Williams won the national championship in 2003 and was seconds away in 2004. But since then, they've been off the radar, making the NCAA Tournament just once, while losing three times in the NESCAC quarterfinals.

In that time span, coach Dave Paulsen left for a Division I job and archrival Amherst took over top-dog status in the conference and the region, winning a national title of its own.

&&f-boxr&&This season, however, Williams is off to a 12-1 start under second-year coach Mike Maker, and with conference play ready to begin, the Ephs are looking to seal the deal.

Evans Clinchy has more in this week's Around the Nation.

It's Evans' first Around the Nation column for D3hoops.com, although savvy readers will recognize his name from our men's Final Four coverage the past two seasons and from his contributions to Around the Nation in the past.

He follows Mark Simon, who wrote the column for the first eight years of its existence, and whom we thank for his service.