HILLSDALE – Maybe Hillsdale College keeps picking Grand Valley State as the school's "homecoming" game – three times in the last six years – because it is simply a convenient game on the schedule in the middle of the season.

It can't be the traditional selection of a team you should mop the floor with so the alumni get the self-esteem pick-me-up.

Can it?

Not possible.

Maybe, given the GLIAC league implications often involved, it looks like a game everybody would want to attend and so it adds to the homecoming appeal, or adds some "vibe" as Grand Valley coach Matt Mitchell surmised.

Or maybe, it is because the Chargers always seem to have a bunch of players who played their high school football in West Michigan and for those players it is a treat to get a chance to play against the hometown team with the big reputation. Hmmm, recruiting eh?

Whatever the reasons, the game is worth the trip. These two football programs have a recent history of good games, some really good games and even a great one or two. They all seem high-scoring. They all seem dramatic. A rush-the-field celebration has been known to happen after an upset.

"It's a rivalry, sort of a mini-rivalry not quite on the level with Ferris or Saginaw Valley," Mitchell said.  "There's a rivalry though, and a couple of times they had big upsets when we were ranked and that adds to it."

Mitchell has been around for eight years at Grand Valley, three as an assistant coach and five as head coach, and remembers the 2009 game when Grand Valley was ranked No. 1 in the nation and riding a Division II record season 48-game winning streak. It was homecoming, and the Chargers were not nice hosts in winning a 27-24 thriller. That one prompted the students rushing the field, not to mention parents, grandparents, a few kids in strollers and anybody else rooting for the Chargers.

Grand Valley, of course, scored revenge in the Division II playoffs later that year, with a 44-27 win on the way to a national runner-up finish, but the Chargers will forever cherish that one big homecoming.

In 2010, Mitchell's first year as head coach, the Lakers hosted and won a wild one, 44-41.

"They probably should have won that one," Mitchell said, "but it got botched up at the end."

In 2011 it was more of the same with the Lakers winning 34-31 in Hillsdale, though that one wasn't labeled homecoming. The 2012 game was in Hillsdale, too, and it was homecoming for the Chargers. Only the Lakers had a pretty good day, an especially good start and won 42-34.

Then last year, the Lakers stormed from behind for a 31-21 win in Allendale.

Now this Saturday at 4:30 p.m., it is back to another homecoming this weekend on Hillsdale's cozy campus inside Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium.

"It does seem like we always have great games with them," Mitchell said. "I think part of it is the way they scheme things. They don't make a lot of mistakes. Their style of offense and defense are built for close games. They are very well-coached so they know what you do, too. They are not going to beat themselves very often. They put it all on you to beat them if you can."

The West Michigan look of the roster for Hillsdale is obvious as well. Four starters on offense, two on defense and the placekicker are from West Michigan.

The quarterback, Mark LaPrairie, is from Rockford. His top receiver, John Haley, went to Catholic Central in Grand Rapids. The left guard is Matt Opstall from Jenison and the left tackle is Jake Bull from Hudsonville. On defense Tyler Jenks of Comstock Park plays defensive tackle, and Daniel Pittman, a former West Catholic player from Grand Rapids, starts at cornerback and returns punts. The kicker, Steve Mette, is also from Rockford.

"I'm sure those guys think it's a big game," Mitchell said.

Add in that Hillsdale coach Keith Otterbein once was the head coach at rival Ferris State, and it is clear there are a lot of people thinking Hillsdale hosting Grand Valley on homecoming is a big game.

And so it is despite Grand Valley leading the all-time series 26-11. More recent history makes this matchup a thriller waiting to happen.