One of the most exciting weekends of the Division III Basketball Season is almost upon us. On Friday night (or afternoon in some cases) the 2006-2007 basketball season begins.

Which team has the most interesting opening weekend is up for debate. But which team is the busiest is not.

That honor goes to TBA.

TBA starts off with a handful of games on Friday night. They play Messiah and then Pitt-Greensburg at Dickinson’s Tip off Tournament. It’s so much fun, let’s play two! In fact, let’s play ourselves. That’s what will happen at the Keene State Tournament Tip Off on Friday night where TBA plays TBA.

Then Saturday is really an interesting day for the TB of A. It plays Morrisville State, Montclair State, McMurry, Muhlenberg, Mt. St. Joseph, Medaille, Maine Presque-Isle and Manhattanville. And those are just some of the Ms! TBA is equal opportunity, so it’ll play King’s men and women.

Of course, TBA isn’t a real team. It’s “to be announced” the three dreaded words that will plague us this weekend as we try to enter scores, update schedules and, oh yeah, cover that playoff thing that starts in Division III football.

So please bear with us as we do our best to keep both sites running without running ourselves down. Will we be able to do so? Well, that’s TBD.

Wish you were here: If I could pick any Division III basketball game on the landscape to attend this weekend, it would be Waukesha, Wisconsin where No. 17 Carroll and Nathan Drury (pictured) hosts No. 25 UW-Stevens Point on Saturday night.

This isn’t the only match-up between ranked teams (more on that later), but I’m intrigued by the Pointers debut in the Top 25. With three starters and 78.1 percent of their scoring for a year ago returning, perhaps second year Coach Bob Semling and his crew are ready to return to the national stage.

If so, that’s a heck of a rebuilding job – from two-time champs to a “down year” of 17-10 to the Top 25 again. And if the Pointers are going to stick in the rankings, they are going to earn it. After Carroll, Stevens Point heads to No. 13 Lawrence

This is only a test: 2005 women’s tournament participant Oglethorpe isn’t just playing two ranked teams to start the season. They are doing it 2,691 miles from home when the Stormy Petrels play No. 25 Puget Sound in Tacoma and then No. 16 Pacific Lutheran. And if you think I’m highlighting Oglethorpe just so I can write “Stormy Petrels,” you’re only half right.

Starting five: Here are five games that grabbed my eye on this week’s slate.

Saturday – Men: No. 25 UW-Stevens Point @ No. 17 Carroll
UW-Stevens Point Broadcast
Carrol Broadcast
Live Stats

Friday – Women: No. 3 DePauw vs. No. 12 Washington U. (at Illinois Wesleyan)
Both teams were knocked off by national champ Hope last year. Both teams are good – again – this year.
DePauw Broadcast

Friday – Men: No. 9 St. Thomas vs. No. 20 Occidental (at La Verne)
If the team match-up isn’t enough fun, you’ve got First Team All American Isaac Rosefelt (UST) vs. Fourth Team All American Sam Betty (Oxy)

Friday – Men: No. 16 Lincoln vs. Widener (at Franklin & Marshall)
Last Saturday I spotted Pride Forward Malcolm Thomas at Widener’s football game. He said the team looked young and good. You could say the same about Lincoln.

Saturday – Women: Cal Lutheran @ No. 25 Puget Sound
How about four tournament teams from a year ago in one place? Along with Oglethorpe, UPS and PLU, the defending SCIAC champs join the fun in Tacoma.
UPS Broadcast

Reader’s Digest The (Lewiston, Maine) Sun Journal shines the preseason spotlight on Senior Guard Zak Ray of Bates. According to Bobcats Coach Joe Reilly “if he wanted to, [Zak] could score 25 points a game. But he chooses to score 12 and distribute the ball.” Ray and his teammates open with Western New England and Southern Vermont at Williams this weekend.

Staying in New England, the Barre Montpelier (Vermont) Times Argus checks in with the Norwich Cadets women’s team as they get ready to defend their GNAC crown with a new head coach. Mark Miller replaces Steve Lanpher who stayed in state to take an Assistant Coach position at University of Vermont.

Meanwhile two other 2005 tournament teams tip off their season against one another when Villa Julie travels to York (Pa.). The York Dispatch previews the Spartans who will open the stunning New Charles Wolf Gymnasium on Saturday against the Mustangs.

