Gameday at Williams. Who saw Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit in Willamstown on Saturday? That???s right ??? the ESPN College Gameday team hunkered down at Division III Williams College this weekend, scene of one of football???s best rivalry games between the Ephs and Lord Jeffs of Amherst. Williams went on to win the game, 20-0, and finished its season 6-2 despite losing its first two contests of the year. Williams claimed its 45th Little Three (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan) title and will head into the off-season smiling. As a conference rule, NESCAC teams don???t compete in the Division III football championship, so Saturday???s victory will have to last the Ephs into next August. Obviously, the game is meaningful enough to get the ESPN gang out to Massachusetts and for true football fans, taking in an Amherst-Williams game is just as important as seeing Ohio St.-Michigan and Harvard-Yale.

Smart idea. Nick Smart caught 16 passes in Southwest Baptist???s loss to Washburn on Saturday, finishing his season with an NCAA-record 143 receptions. It was rough year for the Bearcats, who finished 0-11 overall, but Smart gave fans a reason to smile all season long, as he came ready to play week in and week out. Along with the 143 catches, Smart also had 1,263 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Stealing the show. Of course, I spent part of yesterday evening checking out the Syracuse men???s basketball team in its season opener against Siena. Yes, I was pumped about Jonny Flynn and his 28 points and nine assists. Of course, Paul Harris fired me up with 15 rebounds. And obviously, I shouted for Donte Green, who blocked five shots in his college debut. But none of that was as impressive to me as when the broadcasters began sharing the resume of Siena head coach Fran McCaffery. Why did the bio catch my attention, you ask? Well, it turns out that McCaffery did his undergraduate work at Pennsylvania, one of the nation???s finest universities. While that???s impressive, it???s not nearly as impressive as the fact that he received his bachelor of science degree from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, which is widely regarded as the best undergraduate (and graduate) education one can receive in the field of business. Upon his graduation from Penn, McCaffery headed to Lehigh, where he worked as an assistant coach and picked up his master???s degree. He became Lehigh???s head coach at the ripe old age of 26 and went 49-39 in three years. He then spent 11 seasons as an assistant at Notre Dame before moving on to UNC-Greensboro, where he spent six years at the helm. McCaffery is in his third year at Siena. Pretty decent credentials, huh?

Reverse curse? Congratulations to Double-A Zone student-athlete blogger Sam Mitchell, who was named Conference Carolinas women???s volleyball player of the year. She was named to the all-conference team for the third-straight season. Way to go, Sam!