One of the strangest conferences in recent history writes its final chapter this fall. The Atlantic Central Football Conference will close up shop after 13 seasons.
Members: Frostburg State Bobcats, Newport News Apprentice Builders, Salisbury Sea Gulls, and Wesley Wolverines.
The ACFC was formed back in 1998 as several schools relatively close to the Chesapeake Bay area decided to forego independence in search of an automatic path to the D-III playoffs. They never did accomplish this feat; in fact, with the exception of the four remaining members, nobody ever stayed in the conference for more than four years. Despite this, eight times in thirteen years the conference champion did in fact reach the playoffs, and in one season (2007) two teams made it.
And all that with the “handicap” of having a team in the conference that literally does not even count when people are poring over your resume. We’re not talking “oh, they beat New Mexico” here. I mean it flat-out doesn’t even count.
The conference is in its final year, as Frostburg and Salisbury will both be joining the Empire 8 (temporarily, so that the E8 can retain their automatic bid, unless everyone grows comfortable with the arrangement) in 2011. That will leave Wesley and Apprentice as independents.
Wesley has won eight conference titles, including the last five. Those five titles, plus one in 2000, resulted in 6 D-III playoff appearances, going 12-6 (reaching the semifinals in 2005, 2006, and 2009). Frostburg State has won three, including back-to-back in 2002 and 2003; however, they have not reached the playoffs as a member of the conference. The remaining title was won by Salisbury in 2004. The Sea Gulls also reached the playoffs in 2002 (over Frostburg, despite FSU’s conference title) and 2007, but were eliminated in the first round each time. Thus, the conference’s overall record in the post-season is 12-9 in 9 appearances.
TIDBITS:
Frostburg State has hovered near .500 for the entirety of the conference’s history. Indeed, they managed to win the conference title in 2002 and 2003 despite overall records of 6-5 and 4-5.
Newport News Apprentice is not an NCAA member. In fact, it’s not even a college. It’s a trade school responsible for turning out shipbuilders. But they’ve fielded a football team for longer than most people can remember, and although their games do not count for any regional ranking purposes, the NCAA has made a “special relationship” with the school. They’re not particularly competitive.
Salisbury was a quality program in the 80s under Mike McGlinchey, but were then an afterthought until 2002. Since then, under Sherman Wood, they have become Wesley’s primary headache.
Wesley has now reached the point where their only unmet goal is making it to the Stagg Bowl. The program is tied for sixth among all D-III teams in playoff winning percentage, but haven’t managed to clear that hurdle yet. Mike Drass took over the program in 1993 and has never had a losing season, compiling a career record of 143-44-1. A quarter of those losses occurred in 2002-2004; the Wolverines haven’t lost three games in a season since that downswing.