Around the Nation

When Dan Holbrook was working his way back from last year's broken foot, he meant business. And with pickup games at 6 a.m. in the fall, the rest of the Mass-Dartmouth team meant business, too.

Because if you weren't there on time, you weren't just running -- you were doing crabs.

Nobody can really say what has fueled the Corsairs' surge into the Top 10 and their status as one of two unbeaten men's Division III teams, but that can't hurt. Were they as surprised as the rest of us? And what is this team all about? That and more in this week's Around the Nation.

Of course, the Mass-Dartmouth men aren't the only Division III surprise in the state. At the other end are the Amherst women. The fact that G.P. Gromacki has put a little life into the program shouldn't be a surprise, based on past history, but unbeaten might have been a little much to expect. Their road hasn't been without a little excitement and heroics, with Samantha Swensen hitting a couple of buzzer beaters, including one that Gromacki said, "You could try that 100 times, and it wouldn't work once." More on the unbeaten Lord Jeffs.

It's a packed column this week. Meet the surprise team in the Ohio Athletic Conference, find out why we love what this year's women's Final Four could look like, discover who the second-hottest team in New York is and learn why teams keep losing to this Birmingham-Southern squad in Around the Nation.