Tremors from Clinton
While victories over the likes of Belhaven, Southeastern University, and Tougaloo had caused some eyebrows to be raised, virtually no one expected Wesley College of the NCCAA division II to walk away from the campus of Mississippi College with a win. The closest Wesley had come to besting the Choctaws was the thirty point defeat of 2005. The fallout from the 2006 match-up was massive by Wesley College standards. The game was covered by several local television news crews, and the outcome was in the Clarion Ledger. Because of the win over MC, Wesley began to receive attention and recognition. When the first NCCAA rankings were released a short time later, Wesley would find itself holding the #1 position in the land – a position it would hold for the majority of the season.

A Big Bite for a Small Dog

The four game stretch following the MC victory was probably the most difficult stretch of games in the history of the Wesley College program. To start the five games off, the MC game went to overtime. Then the Warriors would find themselves facing two NCAA division three programs (one highly ranked), and two NAIA division one programs, in the stretch of five days. During this time, the warriors would also find themselves traveling almost a thousand miles by van. The result was a 1-3 road trip, with the lone victory coming against NAIA division I Spring Hill College of Mobile Alabama. Spring Hill had played four consecutive exhibition games against NCAA division one opponents, almost pulling upsets against McNeese State and Louisiana Lafayette. The Spring Hill Badgers had played Florida State to an 18 point game, holding a 5 point halftime lead. The Warriors won that game 91-86 in overtime. Wesley would use this stretch to catapult them into winning three games against USCAA and NCCAA opponents.

Sliding into Christmas Break

As Christmas Break approached, Wesley was once again faced with a brutal stretch of schedule. First, they had to travel to Tennessee and take on two NAIA division II opponents (including top 10 ranked Lambuth). The final pre-Christmas game was a trip to Monroe Louisiana, to take on NCAA Division 1 University of Louisiana Monroe. The Warhawks of Louisiana Monroe were co-champions of the western division of the Sunbelt Conference in 2007, earning head coach Orlando Early conference “Coach of the Year” honors, as well as region 8 “Coach of the Year” recognition by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Wesley played hard, but the depth of a full scholarship NCAA division 1 team was too much to overcome as the warriors lost 101-64, despite trailing by only 11 at the half.  150 student Wesley Bible College had played valiantly against a 10,000+ student university.

Wesley rolled into the Christmas break holding a 13-7 record and a #1 ranking in NCCAA division 2, despite playing a schedule that thus far had featured only five home contests.