When: Noon
  Tickets: $25; $10 for youths
  TV : Comcast Network. Radio: WXGI (950), WTOX (1480), 11:30 a.m.
  Records: W&M 6-1 CAA, 9-1; UR 6-1, 9-1
  Players to watch: W&M—DT Sean Lissemore, Sr., 4.5 sacks, 11 tackles for losses; RB Jonathan Grimes, Soph., 92.2 rushing yards per game. UR—QB Eric Ward, Sr., 3-0 in his career vs. W&M; DT Martin Parker, Jr., 5.5 sacks, 14 tackles for losses.

Spiders QB Eric Ward arrived as a member of the 2005 recruiting class. Fifteen individuals from of that class now start for UR. As Jeff Hanson recalls, it was considered a solid class on signing day, not a remarkable one. Hanson has been a University of Richmond assistant football coach for 28 years, so he’s not short on perspective. The group the Spiders signed in February of 2005 was the first brought to UR by head coach Dave Clawson.

1970—William and Mary 34, Richmond 33: Steve Regan, 5-8 and 155 pounds, began the season as the fifth-string QB for W&M coach Lou Holtz. A transfer and injuries moved Regan to starting status, and his 40-yard TD completion to David Knight with 12 seconds remaining lifted the Indians to a victory that secured a Southern Conference championship and invitation to the Tangerine Bowl. “I’m still numb,“ Holtz said after the game. UR was ahead 27-14 at halftime. Down 33-28, W&M took possession at its 20 with 50 seconds left. Said UR coach Frank Jones: “There must be a better way to make a living.“

What’s on the line?

• At least a share of the Colonial Athletic Association championship. Villanova (6-1, 9-1) plays Delaware (4-3, 6-4) at 3:30. If Villanova wins, it also captures a share of the league title.

• A higher seed (home games) in the FCS playoffs. Only four of 16 teams are seeded. Seeded teams play home games until they face another seeded team. If Villanova wins, Villanova and the winner of UR-W&M likely will be seeded, and Villanova would be the CAA’s automatic qualifier (and highest seed) because it beat UR and W&M.

What’s on the line?

• At least a share of the Colonial Athletic Association championship. Villanova (6-1, 9-1) plays Delaware (4-3, 6-4) at 3:30. If Villanova wins, it also captures a share of the league title.

• A higher seed (home games) in the FCS playoffs. Only four of 16 teams are seeded. Seeded teams play home games until they face another seeded team. If Villanova wins, Villanova and the winner of UR-W&M likely will be seeded, and Villanova would be the CAA’s automatic qualifier (and highest seed) because it beat UR and W&M.

Spiders coach Mike London got the itch to coach relatively late. He worked in law enforcement after graduating from UR in 1983. He returned to UR as a part-time assistant during the late-1980s. London got his first full-time coaching job in 1990 at William and Mary, under Jimmye Laycock, who is in his 30th season as the Tribe’s coach.

WILLIAMSBURG For two stretches, University of Richmond defenders lost William and Mary shooters. As a result, the Spiders lost the game. The Tribe pulled a 78-71 upset before 2,104 at William and Mary Hall last night. The Tribe made 10 3-pointers, not an extraordinary number. But three in a row came in the last 1:18 of the first half, and that flurry allowed W&M to take a one-point lead and momentum at intermission. The sequence repeated in the second half. W&M’s David Schneider (25 points) hit two 3-pointers and a shorter jumper in less than 60 seconds, moving the Tribe (1-2) to a six-point lead with 10 minutes left in its home opener.

Adrian Tracy talks to his mother a little less frequently than the three-a-day calls he made when he first got to William and Mary. But he still frequently chats with, and listens to, the person he calls “definitely my best friend.“

By NCAA rules, there is one automatic qualifier to the FCS playoffs from the Colonial Athletic Association. By CAA rules, there is flexibility for multiple champions. The University of Richmond and visiting William and Mary meet in what amounts to a CAA championship game Saturday at noon. Later that day, Delaware-at-Villanova could yield a second champion. UR, W&M and VU are 6-1 in the CAA, 9-1 overall.

William and Mary’s defensive linemen and Richmond’s offensive linemen won’t need to reacquaint themselves when the fifth-ranked Tribe and fourth-ranked Spiders renew their rivalry Saturday at UR Stadium. Players along both fronts know each other pretty well. The Tribe’s front includes seniors Adrian Tracy, Sean Lissemore and C.J. Herbert. The Spiders’ front includes seniors Jared Decker, Matt McCracken, Chris Kondorossy, Michael Silva and William Bischoff.

Cynicism comes easily when the topic is college athletics. So much money is in play. Coaches who earn seven-figure salaries talk about “student-athletes,“ but their primary interest is the “athlete” and contract bonus clauses. Then, there are those “student-athletes” who show up at a gas station armed with a pellet gun or get involved with the community through late-night fights in bars.

Thirty-five seasons after Bob McCurdy brought the University of Richmond’s basketball program recognition as the nation’s leading scorer, the Spiders will face his son. Sean McCurdy starts for William and Mary, where UR (2-0) plays tonight. During the 1974-75 season, a dozen years before the arrival of the 3-point shot in the college game, Bob McCurdy averaged 32.9 points as a 6-7 Spiders’ senior. McCurdy, a left-hander, featured a terrific outside touch and interior moves with both hands. As a senior, he had 11 assists in 26 games.

Where: William and Mary Hall (cap. 8,600), Williamsburg
  Radio: WXGI (950), WLFV (93.1), 6:30
  Projected starting lineups:
*2007-08 stats
  Notable: These teams last played two seasons ago, when UR came back from an eight-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to win 58-55 at the Robins Center. Spiders guard David Gonzalvez hit seven 3-pointers. . . . UR (2-0) has had four and five players in double-figures in wins over Lehigh and VMI, respectively. . . . UR had a school-record 31 assists vs. VMI in a 103-59 win. . . . W&M (0-2) shoots 41.2 percent, and was picked to finish 10th in the 12-team CAA. . . . Guard David Schneider was second team all-CAA preseason.

CHARLOTTESVILLE—Monica Wright sank her final 10 shots from the field and scored 25 of her game-high 31 points in the second half to lift Virginia’s No. 14-ranked women’s basketball team past Manhattan 86-68 yesterday. Wright, who attempted just four shots in the first half, finished 12 for 14 from the field and moved into fifth place on the Cavaliers’ all-time scoring list. The senior also added five steals and four assists. Virginia improved to 2-0.

BOSTON—Jeremy Lin hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in triple overtime, giving Harvard a wild 87-85 win over William & Mary in a matchup of the nation’s two oldest colleges on Saturday. Up until Lin’s game-winning basket, it was William & Mary that had scored the final points in every frame in the contest. It looked like that would be the case again in the third overtime.