AN OVERVIEW OF THE NAAF COLLEGE WORLD - IN DEVELOPMENT

Hello everyone,

This is going to be a bit of an aside from the main story for a moment. I know I have been quite busy and the project has been a little slower. And to, well, make it even slower I have decided to try and build the world around the league a little bit more. One thing that has been mostly absent in the NAAF Universe is college football. At the very base level all players come out of college and just appear right at the draft, nothing more is added to their storyline. Now, back in the first decade of the league, there were several times that I did mention real colleges, even had that as an option in the scouting report for those creating players (I want to note those will likely be retconned or changed to fit the new world that I am building now). But I have also stated at some point that the real colleges now no longer exist in the world (well technically never should have existed). I mainly did not want to touch the college world (especially in a historic context) because I just did not know much about what the landscape was like and did not want to have to learn it all just for a minor part of the whole project. However, after developing my own college and getting to know the college world a little more through the AltCAA, I have decided to actually flesh out the college world a little more. 

I have currently developed a pair of conferences that play Hybrid football that I will go in-depth in and then I may highlight some more colleges that continue to play American ball and will be mentioned at points with players coming from those colleges as well. So, here we go.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE NAAF COLLEGE WORLD - IN DEVELOPMENT

The college world at the dawn of the NAAF, of course, played mainly American and Canadian Football. And it remained that way for the first decade or so of the NAAF, but slowly some colleges specifically in the New England area and Quebec decided to start to move towards using Hybrid rules. During the 1950s the growing popularity of Hybrid Football and the NAAF had grabbed much attention. Some younger players desiring to play the sport at a younger age and started to break into Semi-pro leagues rather than go to colleges, and people of power within the colleges also saw the attraction of the new sport. Seeing some high talent players make this jump and the potential upside, the colleges, especially in New England, looking to now provide the opportunity by making the switch. It was certainly difficult seeing that they couldn’t just play a different ruleset and remain in the same conferences they were in before. Eventually, they would pair up with some smaller schools in New England and even some from Canada to start to form a smaller branch of football conferences that would play hybrid ball. 

When the switchover happened, there were only so many schools involved. There were about 4 schools in Canada and 7 in New England, but as the years have gone on there are now 2 conferences of 12 schools each. Some of the original schools have dropped down to a lower level conference as well, so there has been much expansion in these conferences with several more looking at the opportunity to switch.

Now to look at the schools in each conference currently.

Starting in Canada with the

CANADA EAST HYBRID CONFERENCE (CEHC):

Original Conference schools (Mainly Quebec):

Université de Saint-Laurent (University of St.Lawrence)
Location: Quebec City, QC
Mascot: Cavaliers de Rivière (River Riders)
Notable Players: QB Charles Lemieux, RB Jimmy Golden, WR Alexei Dubois
St.Lawrence has become a dominant school in Quebec. One of the few I have mentioned in the league before, St.Lawrence will be notable for having a great team that featured all 3 players listed above. They have continued to be the best Canadian school in the shocking Hybrid Football hotbed that is in Quebec City. 

Majeure Université de Montréal (Major University of Montreal)
Location: Montreal, QC
Mascot: Insulaires (Islanders)
Notable Players: RB Élisée Marchal, DL Hubert Tessier, OL Eugésippe Chalifoux
Major Montreal used to be a satellite school to Major University of Quebec known as MUQ-Montreal, but in recent years, they have become larger than the Quebec City branch and are now their own university. This is the primary French-speaking University in Montreal and has historically been the best football school in Quebec.

Montreal Provincial University
Location: Montreal, QC
Mascot: Panthers
Notable Players: DL Zakary Turbide, LB Sebastian Andrews III, TE Jesse Butler
Montreal Provincial is the primary English University within Montreal. They have not had the best success when it comes to football, but in more recent years, they have started to keep pace with their Montreal rivals, which is evident with the younger talent of TE Jesse Butler.

Rideau University
Location: Ottawa, ON
Mascot: Rams
Notable Players: QB Jean Matieau, WR Allen Atkins, WR Cedric Peterson
Rideau has had a lot of historic success. In recent years, they have fallen behind the Quebec schools and even the other Ontario schools. However, this is an important university as it has several connections to the NAAF with the commissioner and founder Ryan Jameson being an alumnus, and Greg McNeil, the co-owner and husband of fellow co-owner of the Royals, Laura McNeil, is a professor at the University. 

Those 4 programs were the major programs in Canada for a while. Several other schools joined the conference over the years, but they did not last long. Only a smaller school out of Sherbrooke stuck around.

Université du Mont-Bellevue (University of Mont Bellevue)
Location: Sherbrooke, QC
Mascot: Geais bleus (Blue Jays)
Notable Players: No NAAF Players
Mont-Bellevue is the smallest of the Quebec schools. The football program is very new, so they certainly will not be a top school in the conference. They are hoping to attract attention from the Southern part of the province to bring in some talent and grow the program.

