FCS conference belt

The NEC Belt

A companion lineage restricted to NEC: the belt passes to whoever beats the holder, exactly like the real belt, but only games between two NEC members COUNT — and only for the seasons both sides were actually in NEC at the time. Caught it by beating Long Island University on October 24, 2026.

Next NEC gameStonehill vs. Mercyhurst · October 31, 2026 · NEC Front Row — Mercyhurst takes it with a win.

58Reigns

155Belt Games

13Programs

Longest Reign

UAlbany — 1 yr, 355 days

November 10, 2007 – October 31, 2009

Most Defenses, One Reign

UAlbany — 13

starting November 10, 2007

Most Reigns, All-Time

Central Connecticut — 10 separate reigns

13 NEC programs have held it

#	Team	Reign	Length	Def.	Won it	Lost it
1	UAlbany	September 13, 2003 – October 18, 2003	35 days	2	Established it (first game on record)	lost to Monmouth
2	Monmouth	October 18, 2003 – November 1, 2003	14 days	0	beat UAlbany 10–7	lost to Central Connecticut
3	Central Connecticut	November 1, 2003 – November 8, 2003	7 days	0	beat Monmouth 14–10	lost to Stony Brook
4	Stony Brook	November 8, 2003 – September 18, 2004	315 days	0	beat Central Connecticut 36–31	lost to Wagner
5	Wagner	September 18, 2004 – September 25, 2004	7 days	0	beat Stony Brook 21–13	lost to Central Connecticut
6	Central Connecticut	September 25, 2004 – October 30, 2004	35 days	2	beat Wagner 28–21	lost to Monmouth
7	Monmouth	October 30, 2004 – October 15, 2005	350 days	4	beat Central Connecticut 9–6	lost to Wagner
8	Wagner	October 15, 2005 – October 22, 2005	7 days	0	beat Monmouth 26–20	lost to Central Connecticut
9	Central Connecticut	October 22, 2005 – November 12, 2005	21 days	2	beat Wagner 38–34	lost to Stony Brook
10	Stony Brook	November 12, 2005 – October 28, 2006	350 days	4	beat Central Connecticut 23–21	lost to Robert Morris
11	Robert Morris	October 28, 2006 – November 4, 2006	7 days	0	beat Stony Brook 21–6	lost to UAlbany
12	UAlbany	November 4, 2006 – November 11, 2006	7 days	0	beat Robert Morris 16–6	lost to Monmouth
13	Monmouth	November 11, 2006 – September 8, 2007	301 days	0	beat UAlbany 19–0	lost to Robert Morris
14	Robert Morris	September 8, 2007 – October 6, 2007	28 days	1	beat Monmouth 20–17	lost to Wagner
15	Wagner	October 6, 2007 – October 20, 2007	14 days	1	beat Robert Morris 20–13	lost to Central Connecticut
16	Central Connecticut	October 20, 2007 – October 27, 2007	7 days	0	beat Wagner 21–13	lost to Monmouth
17	Monmouth	October 27, 2007 – November 10, 2007	14 days	1	beat Central Connecticut 51–36	lost to UAlbany
18	UAlbany	November 10, 2007 – October 31, 2009	1 yr, 355 days	13	beat Monmouth 21–3	lost to Central Connecticut
19	Central Connecticut	October 31, 2009 – November 7, 2009	7 days	0	beat UAlbany 31–29	lost to Wagner
20	Wagner	November 7, 2009 – November 14, 2009	7 days	0	beat Central Connecticut 32–27	lost to Robert Morris
21	Robert Morris	November 14, 2009 – November 13, 2010	364 days	8	beat Wagner 37–10	lost to Bryant
22	Bryant	November 13, 2010 – November 20, 2010	7 days	0	beat Robert Morris 27–21	lost to Duquesne
23	Duquesne	November 20, 2010 – October 8, 2011	322 days	2	beat Bryant 37–29	lost to UAlbany
24	UAlbany	October 8, 2011 – November 5, 2011	28 days	3	beat Duquesne 38–10	lost to Bryant
25	Bryant	November 5, 2011 – November 19, 2011	14 days	1	beat UAlbany 31–17	lost to Central Connecticut
26	Central Connecticut	November 19, 2011 – September 22, 2012	308 days	0	beat Bryant 42–21	lost to Wagner
27	Wagner	September 22, 2012 – September 28, 2013	1 yr, 6 days	5	beat Central Connecticut 31–13	lost to Bryant
28	Bryant	September 28, 2013 – October 19, 2013	21 days	0	beat Wagner 47–28	lost to Sacred Heart
29	Sacred Heart	October 19, 2013 – October 26, 2013	7 days	0	beat Bryant 56–28	lost to Saint Francis
