I’ve been told I over predict the Spartans to win their conference when I write these columns. I can’t say I’m innocent of this, but let me explain myself. Most of the time the Spartans are a favorite to at least make the conference title game, so why not go with them if they’re favored to make it that far? Second, I’m not Nostradamus, I mean how could anyone have seen something like the men’s soccer team losing to Lyndon in the NAC semifinals coming?.I mean come on, it’s Lyndon!But I digress.

Now I feel like a poker player staring with a short stack of chips, I constantly call the Spartans to win the NAC, so now I’m forced to play a bit more conservative.

Women’s hockey is off to a decent start at 3-2-1, sitting at 2-1-1 in the conference, but it is still very early in the season. I don’t see this team winning the conference this season because there is still a bit of rebuilding to care of. I do like the offensive potential between sophomores Hanna Martini (three goals) and Eileen Coyne (three assists) for this season.

The men’s hockey team has been my conference favorite for a few years now, but sadly I am staying away from predicting them conference champs. The Spartans are 2-0 to start out the season and the scoring has been coming from all over. There are six players with one goal so far this season, and teammates Ben Schoeneberger (three assists) and Josh Harris (two assists) have been the main distributors. I’m picking against the Spartans as conference champs for the main fact that even with returning players like Stuart Stefan and Lindsey Gullett, this team has a very different face from last year.

This is where I start betting a little riskier. There wasn’t a more impressive turnaround last year than the men’s basketball team going from 2-23 to 17-10 under new head coach Paul Culpo. The Spartans went to the NAC finals, but fell short of the conference title. With players like Mike Knight, Jared Paul, and Greg Hughes returning I like the odds of this team making a return trip to the NAC Championship. I’d almost bet my tuition this team wins the conference this year too. But in the interest of saving my dad from killing me for gambling with my tuition, I’ll just say I really like the Spartans’ chances this season.

The women’s basketball team is another tempting Spartan team to predict as conference champs. This team is an interesting one though, because nine players are underclassmen (six freshmen, three sophomores), while the rest of the team consists of two juniors and two seniors. For this team to win the NAC, upperclassmen like Kristie Dunchus, Christine Jaques, Megan Johnson, and Vanessa Powers will need to be emotional leaders on the court. I’m going with the Spartans in the NAC because it’s hard to pick against head coach Tim Barrett, the guy doesn’t rebuild…he reloads.