And they were division contenders all those times.
In the last 50, the three division contenders will play each other seven times.
But they do have enough time to ward off two division contenders and avoid a confounding meltdown.
That the division contenders will play each other next weekend was not designed to create an exciting finish to the season.
But the Islanders, with a tongue-lashing from their general manager, Mike Milbury, and trade rumors still buzzing in their ears, played like division contenders themselves.
Both clubs have been transformed from division two contenders to top-flight mainstays.
The Jets, meanwhile, continue to dominate the news in the nonplayoff contender division by finally benching Mark Sanchez, but not for Tim Tebow (he's hurt), and doing it in the messiest way possible, Rich Cimini wrote on ESPN.com.
In the marquee women's bantamweight division, the top contenders are jostling for an opportunity to fight one of the money players at the top of the division.
She's Lucy, one of three small-town chums from the Deep South who graduate from High School in Georgia and head west in a rickety Buick convertible driven by Anson Mount, a George Clooney lookalike contender (juvenile division).