The conference’s modern look had a major restructure along with the addition of the OFU/Toronto Steelheads into the NAAF. This expansion would see the major Ontario and Maritime Schools join the CEHC. 

Here are the Ontario Schools

Toronto University
Location: Toronto, ON
Mascot: Dukes
Notable Players: LB Rusty McVee, RB Scott Mallard-White, LB Marshall Langenbrunner
Toronto University is certainly one of the more obnoxious schools when it comes to sports, which is only magnified by the fact that they are good and the fans get really into it. The school produces a lot of good players, with a specialty on defence. They have been the more popular destination for athletes looking to break into the professional level as they have more space to focus on athletics.

St.George University
Location: Toronto, ON
Mascot: Maples
Notable Players: QB Todd Baker, WR Casey Coleman, WR Yahui Sun
St.George is the rival to Toronto, but the school has a larger focus on academics than that of Toronto. Thus, players looking for a strong education to back up their football dreams tend to come to the school. Players from St.George tend to be not quite as athletically talented, but they are usually on the smarter end of football IQ.

University of Hamilton
Location: Hamilton, ON
Mascot: Howlers
Notable Players: RB Corbyn Knight, LB Zane Tannith, RB Austin Andrews
Hamilton has generally found its spot as the 3rd school in Ontario, but in recent seasons they have made pushes to challenge the top 2 and even fight for a conference championship or two. It was certainly been helped by some of the young talent they have produced over the last few seasons and will likely continue to rise with more fans supporting them in the absence of the Steelers bringing increased funds.

London University
Location: London, ON
Mascot: Foresters
Notable Players: OL Barry Florence, K Nimrod Handsworth
London is another younger program, but it has grown a lot since the Tigers arrived in town. The school is very focused on growing the sport in the city, even helping to get funding for some high schools in the area and recruit from surrounding towns. London’s future could see some more talent come through. The players that have come through have already made a significant impact, most notably Nimrod Handsworth

Kitchener-Waterloo Provincial University
Location: Kitchener, ON
Mascot: Beavers
Notable Players: DB Jackson Miles
K-W plays out of Kitchener-Waterloo City Field where the Tigers played for several seasons. The Tigers’ time in Kitchener had a similar effect that they are having in London currently. Jackson Miles is a prime example of this effect. K-W is hoping to continue to bring in new talent from rural Ontario, but could easily run into some conflict with London and create a bit of a rivalry.

And last the Maritimes

University of Nova Scotia
Location: Dartmouth, NS
Mascot: Armada
Notable Players: TE Ryan Hatcher, WR Nathan Murray-Lawrence, DL Sammy Pickett
Nova Scotia is growing quite quickly out in Dartmouth. The largest school in the Maritimes has always had a solid program, but it seems to be taking another step forward with the Mariners in town and more prospects getting to the next level. Nova Scotia is looking very strong to eventually get into the top half of this conference.

Université Provinciale du Nouveau-Brunswick (New Brunswick Provincial University)
Location: Moncton, NB
Mascot: Pirates
Notable Players: LB Douglas MacDougall
The last of the Canadian schools is UPNB, which is probably the weakest of the programs in Canada. UPNB doesn’t have many players to note at the NAAF level and they aren’t exactly looking like a program that will jump out of the gate. Nova Scotia is likely going to be the school with the larger pull in the Maritimes which may hurt UPNB in the near future.

Now to head down south to look at the

AMERICA EAST HYBRID CONFERENCE (AEHC):

Starting with the New England area teams that generally made up the original conference

University of New England
Location: Boston, MA
Mascot: Cardinals
Notable Players: DL Lonnie Vincent, RB Marcus Devonshire, WR Max Sutton
New England has risen as the dominant school in the Northeast. It is the larger of the two major Boston schools. The school is younger but has grown to be more accessible than the cross-city rival Cambridge of Boston. The Cardinals will likely have many top prospects coming through to the NAAF for years to come.

Cambridge University of Boston
Location: Boston, MA
Mascot: Cubs
Notable Players: QB Larry Larson, QB Connor O’Rourke, WR Taylor Karis
Similar to the dynamic that Toronto and St.George have, CUB is not as strong athletically, but they are the stronger school in academic standing. The school seems to still produce some good QB prospects with both Larry Larson and Connor O’Rourke being alumni. The team also had a different name originally, but people called them the Cubs due to the school abbreviation of CUB. 

Rhode Island State University
Location: Warwick, RI
Mascot: Bulldogs
Notable Players: DB Lee Wolfe, DB Slay Mitchell, WR Zachariah Pembroke
RISU has developed a strong rivalry with the U of New England over the years. They have produced plenty of talent over the years, many of which have played with the Gold Stars. The Bulldogs are still looking to dethrone the Cardinals at the top of the America East Conference.

