From time to time, one game will stand out in either the mind of a staffer or contributor to D3hoops.com or to another blogger. In those instances, we’ll highlight them here:

This is how the Maroon Sports Report reacted to Friday night’s overtime home win by Chicago against Carnegie Mellon.

Back to Friday night’s game, the Maroons played with the kind of heart and teamwork that we’ve seen in games against top teams like Illinois Wesleyan but was so severely lacking last weekend against NYU and Brandeis, as well as against much lesser teams.

The full post.

Saturday action heating up. Wittenberg on the ropes at Allegheny early in the second half, down nine. Listen on Wittenberg’s broadcast:
http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/broadcast/

We’ll update the headline as conditions warrant.

So the CCIW is going to be just like the WIAC this year, is that it? It still seems likely that two teams will get in from this league, but less assured than it used to be. The CCIW is holding a men’s basketball tournament to award the automatic bid for the first time, which could help or hurt candidates, depending on what happens between now and then.

Even after Saturday night, there are still plenty of teams with decent regional records: Augustana at 12-0, North Central 7-1, Illinois Wesleyan 7-2, Elmhurst 7-4, Millikin 7-4.

Lawrence, the last men’s unbeaten. What are the odds?

What to make of the ODAC? Hampden-Sydney loses two in a row. Virginia Wesleyan has won 11 in a row, including at Randolph-Macon. After plummeting out of the Top 25 (they were preseason No. 11), the Marlins haven’t lost since November, though they’ve been to overtime in three games. Hampden-Sydney didn’t exactly redeem itself on Sunday, needing a last-second basket to win at 2-11 Washington and Lee.

Wilmington: Welcome to the OAC. Consider this a wake-up call. We told fans on Hoopsville on Tuesday night that the top seed in the league would have four league losses and Wilmington picked up losses two and three this week. Baldwin-Wallace is 7-1, Ohio Northern and Muskingum 6-2.

UW-Stevens Point is still atop the WIAC, though the Pointers are 6-0 at home and 5-4 on the road and have four consecutive road games coming up. Stout got an important win, beating UW-Whitewater after three losses in a row. UW-La Crosse is 12-3 in region, Stevens Point and Stout are 9-3, Whitewater 7-3 and Oshkosh 8-4.

In women’s ball, we’re close to pondering whether McMurry can run the table after its win at Howard Payne on Friday. Crosstown rival Hardin-Simmons looms as a road game on Jan. 30, which will be the biggest remaining test. I thought McMurry was pretty good when I saw it play last season, though things fell apart a bit down the stretch. Point guard Symbri Tuttle, while she won’t stack up to Megan Silva, is credited with 8.5 assists per game, while sophomore post player Tarra Richardson averages 18.9 points.

Nice to see NYU beat someone. I don’t think Brandeis was really the second-best team in Division III but Brandeis’ schedule is so backloaded (no NYU, Wash U. or Chicago in the first six weeks) that it was hard to tell. Brandeis did beat the early-season version of Bates, the one that started 4-5. Bates is a vastly better team now, with Matia Kostakis back as well as Jackie Powers. Anytime you can add two starters and 24.2 points per game like that it makes a difference, obviously. Bates also didn’t have Meg Coffin (17.1 points per game) against Brandeis either. Look out for Bates.

Just a quick look at what’s going on on Saturday:

In women’s action, the premier game is No. 2 Brandeis at No. 20 NYU. This is Brandeis’ first big test of the season and despite last Friday’s game against Rochester, the NYU women rarely lose at home. Check out NYU’s broadcast online. The women’s game tips off at 2 p.m. ET.

I’ll be watching the Hope/Calvin men’s game on CSTV at 3 p.m. Already have paid my $12 for the month to DirecTV to add the sports pack. DirecTV channel 610, Dish Network channel 152, where I’m told it’s on a more basic tier. Of course, the women’s game between Calvin and Hope is a battle of ranked teams, with No. 14 Calvin hosting No. 11 Hope.

On the men’s side, every Top 25 team is in action, a rarity since the UAA and SCAC don’t usually play on Saturdays during the conference season. Check out this slate!

Home Away
No. 1 Wittenberg Hiram
No. 2 Hope Calvin
Wabash No. 3 Wooster
Alma No. 4 Albion
Elmhurst No. 5 Illinois Wesleyan
No. 6 Lawrence Lake Forest
No. 7 Puget Sound Whitman
No. 8 Amherst Trinity (Conn.)
No. 9 York (Pa.) St. Mary’s (Md.)
Carthage No. 10 Augustana
Roanoke No. 11 Hampden-Sydney
Millikin No. 12 North Central
No. 13 Baldwin-Wallace Marietta
No. 14 Randolph-Macon Virginia Wesleyan
Springfield No. 15 Worcester Polytech
Christopher Newport No. 16 Carnegie Mellon
Mount Union No. 17 Wilmington
No. 18 UW-Stout No. 23 UW-Whitewater
Dubuque No. 19 Wartburg
Rochester No. 20 St. John Fisher
No. 25 Transylvania No. 21 Bluffton
East Texas Baptist No. 22 Mississippi College
No. 24 Occidental Cal Lutheran

Among these games, obviously the one between Top 25 teams are worth keeping an eye on (No. 23 UW-Whitewater at No. 18 UW-Stout, No. 21 Bluffton at No. 25 Transylvania). But Wooster/Wabash should be of interest, as well as Trinity/Amherst, Virginia Wesleyan/Randolph-Macon and St. John Fisher/Rochester. Outside of the Top 25, New Jersey City travels to William Paterson and crosstown rivals Otterbein and Capital meet at Capital.

In the CCIW, all three ranked teams should face a challenge as all play on the road.

On the women’s side, other interesting games featuring ranked teams include Salisbury at No, 7 Mary Washington and No. 8 Wheaton (Ill.) at North Park. Also look out for the Chase Scholarship Tournament title game with St. John Fisher at Rochester.