Both Muhlenberg College basketball teams were picked to finish first in the Centennial Conference East Division in the 2003 preseason poll of coaches and sports information directors.

For the first time ever, the Mule women were tabbed to win the overall CC championship.

WOMEN’S POLL

East Division MUHLENBERG (18) 118 Swarthmore (4) 104 Ursinus 75 Washington 74 Haverford 44 Bryn Mawr 29 West Division Johns Hopkins (12) 89 McDaniel (8) 84 F & M (2) 72 Gettysburg 47 Dickinson 28

Overall Champion: MUHLENBERG (10), Johns Hopkins (7), Franklin & Marshall (2) McDaniel (2), Swarthmore (1).

MEN’S POLL

East Division MUHLENBERG (11) 83 Ursinus (9) 78 Washington 55 Swarthmore 41 Haverford 33 West Division F & M (10) 82 Johns Hopkins (9) 79 Gettysburg (1) 58 Dickinson 41 McDaniel 32

Overall Champion: Franklin & Marshall (9), Johns Hopkins (8), MUHLENBERG (2), Ursinus (1).

Muhlenberg was 21-4 last year, capturing its sixth CC East title in seven seasons before suffering a one-point loss to McDaniel (then known as Western Maryland) in the conference semifinals. The Mules, ranked 20th in the country in the d3hoops.com preseason poll, received 18 of a possible 22 first-place votes in the CC poll.

The Muhlenberg men, who have won or shared the East Division title in eight of the nine years of the CC’s existence, received 11 first-place votes to edge Ursinus by five points. The Mules were 19-6 last year, falling to eventual champion Gettysburg in the CC semifinals. Franklin & Marshall was the choice to win the West and the overall crown.

The 2002-03 basketball season at Muhlenberg opens with the Scotty Wood Tournament this Friday and Saturday. Mule Sports Daily will run team previews on Tuesday and a tournament preview on Thursday.

The Muhlenberg football team will host the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 12 noon.

Both teams are making their first NCAA appearance. The Mules (9-1) earned an automatic bid by tying for the Centennial Conference championship and winning a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. The Corsairs (11-0), one of 10 undefeated teams in Division III, are also making their NCAA debut. They captured the New England Football Conference title on Saturday by defeating Westfield State, 16-0, in the only Division III conference championship game.

Muhlenberg and UMass-Dartmouth have never met in football.

The winner of Saturday’s game will face the winner of the game between John Carroll (9-1) and Hobart (8-1). The top seed in the seven-team bracket is Rowan (10-0), which received a first-round bye and will await the winner of the Springfield (8-1) at Brockport State (8-2) game. Click here for entire championship bracket.

The Mules and Corsairs both enter the tournament with outstanding defenses. Muhlenberg has three shutouts in its last four games, while UMass-Dartmouth blanked four opponents, including the last two, and leads Division III in scoring defense, allowing only 7.1 points per game. The two teams were first and second in Division III in turnover margin before Saturday, UMass-Dartmouth at plus-35 and Muhlenberg at plus-24.

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Sherry Named Player of the Week

Senior linebacker Beau Sherry of the Muhlenberg football team has been named defensive player of the week by the Centennial Conference.

Sherry led the Mule defense in an 8-0 win at Moravian, making 10 tackles for a unit that recorded its third shutout in four games. He also assisted on a sack as Muhlenberg blanked its rival for the first time since 1978.

Offensive honors were shared by Johns Hopkins quarterback George Merrell, who accounted for three touchdowns in the first half of the Blue Jays’ 27-7 win against McDaniel, and Franklin & Marshall running back Scott Stephen, who rushed for 213 yards in a 20-14 win at Gettysburg.

In the other game of the day, Dickinson ended its season on a high note with a 14-6 win against Ursinus. The final regular-season standings were as follows:

MUHLENBERG	5-1	9-1
McDaniel	5-1	8-2
Johns Hopkins	5-1	8-2
Dickinson	3-3	5-5
Franklin & Marshall	2-4	4-6
Gettysburg	1-5	4-6
Ursinus	0-6	2-8