This year’s Little Brass Bell game has impact beyond Naperville and Wheaton, Ill.

Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman have had their eyes on this weekend for months. Here’s where a bunch of key games will be decided, so stick with us all day.

Pat Coleman is running the site from D3sports.com network central (now with hockey!) so expect frequent updates. Check out the blog and Twitter for all of the game day info. Use the #d3fb hashtag to post directly to the chat, or use the chat window as well if you don’t have Twitter.

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Wesley has had the upper hand in the Route 13 rivalry, winning nine of the past 12. But Wesley may be the underdog this year. Case Western Reserve athletics photo

There won’t be any automatic bids handed out in the Route 13 rivalry between Wesley and Salisbury but there could be plenty of playoff impact. Wesley could find itself far out on the bubble with a loss, while Salisbury’s chance at a top seed hangs in the balance with every game.

Elsewhere, Johns Hopkins could clinch the Centennial Conference automatic bid with a win against Ursinus and Monmouth can clinch the MWC by beating Carroll. Mount Union can clinch the OAC with a win and a Baldwin-Wallace loss to Muskingum. St. Scholastica can clinch the UMAC with a win Friday night and a Eureka loss on Saturday. Thomas More can clinch the PAC with a win and a Waynesburg loss.

Two of Division III’s career records could fall Saturday as well, as Monmouth’s Alex Tanney could break the career touchdowns record of 148 held by Westminster (Mo.) quarterback Justin Peery and Dubuque’s Mike Zweifel is aiming at the all-divisions record for career receptions held by Peery’s teammate, Scott Pingel.

Plus there are only about 110 other games. Chime in about any of them on our live game day chat below or by using the #d3fb hashtag on Twitter.

Baldwin-Wallace · Eureka · Johns Hopkins · Mount Union · Muskingum · Presentation · St. Scholastica · Thomas More · Ursinus · Waynesburg · Westminster (Pa.)

North Central will try to succeed where Wheaton failed — in Bloomington, Ill.

UW-Oshkosh and Bethel have been waiting for this day for quite some time, and St. Thomas has been waiting since Bethel knocked the Tommies out of the playoffs in last year’s national quarterfinals. North Central can’t afford another loss after dropping its opener at Redlands, and Illinois Wesleyan has already won its home game against Wheaton.

Those are the three centerpiece games, not to mention a bunch of other games we already mentioned in Triple Take and the Around the Nation podcast.

You can chime in on our live chat below, using the comments, or by using a #d3fb hashtag on Twitter.

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Mount Union walks into Saturday’s game at Heidelberg at 6-0.

There are 114 games this week, 112 of them on Saturday and every ranked team is in action this weekend.

No full-conference byes, like the Centennial had last week. Plenty of big games to keep up on, as we described yesterday in the Triple Take.

Check in from your game here on the blog, the live chat below, or by using the #d3fb hashtag on Twitter.

Game Day

Elmhurst stumbled against Chicago but has a shot at Wheaton this week. Elmhurst athletics photo

Maybe this weekend’s slate of games doesn’t have the star power that Week 5 did, but that’s when we can’t afford to get complacent as fans of Division III football.

Could Augsburg upset St. Thomas? Sure. Elmhurst over Wheaton? Definitely possible. UW-River Falls over UW-Whitewater? Alright, that might be a bit of a stretch, but the point is there’s a reason why coaches talk about Any Given Saturday, and it’s not just to cover their tails.

It can happen, so no sleeping at the wheel this weekend.

Follow along with more in our live chat, below.

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