The Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB) is an
athletic conference
An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conf ...
and
academic consortium between three private
liberal arts colleges in the U.S. State of
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
. The group consists of
Colby College in
Waterville,
Bates College
Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...
in
Lewiston, and
Bowdoin College in
Brunswick. In allusion to the
Big Three of the
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
, Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin, are collectively known the "Maine Big Three", a
play on words with the words "Maine" and "main". The school names are ordered by their geographical organization in Maine (north to south).
The colleges contest the C-B-B Trophy in three-way football games in the Fall of their respective academic years. As of the 2017-18 season,
Bowdoin leads the conference in wins, with 19;
Colby has 14 and
Bates has won 13. Colby holds the record for the longest streak of consecutive wins (1988–1992). Bates holds the record for biggest
shutout with a 51–0 game over Colby in 1985. There have been seven three-way-ties: 1965, 1979, 1993, 1995, 2009, 2011, and 2013. The three colleges also contest the
Chase Regatta, an annual up-and-down river tourney. The inaugural winner was Bowdoin, but the series has since been dominated by Bates and Colby; Colby has won the regatta five times and the
President's Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...
nine times. Bates currently holds the most titles (14 out of 20 wins), the winning streak (2006–present), and the most President's Cups (9 cups).
The CBB Consortium often draws comparisons to the football games of the
Big Three of the
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
, with Bowdoin often drawing the connection to
Harvard, Bates to
Princeton, and Colby to
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
. Just as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are initialized as HYP, so too are Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin as "CBB".
History
From its inception,
Bates College
Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...
served as an alternative to a more traditional and historically conservative
Bowdoin College. There is a long tradition of rivalry and competitiveness between the two colleges, revolving around socioeconomic class, academic quality, and
collegiate athletics
College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games.
World University Games
The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des É ...
.
The two colleges have competed against each other athletically since the 1870s, and subsequently share one of the ten oldest
NCAA Division III football rivalries, in the United States.
The Bates-Bowdoin Game is the most attended football game every academic year at both colleges. As of 2015, both college's presidents are named Clayton (
Spencer and
Rose), leading students to include them in chants against each other. Bowdoin developed a "football fight song" entitled, "Forward the White" in 1913. All football games between the two occurred on Bowdoin's
Whittier Field
Whittier Field is the outdoor stadium of Bowdoin College. Located in Brunswick, Maine, it is the field for Bowdoin football, Bowdoin outdoor track and field, and the Maine Distance Festival. The Whittier Field Athletic Complex was added to the Nati ...
, but with the development of Bates'
Garcelon Field
Garcelon Field is the outdoor stadium and field of Bates College. Located in Lewiston, Maine, it is the field for Bates football, soccer, lacrosse, and various other sports.
History
The field was completed in 1899, and is one of the oldest foot ...
, both fields have been used to hold football games.
Colby remained isolated from neighboring Bates, and the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium because of its location in
Waterville, and socio-economic and political differences.
However, in the 1940s, Colby began competing with the two colleges and in the first game, had a three-way tie. In 1988, Bates president Reynolds began the
Chase Regatta, which features the President's Cup, which is contested by Bates, Colby, and Bowdoin annually.
The CBB Games is a
college football competition between the three colleges. Each team plays the others once, with the C-B-B Trophy awarded to the college that beats the other two. The CBB Games was created for the 1965 college football season. Previously, Bates and Bowdoin have competed since 1870s against the
University of Maine in the
Maine State Series or Maine State Championship. When the University of Maine moved to a higher division in 1965, Colby joined and the rivalry took its current name.
The
Chase Regatta is an annual rowing race between the men's and women's heavyweight varsity and club rowing crews of the colleges.
The colleges have competed in the regatta since August 3, 1988 but have competed annually since August 3, 1997, when Bates President
Thomas Hedley Reynolds instated the President's Cup to be contested by all three of the CBB schools. The President's Cup is given to the team that has won the most overall heats and races, while the overall winner is determined by who won the most varsity and heavyweight competitions in the regatta.
C-B-B Games results
Note: Source of wins and losses: games between 1966 and 1978, games between 1979 and 1998, and for all other games not specified in aforementioned years: The highest scoring game was the 1987 Colby-Bates with a total of 74 points. The lowest scoring game was the 1967 Bowdoin-Colby game with a total of 7 points. The biggest shutout was Bates' 51–0 game against Colby in 1985. The longest consecutive streak of games won is Colby with 5 championships in a row (1988–1992). There have been 7 three-way-ties, 1 two-way tie, and 4 uses of overtime, (the 2006 Colby-Bates game required overtime to be issued four times for a winner to be determined).
Series Statistics
Chase Regatta results
In fiction and literature
In 1999, all three colleges were prominently featured in ''
The Sopranos.'' In the episode entitled, "
College
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
",
Tony Soprano
Anthony John Soprano is a fictional character and the antihero protagonist in the HBO television drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), portrayed by James Gandolfini. Soprano is a member of the Italian-American Mafia and, especially late ...
takes his daughter,
Meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...
on a trip to
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
to tour the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium. They first visit
Bates in
Lewiston; while walking past
the college's chapel she states, "
ates hasa 48-to-52 male-female ratio, which is great, strong
liberal arts program and this cool
Olin Arts Center for music." They then drive up to
Colby and
Bowdoin using
Drew University
Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...
in New Jersey as the two college's exteriors. On the drive from Bates to Colby, Tony Soprano reveals to his daughter that he is in
the mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
, a major turning point in the series.
See also
*
List of college athletic programs in Maine
References
External links
For further information on history of the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium:
2009 Article from Bleacher ReportColby College CBBFor further reading:
CBB Faculty Resource SharingBowdoin College Football HistoryCBB Study AbroadCBB Library ResourcesBowdoin Football Featured in Sporting News "50 States, 50 Rivalries"For further information on the NESCAC, and individual collegiate scores:
History of Bowdoin FootballBates Football Past Seasons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colby-Bates-Bowdoin
New England Small College Athletic Conference
College sports rivalries in the United States
Bates Bobcats
Colby Mules
Bowdoin Polar Bears
Bowdoin College