{"id":50,"date":"2010-10-17T05:06:09","date_gmt":"2010-10-17T10:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/?p=50"},"modified":"2010-10-21T11:40:21","modified_gmt":"2010-10-21T16:40:21","slug":"get-to-know-centennial-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/2010\/10\/17\/get-to-know-centennial-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to Know: Centennial Conference."},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we’ll be on the east coast.\u00a0 Our first stop: Pennsylvania, with a brief excursion to Baltimore, as we pay a visit to the Centennial Conference<\/strong>.
\nMembers<\/strong>: Dickinson Red Devils, Franklin & Marshall Diplomats, Gettysburg Bullets, Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, McDaniel Green Terror, Muhlenberg Mules, and Ursinus Bears.\u00a0 The Juniata Eagles, Moravian Greyhounds, and Susquehanna Crusaders are associate members for football.\u00a0 The Bryn Mawr Owls, Haverford Fords, Swarthmore Garnet, and Washington (MD) Shoremen are non-football members.<\/p>\n

In 1983, eight members of the Middle Atlantic Conference (the seven full football-playing members plus Swarthmore) split away from the unwieldy MAC to form a separate football league (remaining in the MAC for basketball and other sports).\u00a0 In 1992, the conference became an all-sports league, adding Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Washington.\u00a0 Swarthmore dropped football following the 2000 season, and Juniata and Moravian became associate members in 2007, as did Susquehanna beginning this year.
\nThe commonality among the conference members is that they are all highly selective private colleges with very strong academic reputations.\u00a0 One interesting side-effect of this is that the Centennial Conference’s history is one of the best-documented in all of Division III; in the earliest days of the web, the Centennial was one of the few conferences in any division with a meaningful (and navigable, and professionally designed) web presence.\u00a0 It’s the D-III conference I first became particularly interested in, because it was the first one I could actually follow reliably.<\/p>\n

Football:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The conference title has been spread around fairly liberally; each of the eight charter members with the exception of Ursinus has won or shared the title at least twice.\u00a0 Dickinson has done the most damage, capturing at least a share of 9 titles.\u00a0 Muhlenberg has won or shared 8 titles, McDaniel 7, Franklin & Marshall 6, Johns Hopkins 5, Gettysburg 3, Swarthmore 2, and Ursinus 1.<\/p>\n

The conference has an overall winning record in non-conference play, but has struggled against top-flight competition.\u00a0 Historically, the conference has only a 9-28 record against ranked competition in non-conference play, and only twice have conference teams defeated top-10 opponents outside the conference (McDaniel over #10 Catholic in 1999 and Muhlenberg over #10 Salisbury in 2007).\u00a0 Those figures include the D-III playoffs, so you can guess what’s coming next: the Centennial has not experienced much post-season success at all.\u00a0 The Centennial has held an automatic Pool A bid since 1996.\u00a0 Aside from 1985, when there were only 16 teams in the tournament and Gettysburg reached the semifinals, the Centennial has sent exactly one team past the second round in its entire history, and that was last year when Johns Hopkins bowed out in the quarterfinals.\u00a0 The conference’s overall record in the playoffs is a dismal 9-18.\u00a0 1999 is the only year in which a second team reached the playoffs; both McDaniel and Ursinus managed to get to the second round that year.<\/p>\n

TIDBITS:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Dickinson <\/strong>ruled the roost under head coach Ed Sweeney from 1988-92, winning the title outright four straight years (89-92) and sharing it in 1988.\u00a0 Sweeney moved on to Colgate in 1993 and was replaced by current coach Darwin Breaux, who led the Red Devils to a share of the next two titles before the team hit a downswing.\u00a0 It’s bounced up and down since, capturing two more titles along the way.\u00a0 Breaux is the winningest coach in Dickinson history (by number of wins).\u00a0 Curiously, given Dickinson’s success in the Centennial, they never once won or shared a division title in the MAC.<\/p>\n

Franklin & Marshall<\/strong> frequently won the MAC South title (7 titles from 1964-1976) before the Centennial split off.\u00a0 They experienced success in the late ’80s, sharing three straight conference titles.\u00a0 They dipped as the 90s began, and then turned schizophrenic; a share of the title in 1993 was followed by a 1-9 record in 1994, only to rebound and win the title again in 1995.\u00a0 All of this took place under the eye of coach Tom Gilburg, whose career at F&M began in 1975 and ended following the 2002 season with a record of 160-112-2.\u00a0 He’s the winningest coach in CC history, taking into account all games.<\/p>\n

