Who has the toughest OOC schedule in 2025?

It’s been said that hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in sports. Whoever said that has never taken a close look at NESCAC lacrosse schedules. These 11 teams face high heat every week, but who will face the toughest tests this spring? Since every NESCAC team plays each other, the best measure of a team’s strength of schedule is its out-of-conference schedule. Based on the final RPI rankings of opponents from last season, we have listed NESCAC teams in order of OOC schedule difficulty. 

The biggest takeaway is that the top NESCAC teams don’t use their non-league games to rest and prepare for the conference contests. Six teams have an average OOC opponents’ RPI of less than 30 while all five of Tufts’ OOC opponents finished in the top 20 last season. Remarkable.

Of course the true strength of schedule for most NESCAC teams is understated by looking only at OOC games. That’s because seven NESCAC teams finished in the top 20 of RPI rankings last year. The NESCAC was once again the strongest D3 conference in the country and should be a gauntlet again in 2025. 

Here are the rankings of teams based on their 2025 strength of schedule.

1. Tufts

2024 Record: 18-3

2024 NESCAC Record: 9-1 

2024 RPI: #1

OOC: RIT (#2), CNU (#10), Babson (#11), Union (#13) & Stevens (#19) 

Average OOC RPI: 11

Games added: N/A

Games dropped: N/A

Notes: The most difficult schedule in the country. The only way to make this even harder would be to add Salisbury, but that game really deserves to be played in late May.

2. Middlebury

2024 Record: 12-9

2024 NESCAC Record: 6-4

2024 RPI: #8

2025 OOC (announced by opponents): St. Lawrence (#6), RPI (#7), Babson (#11),  Springfield (#40)

Average OOC RPI: 16

Games added: N/A

Games dropped: N/A

Notes: Middlebury has not released its schedule as of press time, but it looks to be a repeat of 2024 based on the websites of opposing teams. Only one opponent finished last year outside the top 11 in RPI and that was the always-dangerous Springfield College.

3. Williams

2024 Record: 9-7

2024 NESCAC Record: 6-4 

2024 RPI: 16

OOC:  RPI (#7) CNU (#10), Babson (#11) Union (#13) & MIT (#39)

Average OOC RPI: 16

Games added: N/A

Games dropped: N/A

Notes: Williams decided not to tweak its schedule at all this season, meaning it will face some of the nation’s top programs once again. That should pay dividends in the NCAA playoffs – if those OOC games don’t damage their resume so badly that the Ephs don’t make it to the dance.

4. Bowdoin 

2024 Record: 14-6

2024 NESCAC Record: 8-2

2024 RPI: #4

OOC: Babson (#11), Endicott (#17), Western New England (#31) & MIT (#39) 

Average OOC RPI: 25

Games added: N/A

Games dropped: N/A

Notes: With a more challenging geographical location, Bowdoin is once again traveling no further than Massachusetts for OOC action. Hard to blame them for this strategy since the Polar Bears finished as the #4 RPI team in the nation last year.

5. Amherst

2024 Record: 10-6 

2024 NESCAC Record: 6-4 

2024 RPI: #9

OOC: RPI (#7), Roanoke (#26), Denison (#29) & Springfield College (#40) 

Average OOC RPI: 26

Games added: Roanoke (#26) & Denison (#29)

Games dropped: Swarthmore (#12), Lynchburg (#14) & Gettysburg (#21) 

Notes: Amherst shook up its schedule as much as any NESCAC squad. Although its OOC schedule dropped on paper, Roanoke and Denison are perennially very strong national powers, so there’s no shame in swapping out three other Mid-Atlantic opponents. 

6. Wesleyan

2024 Record: 15-4 

2024 NESCAC Record: 8-2 

2024 RPI: #5

OOC: Salisbury (#3), Stevens (#19), Springfield (#40) & Stockton (#46) 

Average OOC RPI: 27

Games added: Salisbury (#3)

Games dropped: Roanoke (#26) & Salve Regina (#86) 

Notes: The biggest news for Wesleyan is that Coach Raba is bringing his team into the lion’s den/sea gull’s nest on March 8 when they travel to Salisbury. The Gulls will be looking to add to the 10 national championships they’ve won since the turn of the century. 

7. Trinity

2024 Record: 9-7

2024 NESCAC Record: 5-5

2024 RPI: #27

OOC: St. John Fisher (#24), Skidmore (#36), Vassar (#42), Univ. of Scranton (#49), Western Connecticut (#67)

Average OOC RPI: 44

Games added: St. John Fisher (#24) & Vassar (#42)

Games dropped: Coast Guard (#108) & Clark (#113)

Notes: While not as dramatic as adding Salisbury to its schedule, the Bants have significantly upgraded their strength of schedule this year. They have dropped two teams with an RPI over 100 and added SJF and Vassar. 

8. Colby

2024 Record: 6-8

2024 NESCAC Record: 2-8

2024 RPI: 35

OOC: Endicott (#17), MIT (#39) & Maine Maritime (#156)

Average OOC RPI: 71

Games added: Endicott (#17)

Games dropped: St. Joseph’s of Maine (#133) & Univ. of New England (#137) 

Notes: The Mules have only 13 games scheduled to date. That would be the fewest in the NESCAC unless they make a late scheduling tweak. Before you ask whether that means Coach Bernhardt is being over cautious, consider that he added a strong Endicott squad to the calendar and dropped two opponents with and RPI of more than 100.

9. Hamilton

2024 Record: 9-7

2024 NESCAC Record: 4-6

2024 RPI: 18

OOC: Gettysburg (#21), Ithaca (#34), SUNY Oneonta (#87) & Utica (#155)

Average OOC RPI: 74

Games added: Gettysburg (#21) & Ithaca (#34)

Games dropped: Lynchburg (#14), MIT (#39)

Notes: Like Amherst, Hamilton switched out two OOC opponents that were basically a wash with the teams they replaced on the schedule. Based on a defining win over Tufts last year, we wonder if Hamilton will try to upgrade with some more challenging opponents than a couple of local upstate squads.

10. Conn College

2024 Record: 5-9

2024 NESCAC Record: 1-9

2024 RPI: #44

OOC: Grove City (#48), Western Connecticut (#67), Salve Regina (#86), Nichols (#98) & Coast Guard (#108)

Average OOC RPI: 81

Games added: Grove City (#48)

Games dropped: N/A

Notes: Good for the Camels to add some geographic diversity with Grove City, a respected program that was a top 50 in RPI last year. It’s hard to imagine that they would follow Trinity’s lead by dropping crosstown rival Coast Guard, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Babson or MIT added in the future.

11. Bates

2024 Record: 3-11

2024 NESCAC Record: 0-10 

2024 RPI: #52

OOC: F&M (#45), Emerson (#79), Wheaton (#91), Keene State (#93) & Maine Maritime (#156)

Average OOC RPI: 93

Games added: F&M (#45) & Wheaton (#91)

Games dropped: Skidmore (#36)

Notes: Bates expanded from 14 regular season games to 15 this year. As in past years, the Bobcats will get a head start on their NESCAC opponents by kicking off their season with a trip to Franklin & Marshall on February 19. They will then squeeze in another game against Emerson while the rest of the league is still doing scrimmages and practices.