And finally…

Sort of gives new meaning to ‘coast to coast’:State University of New York-Maritime (SUNY-Maritime for short) opens against California Maritime in men’s action on Friday night. And where do they play? Maine Maritime, of course.

Unless your computer only shows the top few inches of the site for some reason, you’ve probably seen that the Men’s Preseason Top 25 poll was released.

One voter said this was one of the hardest preseason polls he’s ever voted in. I actually thought it was one of the easiest to vote in. It’s funny how much simpler dart boards make everything.

Here are some more serious thoughts on the Top 25.

– Biggest surprise William Paterson at No. 7. The Pioneers should be very solid with most of last year’s Sweet 16 team back. But I didn’t think they’d place this highly in the preseason given some of their low scoring results (Va Wes 46 WPUNJ 35).

– Thunderstruck: I liked the way Wheaton (Ill.) finished the season, so they were No. 22 on my ballot. Getting Kent Raymond back after he sat out last year should be a lift. You can read more about the Thunder in their team preview.

– Oshkosh, By Gosh: Last year I had the Titans ranked in the Top 10 to start the year. I wasn’t alone as Oshkosh was the No. 2 team in the preseason. The Titans were “upset” by unranked Lawrence in the opener – the first of 25 straight wins for the Vikings — and then lost 5 of 7 to close the year. Maybe the slow start or the weak finish deterred some voters from putting the Titans on their ballot. Nonetheless, I went with the Titans again in the Top 25 along with Whitewater. Given my predictive powers, UWO fans everywhere may be ducking for cover.

For those keeping score: Division III teams got beaten soundly by Division I counterparts in their preseason exhibition games. You can check out the UNI-Central box score or the St. Norbert game story below if you enjoy carnage.

George Mason 84 Marymount (Va.) 48
Pittsburgh 103 Carnegie Mellon 45
Northern Iowa 75 Central 41
UW-Green Bay 70 St. Norbert 37

The Division III basketball season is underway. You just don’t know it yet.

Unless, that is, you’re one of the many players or coaches who started practice back about 10 days ago. While a lot of work is happening behind closed gym doors, that doesn’t make it unimportant. Now is the time to build stamina, work on chemistry with new players and – for two teams – begin a march to a national championship.

Since there are way too many teams for us to cover them all fairly during the preseason, I’ll try to use the Daily Dose to highlight some stories that others are writing about for the upcoming season.

Our first stop is Gorham, Maine where MaineToday.com takes a look at last year’s women’s runner-up Southern Maine. The Huskies are gearing up for another run at the national semifinals but will have to do so with a considerably different starting five. Three starters have graduated and first team D3hoops.com All-American Ashley Marble is recovering from ankle surgery.

The Appleton (Wisc.) Post-Crescent gives Lawrence basketball fans a look at life without 2006 Jostens Trophy winner Chris Braier. Hopefully senior co-captain Matt Osland didn’t read that last sentence. Says Osland, “Obviously Chris was a huge part in what we did…I’ve heard so much the last… I’m a little sick of it.” The Vikings were the last Division III team to lose a game last year, falling to Illinois Wesleyan in the Regional Semifinals.

Speaking of CCIW teams, Millikin is taking its Big Blue nickname to heart with three freshman who are at least six-foot-seven. Millikin finished in seventh place in the CCIW last year at 3-11, 10-15 overall. The (Decatur, Ill.) Herald & Review has more.

Keep in mind that we’re also working to add schedules for every team from Adrian to York (Pa.) for men and women. Our partnership with D3scoreboard.com makes that a little easier, but there’s still plenty to do. This month I’ve learned a lot about non-Division III small college basketball in the Husker State while entering Nebraska Wesleyan’s schedule. Hello, Hastings.

Crossover season.

Basketball practices begin Oct. 15. Football is in the heart of its season. We’re still collecting schedules (and waiting for D3Scoreboard.com to dump in schedules for its conferences). It’s the time we solicit info from schools for the preseason Top 25. Somewhere in here we have to get the preseason All-American teams together.

Had my first discussion with Mark Simon about the Around the Nation column last night. Still have a day job, of course, as do the rest of us here at D3football.com/D3hoops.com.

And it’s no easier for the SIDs working at D-III schools, especially schools with football.

So I’m down to six and a half hours of sleep a night, basically spending any available waking moment on the sites. I’ll probably be cutting back to six hours a night soon.

So be patient. We’re gearing up. The info is coming. Stick around and talk on the boards. Enjoy the run-up.