St. Thomas survived a close call Wednesday night, rallying to beat Bethel in front of an energetic home crowd. But this isn't the first time the Tommies have had a long regular-season run.

They know this full well. That's because Johnny Tauer, who played on the 1995 St. Thomas team which started 27-0, is an assistant under long-time Tommies coach Steve Fritz. Tauer talks about the common thread between 1995 and 2009 and B.J. Viau talks about the team's commitment in this week's Around the Nation.

&&g-boxr&&It's not as easy to have commitment to a program that keeps changing hands, however. Imagine you chose to go to a school not knowing who the coach would be, saw a new coach get hired, then get cut loose, then see his replacement leave for another job. By the time you hit your senior year and your third coach, you might be thinking about just focusing on finishing your degree. Or other things you might do with free time as a senior.

But that wasn't the road Cabrini's Ryan Oxley chose. And as the last senior remaining from the class recruited when John Dzik was fired, he's getting rewarded for it now. Details in Around the Nation.

Plus, many Division III women's programs are thinking pink this week as part of the WBCA's campaign to raise breast cancer awareness. But not many are thinking about it harder than Wittenberg. Having lost coach Pam Evans Smith to breast cancer and with the women's basketball community having lost Kay Yow earlier this season, Wittenberg and Saturday's opponent, Wooster, are teaming up off the court before they face each other on it. That and more in this week's Around the Nation.

Plus, scroll down if you missed the possibly unprecedented event that took place Thursday night.