This is rivalry weekend in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, and ESPN College GameDay will be in Williamstown, Mass., to check out the oldest series in Division III football.

Williams and Amherst will kick off for the 122nd time tomorrow in one of the prettiest college towns in the land. They first played in 1881, 12 years after Princeton and Rutgers tangled in what is generally accepted at the first college football game in America.

What will the ESPN College GameDay crew of Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard find when they set up camp in Williamstown? A postcard-perfect New England village. A world-class academic institution. A multitalented student body. The best Division III athletics program in the nation. And football fervor that runs long and deep.

Williams is one of those schools that expects to win all the time in everything. Williams has won the Directors Cup for athletics excellence so many times that it might as well be retired. Think Stanford, but on a smaller scale.

The majority of Williams students play one or two varsity sports.

In this part of the world few football games beat Williams and Amherst. Perhaps Harvard and Yale, which have battled 123 times. Passion runs high even when Amherst has a losing record (Williams never seems to have a losing record). Higher when they are both winning — the Lord Jeffs are 4-3 this season. And highest when they are undefeated, which occurs occasionally. Williams has spoiled an Amherst perfect season seven times. Amherst has ruined a Williams perfect season four times. Williams leads the series, 68-48-5.

The GameDay guys will see a crowd, that’s for sure. Not the 110,000 that fill Michigan Stadium, of course, but a sizeable throng by our standards. The largest crowd for a Williams-Amherst game was in 1993, when 13,671 jammed into Weston Field in Williamstown. That set a New England Division III record. Three years later, 12,449 packed Pratt Field at Amherst. That remains the second-largest crowd for a Division III game here.

Alums who can’t return to western Massachusetts now gather around the country to watch on cable and satellite television. Those abroad check in via the Internet.

This is homecoming weekend at Williams. When The Game is at Amherst, Wesleyan, the third member of The Little Three, possibly the oldest conference in the nation without a change in membership, is the homecoming opponent. NESN will televise the game at noon. Andy Gresh of WSKO The Score will provide commentary.

Another NESCAC oldie but goodie will take place in Brunswick, Maine, where 2-5 Colby and 2-5 Bowdoin clash for the 119th time since they first played in 1892. Colby-Bowdoin is the third-oldest Division III series after Williams-Amherst and Albion-Kalamazoo. The winner will go home with the CBB title, Maine’s version of The Little Three. Colby and Bowdoin have defeated 0-7 Bates.

Two Rhode Islanders are playing for Bowdoin. Matt Moran (West Warwick/Bishop Hendricken) has 28 tackles in six games and James Lathrop (Westerly) has rushed 14 times for 28 yards.

And in Hartford, 4-3 Wesleyan and 5-2 Trinity will play for the 107th time since 1885.

The 2007 NESCAC championship will be determined in Medford, Mass., however, where 6-1 Middlebury will try to clinch against 5-2 Tufts. If Tufts beats Middlebury, however, and Trinity and Williams win, there will be a four-way tie for first.

DARTMOUTH at BROWN

If it’s wet tomorrow, the Bears will be in trouble unless they find someone who can run with the football.

DARTMOUTH, 28-24

URI at MAINE

Let’s see if Rhody’s defense can come up with another winning effort.

MAINE, 27-25

BENTLEY at BRYANT

Bulldogs have given up 86 points in their last two games, not a good sign in November.

BENTLEY, 35-31

BOSTON COLLEGE at MARYLAND

Matt Ryan shakes off a bad outing vs. Florida State and gets the Eagles back on track.

BOSTON COLLEGE, 31-24

MICHIGAN at WISCONSIN

Wolverines will clear this hurdle and set up a Big Ten winner-take-all game against Ohio State next week at the Big House.

MICHIGAN, 27-21

PENN STATE at TEMPLE

Remember when Penn State-Pittsburgh was a big game? Now Temple? Aarrgghh!

PENN STATE, 42-10

ILLINOIS at OHIO STATE

Buckeyes keep their eye on the BCS prize.

OHIO STATE, 30-14

AUBURN at GEORGIA

Tenth-ranked Bulldogs are playing well. They have won three straight.

GEORGIA, 24-21

CONNECTICUT at CINCINNATI

How about a BC-UConn bowl game?

CONNECTICUT, 24-21

USC at CALIFORNIA

Wasn’t this supposed to be the game for the Pac-10 championship and a BCS championship berth?

USC, 28-21

FRESNO STATE at HAWAII

Rainbow Warriors are 8-0, one of three undefeated teams in the FBS, but ranked only 14th.

HAWAII, 45-28

MIDDLEBURY at TUFTS

Panthers know how to win big games and championships.

MIDDLEBURY, 21-17

WESLEYAN at TRINITY

Always take the Bantams.

TRINITY, 31-14

AMHERST at WILLIAMS

Ephs finish strong after a slow (for them) start.

WILLIAMS, 34-21

COLBY at BOWDOIN

Bowdoin is a great school, but as a Colby alum, I have to go with the Mules.

COLBY, 21-19

LAST WEEK, 11-4; SEASON, 89-46

mszostak@projo.com