2011 conference predictions

I’m back for another year after the long offseason hiatus. I’ve had a few of you ask about my search for work in a sports information department. Thank you very much for your concern, but no, I did not land an SID job despite mutual interest at universities in central Florida, southwestern Wisconsin and southeastern Michigan among others.

The silver lining to that regrettable bit of news is that I’ll be around to update this little slice of the Internet and, with any luck, provide a useful informational service that facilitates discussion as the season gets underway.

The first real post of the season will be my predicted regular-season winners in each of the 42 Pool A conferences, and links to those conference sites. If there are changes to the Pool A conferences from last season, please let me know before the new Handbook is published. As always, let me know where you think I’m wrong. I know the incoming recruits for several teams in the Central and Midwest regions, but the predictions for conferences in other regions are based purely on last season’s rosters (and the sprinkling of teams that have posted 2011 rosters).

My next post will be my preseason Top 10 (and the next 15, in no set order). A hint at my Top 10 – last year’s champ is not atop my rankings.

Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
2010 regular season champ: Pitt-Bradford
2010 tournament champ: Pitt-Bradford
2011 predicted champion: Penn State Altoona

American Southwest Conference
2010 regular season champ: Texas Lutheran, Hardin-Simmons (West); Texas-Dallas (East)
2010 tournament champ: Hardin-Simmons
2011 predicted champion: Hardin-Simmons (West), Texas-Dallas (East)

Capital Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Frostburg
2010 tournament champ: Frostburg
2011 predicted champion: Mary Washington

Centennial Conference
2010 regular season champ: Haverford
2010 tournament champ: Franklin & Marshall
2011 predicted champion: Johns Hopkins

City University of New York Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Hunter
2010 tournament champ: Hunter
2011 predicted champion: Hunter

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
2010 regular season champ: Millikin
2010 tournament champ: Carthage
2011 predicted champion: Carthage

Colonial States Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Cabrini
2010 tournament champ: Cabrini
2011 predicted champion: Neumann

Commonwealth Coast Conference
2010 regular season champ: Roger Williams
2010 tournament champ: Roger Williams
2011 predicted champion: Roger Williams

Commonwealth Conference
2010 regular season champ: Elizabethtown
2010 tournament champ: Lebanon Valley
2011 predicted champion: Elizabethtown

Empire 8
2010 regular season champ: Ithaca
2010 tournament champ: Ithaca
2011 predicted champion: Ithaca

Freedom Conference
2010 regular season champ: Eastern
2010 tournament champ: Eastern
2011 predicted champion: Eastern

Great Northeast Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Johnson & Wales
2010 tournament champ: Johnson & Wales
2011 predicted champion: Rivier

Great South Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Huntingdon
2010 tournament champ: Piedmont
2011 predicted champion: Huntingdon

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Transylvania
2010 tournament champ: Mount St. Joseph
2011 predicted champion: Transylvania

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Loras
2010 tournament champ: Wartburg
2011 predicted champion: Wartburg

Landmark Conference
2010 regular season champ: Juniata
2010 tournament champ: Juniata
2011 predicted champion: Juniata

Little East Conference
2010 regular season champ: UMass Boston
2010 tournament champ: UMass Boston
2011 predicted champion: UMass Boston

Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Westfield State
2010 tournament champ: Westfield State
2011 predicted champion: Westfield State

Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
2010 regular season champ: Hope
2010 tournament champ: Hope
2011 predicted champion: Calvin

Midwest Conference
2010 regular season champ: Monmouth
2010 tournament champ: Beloit
2011 predicted champion: St. Norbert

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: St. Olaf
2010 tournament champ: St. Olaf
2011 predicted champion: Concordia-Moorhead

New England Collegiate Conference
2010 regular season champ: Daniel Webster
2010 tournament champ: Lesley
2011 predicted champion: Daniel Webster

New England Small College Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Amherst
2010 tournament champ: Middlebury
2011 predicted champion: Amherst

New England Women’s and Men’s Athletics Conference
2010 regular season champ: Springfield
2010 tournament champ: Coast Guard
2011 predicted champion: Coast Guard

New Jersey Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Richard Stockton
2010 tournament champ: Richard Stockton
2011 predicted champion: Richard Stockton

North Atlantic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Maine Maritime
2010 tournament champ: Maine Maritime
2011 predicted champion: Maine Maritime

North Coast Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Wittenberg
2010 tournament champ: Wittenberg
2011 predicted champion: Wittenberg

North Eastern Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Keuka (North), Gallaudet (South)
2010 tournament champ: Gallaudet
2011 predicted champion: SUNYIT (North), Gallaudet (South)

Northern Athletics Conference
2010 regular season champ: Concordia (Wis.)
2010 tournament champ: Dominican
2011 predicted champion: Edgewood

Northwest Conference (no tourney)
2010 regular season champ: Whitworth
2011 predicted champion: Whitworth

Ohio Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Heidelberg
2010 tournament champ: Heidelberg
2011 predicted champion: Heidelberg

Old Dominion Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Washington & Lee
2010 tournament champ: Randolph-Macon
2011 predicted champion: Washington & Lee

Presidents’ Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Thomas More
2010 tournament champ: Thomas More
2011 predicted champion: Thomas More

Skyline Conference
2010 regular season champ: Mount Saint Mary
2010 tournament champ: NYU-Poly
2011 predicted champion: Mount Saint Mary

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Cal Lutheran
2010 tournament champ: Cal Lutheran
2011 predicted champion: Occidental

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Colorado
2010 tournament champ: Colorado
2011 predicted champion: Southwestern

St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Greenville
2010 tournament champ: Greenville
2011 predicted champion: Greenville

State University of New York Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Cortland (East), Fredonia (West)
2010 tournament champ: Cortland
2011 predicted champion: Cortland (East), Fredonia (West)

University Athletic Association
2010 regular season champ: Emory
2010 tournament champ: Emory
2011 predicted champion: Emory

Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: St. Scholastica
2010 tournament champ: Northwestern
2011 predicted champion: St. Scholastica

USA South Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: Christopher Newport
2010 tournament champ: Christopher Newport
2011 predicted champion: Christopher Newport

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2010 regular season champ: UW-Eau Claire
2010 tournament champ: UW-Platteville
2011 predicted champion: UW-Platteville

-Ricky Nelson

Videos I shot and co-produced

These are from the good old days, but I thought I’d share them. A fellow classmate and I produced these UW Oshkosh videos four years ago as part of a project that included a now-defunct volleyball website. This blog was one component of that project.

I’ll have my predictions for all 42 Pool A conferences sometime next week (I hope). I’ll also roll out my Preseason Top 10 in the weeks to follow. In the meantime, hello, and welcome back!

-Ricky Nelson