Kyle Enrique LS/TE, Brandon Desautels P/K, Tre Jones OLB, Frederick Allen III LB/TE, DeQuan Williams OLB, Craig Wood OL, Neil Tompkins OL, Duane Rogers OL, J’Von Brown OL, Cole Phelps OL, Brandon Scott OL, JJ Colimon OL, Cheickna Doucoure OL, Connor Mignone OL, Trevon Lincoln OL, Jake Schena OL, Dusan Etienne OL, Arthur Gilmore TE, Christian Heyward WR, Theo Zidor TE, Byron Dickens DL, Ifeanyi Okorji DL, Brandon Puritt DL, Justin Kennedy DL.

Before getting deeper into their accolades though, let’s count down the conference runners-up, from worst-to-first:

---

7th

Robert Morris Colonials, #240

2.1 Super Squad Rating

Going 2-9 and winless in the NEC two years in a row from 2017 through 2018 really hurt the Colonials on this list. But with a 7-5 finish last year and only one loss within the conference hopefully they’ll be moving up soon!

---

6th

Wagner Seahawks, #226

2.3 Super Squad Rating

With their best season (not great at that) in 2017, and going 1-11 last year, Wagner has the look of a downward-trajectory program with a tough outlook for 2020.

---

5th

Bryant Bulldogs, #222

2.4 Super Squad Rating

As we reach the middle-of-the road in the weakest-showing FCS Conference, we finally run into our second-and-third winning seasons, both with Bryant at a mediocre 6-5. The Bulldogs then went 4-8 last year, finishing this tenure with much to be desired, but no great humiliations over the three year span.

---

4th

St. Francis (PA) Red Flash, #191

3.0 Super Squad Rating

Despite zero winning seasons and slightly-worse overall & conference records than the Bulldogs behind them, the Red Flash managed to rank ahead of Bryant in overall power at the end of every single season.
In 2017 and 2019 they cleared #172 & #177, both ahead of Bryant’s best showing, in 2017 at #194.

---

3rd

Sacred Heart Pioneers, #177

3.2 Super Squad Rating

We finally reach our first conference champion on the list! Sacred heart had 7 losses in the first of these three seasons, but 7 wins each season after that, sharing the Conference Championship with Duquesne in the 2018-19 Season, each at 5-1 in the NEC, despite Duquesne having two more outside wins, at 9-4 Overall.

---

2nd

Duquesne Dukes, #151

3.9 Super Squad Rating

Three Fun Facts:

• The Dukes are the first team on this list with three winning seasons.
• Despite sharing the 2018-19 NEC Championship with Sacred Heart, Hierank had the Dukes (9-4, 5-1 NEC) as superior, at #130 vs the Pioneers (7-4, 5-1 NEC), who were ranked #138.
• Human error happens. We almost wrongly awarded Duquesne with the Super Squad award (and were questioning our own methods, looking at records & Championships) when we discovered we wrongly documented an embarrassing Dukes’ Loss to a weak Bryant team in 2017, as a Win. That single error, once corrected, smoothed it all out. We re-figured the listings accordingly, which luckily did not badly shake up results outside NEC, but it SUUUCCKED to redo.

---

WINNER

Central Connecticut Blue Devils, #144

4.1 Super Squad Rating

With two NEC Championships, and only two conferences losses in the entire period – it’s fair to say that the Central Connecticut Blue Devils have DOMINATED the FCS Northeast Conference since Fall of 2017.

Congratulations to the Blue Devils’ coaches, staff, administrators, all players, and especially the 42 young men present on the roster all three years.

---