Gettysburg<\/strong>‘s Barry Streeter is the winningest coach in CC history, taking into account only conference wins (89); he’s two wins behind Gilburg overall after yesterday’s 56-21 win over Juniata, so that’s something to keep an eye on through the rest of the season. Streeter has been in charge since 1978, save for 2004 when he was on family leave.\u00a0 The Bullets shared the first two Centennial titles, and won the third outright in 1985.\u00a0 They haven’t finished in first place since.\u00a0 1985 also saw Gettysburg reach the semifinals of the D-III tournament.\u00a0 Gettysburg is the sole member of the conference to have once been considered a “major” college program, playing in the University Division of the MAC prior to 1969 (and winning that league’s title in 1964).<\/p>\n

Johns Hopkins<\/strong> was never much of a football school over the years.\u00a0 A pair of 1-9 seasons in 1988-89 cost then-coach Jerry Pfeifer his job.\u00a0 He was replaced by Jim Margraff, who in the 20 seasons since has only managed to accumulate the best winning percentage by any JHU coach with more than five seasons at the helm.\u00a0 Keeping with the theme of coaching milestones, Margraff entered the season three wins behind Streeter in conference games; he’s now two back, as JHU is a single game ahead of Gettysburg as of this morning.\u00a0 As mentioned above, Hopkins reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 D-III playoffs, which is the best performance of any Centennial team since 1985.<\/p>\n

Juniata <\/strong>wasn’t particularly potent in the MAC (although they did lose the very first D-III championship game back in 1973).\u00a0 They’ve been positively toothless since joining the Centennial, sporting a horrendous 3-34 record (2-28 in conference).<\/p>\n

McDaniel <\/strong>suffered through years of agony after winning the 1962 and 1963 MAC South titles.\u00a0 They averaged about three wins a year from 1981-1992 before Tim Keating took over the program.\u00a0 Yahtzee; within five years, he had the Green Terror atop the conference, and they won four straight outright titles from 1997-2000, plus a share of the following two.\u00a0 Things have been a little ugly the last several years (only three wins total in 2007-2008), but they got back to .500 last year and are currently 4-2 this year, so Keating has them back on the right track.<\/p>\n

Moravian <\/strong>was a middle-of-the-pack sort of team in the MAC; they won the 1970 MAC South title, shared the 1988 MAC crown, and won the 1993 MAC Commonwealth title before moving to the Centennial.\u00a0 They received tournament bids in the latter two years.\u00a0 The Greyhounds were average their first year in the conference, bad the second, and pretty damned good last year.\u00a0 They’re back to mediocre this year.\u00a0 Scot Dapp has led the team since 1987, and has 138 wins under his belt.<\/p>\n

Muhlenberg <\/strong>was a good team in the early years of the conference under Ralph Kircheneiter, but spent seven very uncomfortable years at or near the bottom of the standings after he retired.\u00a0 Mike Donnelly took over in 1997, and the Mules have since won or shared six conference titles and made five tournament appearances.<\/p>\n

Susquehanna <\/strong>joined the conference this year after a somewhat vagabond existence.\u00a0 They won or shared eight titles of various stripes in the MAC years, and shared last year’s Liberty League championship before jumping ship, bringing with them three D-III playoff appearances.\u00a0 Steve Briggs becomes the sixth member of the Centennial’s 100-win club, having guided the Crusaders since 1990.<\/p>\n

Ursinus <\/strong>has had an essentially harmless existence in the Centennial; in 1996 they went unbeaten in the conference and captured their only conference title before losing in the first round of the D-III playoffs.\u00a0 They also received a bid in 1999, reaching the second round.\u00a0 The current coach is Peter Gallagher (presumably not the actor with the giant unibrow), who is a relative baby in this conference, having “only” been in charge since 2000.<\/p>\n

It’s my general policy that I’ll only tidbit teams that are actually in the conference, but I cannot allow this piece to press without mentioning Swarthmore<\/strong>, whose elimination of football still irks a lot of folks.\u00a0 The nail was hammered into their coffin with three straight winless conference seasons from 1996-1998, followed by a 1-8 campaign in 1999.\u00a0 Naturally, after the announcement that football would be canceled, the Garnet went out and finished 5-5 in 2000.\u00a0 Go figure.<\/p>\n

Basketball:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Centennial began playing basketball in 1994.\u00a0 In the 16 years since, Franklin & Marshall leads the way with five conference titles, followed by Ursinus with four, Gettysburg with three, Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins with two, and Dickinson with one.\u00a0 Franklin & Marshall is the reigning champion.<\/p>\n

The men have compiled a 26-25 record in the NCAA tournament as members of the conference, with four Final Four appearances (each of which ended with a loss in the consolation game).\u00a0 ranklin & Marshall has been responsible for three of these, including 2009; Ursinus recorded the other in 2008.\u00a0 Last year, F&M came just short of yet another Final Four, losing in the regional final.\u00a0 Including years prior to 1994, the overall record is 56-50, eight Final Fours, and one second-place finish.<\/p>\n

