Colgate is No. 1 in the nation, along with Notre Dame, in graduation rates for its Division I student-athletes, according to a report issued by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data show that 99 percent of athletes at Colgate and Notre Dame graduated.

'This guy bleeds maroon'

That is the headline on a feature story in the Utica Observer Dispatch about Bob Cornell, who retired earlier this month as Colgate's director of athletic communications after 33 years of service.

The men's soccer team is in, having won the Patriot League title and a spot in the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year.

The men's football team wants in, and by winning a critical match-up against Holy Cross on Saturday it would capture the Patriot League championship and receive an automatic berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Welcome to NCAA Division I athletics, everyone.

One goal.

That slimmest of margins was the difference in two thrilling victories Saturday for the Colgate men's and women's lacrosse teams.

Both teams are headed to the NCAA Tournament, but first they get a chance to revel in their home victories that fueled the passions of Raider Nation and established several "firsts" for the programs.

The men's team beat the No. 2 squad in the nation -- Syracuse -- by a score of 12-11 at Andy Kerr Stadium. The Raiders held off a furious rally by the Orange to secure the win in front of 4,572 fans.

Alumnus Mark Murphy, the man who led the Colgate football team as captain and went on to lead the athletics department as director, has been named president of one of the most storied franchises in professional sports: the Green Bay Packers.

The team's board of directors on Monday unanimously approved the appointment of Murphy, 52, as the team's president and chief executive officer. He will replace longtime Packers leader Bob Harlan on Jan. 1.

It has been almost 25 years since men's hockey coach Don Vaughan was slammed against the boards.