Haynes University
Location: East Hartford, CT
Mascot: Colonials
Notable Players: QB Lyle Painter, DB Mordecai King, DB Dean Hawkins
Another historic school, Haynes has been a bit of an up and down program. They had success in the early 50s with Painter under centre, but they have kinda been in the wilderness as a program for a while. They have started to recover in the last season or two and could push the top 4 in the conference in the near future.

West Massachusetts State University (West Mass State)
Location: Springfield, MA
Mascot: Rangers
Notable Players: S Garet deVale, LB Gene Bensen, WR Doug Piva
The Athletics played a game at West Mass State’s stadium during their travelling season. The school is a bit of a middle-of-the-road school in the conference, sometimes pushing the top 5, but usually finding a spot between 6-8. They usually can get a solid player or two that makes a mark on the NAAF, but they won’t be a gold mine.

Maine State University
Location: Saco, ME
Mascot: Acadians
Notable Players: LB Brent Harper, DL Olaf Viktorsson, OL Magnus Gunnersson
Maine has had some strong play over the years being a school of choice for many prospects in the more northern regions of New England. Some of the most notable prospects from Maine St. have been overlooked early in the draft and then have turned into consistent elite All-Stars in the NAAF (Harper and Viktorsson). Maine St. Remains a consistent school in the conference but never seems to quite be good enough for a title.

Concord-Manchester University
Location: Bow, NH
Mascot: Fighting Pike
Notable Players: DL Dale Rothery, LB Sam Fitzroy, DB Amos King
CMU is a much weaker school in the conference. There have been a few bright spots with LB Sam Fitzroy, but also some tough ones with DL Dale Rothery being one of the more notable busts in the NAAF. CMU is usually near the bottom of the conference and will not see a lot of top prospects coming through.

Vermont Republic University
Location: Burlington, VT
Mascot: Mountaineers
Notable Players: DL Robin Hill, LB Bear Donnelly, WR Silas Peyton
VRU is very interesting as a school. Good coaching has taken the program a long way over the years. The school usually ends up being closer to the bottom but has had some solid teams that have pushed them to a mid-tier spot on several occasions. VRU is a bit of a sneaky program that had a couple of solid (though more gritty in style) prospects come through to the NAAF.

Onto the other schools that have joined in more recent seasons out along the Great Lakes:

University of Western New York
Location: Getzville, NY
Mascot: Whitetails
Notable Players: LB Dallas Dillard, DL Mickey Daly, RB Arthur Conner
UWNY is a very strong program. They were very excited to be joining the American East conference and have put up consistently solid teams throughout the years. They have slipped a little in the last year or two, but they are hoping to do some heavy recruiting to keep the talent up at the school and start to challenge UNE and RISU for the top of the conference.

University of Western New York - Rochester
Location: Henrietta, NY
Mascot: Eagles
Notable Players: S Manual Ray
WNY-Rochester is a satellite school to UWNY. Honestly, the only reason they are in the conference is because UWNY moved to play Hybrid rules and the satellite was moved over as well. WNY-Rochester is not a strong school at all with only one player to ever get to the NAAF from the school. 

University of Erie
Location: Erie, PA
Mascot: Sailors
Notable Players: LB Scotty Williams, DL Peter Mongoose
Erie is the latest entry to the conference and one of the weakest but could have a bright future. The school in which the famed LB Scotty Williams attended has been a fan of the NAAF since their top prospect when 1st overall back in 1952. The school has not produced any talent at the same level as Williams, but the hope of moving over to Hybrid rules may bring more prospects in and provide greater opportunities to the NAAF.

Outside of the Hybrid conferences, there are plenty of schools that will be featured with players coming into the league. Some of the top schools you may see will be listed here, but I will not go as in-depth since this post is getting really long:

Brooklyn Metropolitan University Bobcats - Brooklyn, NY
King’s University Lions - Manhattan, NY
Rockefeller University Tigers - Chicago, IL
Ben Franklin University Bolts - Philadelphia, PA
Allegheny University Sparrows - Pittsburgh, PA
Louisville State Stallions - Louisville, KY
U of North Indiana Railers - Fort Wayne, IN
Rochester University Rosebuds - Rochester, NY
Jersey State University Violets - Trenton, NJ
Upstate University Bluebirds - Albany, NY
U of America Patriots - Washington DC

I know this is a bit of a long post, but I figured at least a few people would be interested in getting a better look into the NAAF world outside of just the league itself. I will be putting your prospects for the draft into these schools from now on. I am selecting schools for players based on where they are from generally with a few wildcards here and there. I have not decided whether to give people the opportunity to select which school in the future, I kinda like the ability to choose myself to maintain narrative and realism, but you can put suggestions into future prospects that you submit if you so wish. Also, I have already made the draft class for this season, so just don’t be surprised if you submit soon and they don’t get in this season.