TIDBITS:<\/strong><\/em>
\nBryn Mawr<\/strong> is a women’s school, so they don’t have a men’s basketball team, duh.<\/p>\n

Dickinson <\/strong>won the 1997 men’s title, but lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.\u00a0 They also appeared in the 1982 tournament, also bowing out in the first round.<\/p>\n

Franklin & Marshall<\/strong> has represented the conference well.\u00a0 The men won the first conference title, and the most recent; they’ve made eight appearances in the NCAA tournament, including Final Fours in 1996, 2000, and 2009, with a record of 21-11 (which includes three consolation game losses).\u00a0 Prior to Centennial play, the Diplomats made 13 appearances, going 15-14, with two additional Final Four trips: 1979, where they once again lost in the consolation game, and 1991, ending as runner-up to Wisconsin-Platteville.\u00a0 In total, the Diplomats sport an all-time 36-25 tournament record with six appearances in the Final Four.\u00a0 Not. Too. Shabby.\u00a0 Glenn Robinson has been the Diplomats’ head coach for 39 years, dating back to 1972; he has accumulated 782 victories.<\/p>\n

Gettysburg <\/strong>captured the 2001, 2002, and 2009 men’s titles.\u00a0 They’ve made five appearances in the tournament (receiving at-large bids in 1996 and 2009), going 2-5 with four first-round losses and a trip to the third round in 2008 before losing to conference rival Ursinus.\u00a0 The Bullets have been guided by George Petrie since 1990.<\/p>\n

Haverford <\/strong>is bad at basketball, although they did share the east division regular season title in 1996, and reached the final of the 2007 CC tournament before falling to Johns Hopkins.\u00a0 Despite all this futility, Michael Mucci enters his 16th season as head coach.<\/p>\n

Johns Hopkins<\/strong> won the 1999 and 2007 titles, and also received at-large bids in 1994 and 1998.\u00a0 They also reached the tournament in 1990-1992 before Centennial play began.\u00a0 They’ve gone 2-4 as a member of the conference, and 5-7 overall, only reaching the third round once (1990). Interestingly, due to goofy seeding, they’ve been eliminated by F&M three times, and eliminated F&M once.\u00a0 Bill Nelson has racked up 392 wins as coach since 1987.<\/p>\n

McDaniel <\/strong>is bad at basketball, too, and don’t even have any highlights to salve the wound.\u00a0 However, they’ve shown much improvement in the last three years under coach Kevin Curley; the Green Terror have gone 41-36 in those three years.\u00a0 That’s a winning record, which no McDaniel coach has managed in the Centennial era.<\/p>\n

Muhlenberg <\/strong>won the conference title in 1995 and 1998.\u00a0 Those two years represent their only NCAA appearances; they lost in the first round both times (to F&M in 1995).\u00a0 Scott McClary enters his second season as the Mules’ head coach; he replaced Dave Madeira, who recorded 311 wins in 22 years at the helm.<\/p>\n

Swarthmore <\/strong>shared the east division regular season title in 1995, and lost the 1997 conference tournament final.\u00a0 Sounds like Haverford.\u00a0 Lee Wimberly has a career record of 178-392, but he’s still there and has been since 1988.<\/p>\n

Ursinus <\/strong>captured the 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008 conference titles.\u00a0 They also received bids, pre-Centennial, in 1980, 1981 and 1982.\u00a0 Their overall tournament record is 10-8, with two trips to the Final Four (one third place, one fourth).\u00a0 Kevin Small enters his 11th season in charge, and he’s already got 172 wins to show for it.<\/p>\n

Washington (MD)<\/strong> won the 1997 east division regular season title, and lost the 1999 conference tournament final.\u00a0 The Shoremen, at least, have something to point to in the past; prior to Centennial play, Washington appeared in three NCAA tournaments, going 5-3 including a trip to the Final Four in 1990.\u00a0 They lost in the consolation game, too; Centennial teams have lost five consolation games in history, which is easily the record.\u00a0 In the glory days, the Shoremen were coached by Tom Finnegan, who won 379 games between 1971-2000.<\/p>\n

Brief notes on the women:<\/strong><\/p>\n

McDaniel, Muhlenberg, and Johns Hopkins are historically the better teams in the conference.\u00a0 The furthest a Centennial team has gotten in the NCAAs is JHU’s quarterfinal loss to Scranton in 1997.\u00a0 Overall NCAA record in the Centennial era is 22-24; 25-30 all-time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we’ll be on the east coast.\u00a0 Our first stop: Pennsylvania, with a brief excursion to Baltimore, as we pay a visit to the Centennial Conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,14],"tags":[19,11],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-division-iii","category-get-to-know-a-conference","tag-centennial","tag-d3"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p185sV-O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/90"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}