30	Saint Francis	October 26, 2013 – November 2, 2013	7 days	0	beat Sacred Heart 24–10	lost to Duquesne
31	Duquesne	November 2, 2013 – October 18, 2014	350 days	1	beat Saint Francis 21–10	lost to Sacred Heart
32	Sacred Heart	October 18, 2014 – October 25, 2014	7 days	0	beat Duquesne 23–20	lost to Saint Francis
33	Saint Francis	October 25, 2014 – November 22, 2014	28 days	2	beat Sacred Heart 30–27	lost to Central Connecticut
34	Central Connecticut	November 22, 2014 – October 3, 2015	315 days	0	beat Saint Francis 22–17	lost to Duquesne
35	Duquesne	October 3, 2015 – October 17, 2015	14 days	0	beat Central Connecticut 27–10	lost to Bryant
36	Bryant	October 17, 2015 – November 14, 2015	28 days	2	beat Duquesne 38–17	lost to Sacred Heart
37	Sacred Heart	November 14, 2015 – October 1, 2016	322 days	1	beat Bryant 28–19	lost to Wagner
38	Wagner	October 1, 2016 – October 22, 2016	21 days	1	beat Sacred Heart 45–20	lost to Bryant
39	Bryant	October 22, 2016 – October 29, 2016	7 days	0	beat Wagner 27–17	lost to Duquesne
40	Duquesne	October 29, 2016 – November 11, 2017	1 yr, 13 days	7	beat Bryant 35–31	lost to Central Connecticut
41	Central Connecticut	November 11, 2017 – October 20, 2018	343 days	3	beat Duquesne 28–27	lost to Sacred Heart
42	Sacred Heart	October 20, 2018 – November 10, 2018	21 days	2	beat Central Connecticut 28–25	lost to Duquesne
43	Duquesne	November 10, 2018 – November 9, 2019	364 days	5	beat Sacred Heart 28–24	lost to Robert Morris
44	Robert Morris	November 9, 2019 – November 16, 2019	7 days	0	beat Duquesne 41–21	lost to Central Connecticut
45	Central Connecticut	November 16, 2019 – October 16, 2021	1 yr, 334 days	2	beat Robert Morris 49–28	lost to Sacred Heart
46	Sacred Heart	October 16, 2021 – October 22, 2022	1 yr, 6 days	6	beat Central Connecticut 27–17	lost to Merrimack
47	Merrimack	October 22, 2022 – November 19, 2022	28 days	2	beat Sacred Heart 31–25	lost to Saint Francis
48	Saint Francis	November 19, 2022 – September 23, 2023	308 days	0	beat Merrimack 52–23	lost to Sacred Heart
49	Sacred Heart	September 23, 2023 – September 30, 2023	7 days	0	beat Saint Francis 37–34	lost to Merrimack
50	Merrimack	September 30, 2023 – October 28, 2023	28 days	2	beat Sacred Heart 17–7	lost to Saint Francis
51	Saint Francis	October 28, 2023 – November 4, 2023	7 days	0	beat Merrimack 28–21	lost to Long Island University
52	Long Island University	November 4, 2023 – November 18, 2023	14 days	1	beat Saint Francis 29–28	lost to Stonehill
53	Stonehill	November 18, 2023 – October 5, 2024	322 days	0	beat Long Island University 40–23	lost to Wagner
54	Wagner	October 5, 2024 – November 2, 2024	28 days	1	beat Stonehill 28–7	lost to Central Connecticut
55	Central Connecticut	November 2, 2024 – November 15, 2025	1 yr, 13 days	8	beat Wagner 24–14	lost to Duquesne
56	Duquesne	November 15, 2025 – October 10, 2026	329 days	1	beat Central Connecticut 38–33	lost to Long Island University
57	Long Island University	October 10, 2026 – October 24, 2026	14 days	1	beat Duquesne 17–14	lost to Stonehill
58	Stonehill	October 24, 2026 – Present	7 days	0	beat Long Island University 18–14	— present —

No reigns match “.”

Membership is judged season by season from every game a team played, so realignment moves a team’s games with it. A holder that stays in NEC keeps the belt through any stretch without a game against another member; a holder that leaves vacates the belt on its last game as a member, and it reverts to the most recent earlier holder that is a member of the season it left for. If no one is left to inherit it, the belt retires with its last holder. Days count the offseason; switch to games to measure a reign by belt games only.

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