Wittenberg guard Pat Denbow

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — In the long and storied history of the Wittenberg University men’s basketball program, there have been many “big” games. A program doesn’t record 28 regular season conference championships, 18 conference tournament championships, six NCAA Tournament semifinal appearances and two national championships without competing in – and winning – its fair share of such games.

But even in the Wittenberg annals, Saturday’s game against the College of Wooster, which will tip off at 7:30 p.m. in the HPER Center, stands out. The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the nation with a 19-1 overall record, including a mark of 10-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), while Wooster invades Springfield sporting a No. 2 national ranking and marks of 19-1 overall and 11-0 in the NCAC.

Saturday’s showdown is, literally, for all the marbles in the NCAC regular season title chase. Wooster can put a hammerlock on its second consecutive crown with a second win over Wittenberg in the 2005-06 season, while the Tigers can forge a tie heading into the home stretch by avenging an 86-83 loss on the Scots’ home floor on Dec. 10. Wittenberg enters the game – the first match-up of the top two ranked teams in the nation in NCAA Division III in at least seven years – riding the momentum of a 13-game win streak, while Wooster has captured 10 victories in a row since a double-overtime loss to Baldwin-Wallace in late December.

The Tigers, who started the season ranked No. 10 and ascended to the top spot in the poll on Jan. 8 after preseason No. 1 Illinois Wesleyan lost its first game, stand atop a national NCAA Division III poll for the first time in 12 years and the third time since joining the NCAC in 1989. Ironically, Wooster has ranked first in the d3hoops.com national weekly poll on two occasions since its inception in 1999, only to have Wittenberg defeat the Scots the following Saturday both times.

Game Notes (PDF Format)

Wittenberg and Wooster have a long-standing rivalry, with the Tigers holding a 47-39 overall advantage. Since the Tigers moved from the Ohio Athletic Conference to the NCAC in 1989, the rivalry heated up. Wittenberg, which has a 22-17 series advantage in games played as NCAC opponents, and Wooster have dominated the conference since 1989 with 10 regular season titles for the Tigers and nine for the Scots (including shared titles). Wittenberg has won five NCAC Tournament crowns, compared to nine for Wooster.