D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast

We're getting ready to kick it all off with the first week of Division III football games for 2022 this weekend, and this week's podcast takes you around to the big stories and big things we're watching across Division III this season. We take it on, region by region. What's fun in the 1? What's new in the 2? What do we see in the 3? What's in store in the 4? Who'll thrive in the 5? What's in the mix in the 6? Pat and Greg run it all down, along with special guest Frank Rossi of In the Huddle weighing in on Regions 1 and 2. Plus, we know -- we know, sometimes it's hard to pay attention in the offseason. If that's you, never fear -- Pat runs down the big news from the offseason, in song form. Yes, in song form -- picture the Yakko's World song from Animaniacs, and if that doesn't resonate with your generation, just know we tested it against a 9-year-old, a 20-year-old, a 39-year-old and a 49-year-old and they had all heard the original. Lyrics below, in case it's too fast to follow! There are a number of big games -- rest assured we'll talk plenty about UW-Whitewater at St. John's and Muhlenberg at Mary Hardin-Baylor in other ways before those games kick off, so we focus on two additional games to watch. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Teams are in camp, with the first games coming in just 10 days, on Sept. 1! And while it is definitely too early to talk about this year's playoff bubble, we decided to visit with two of last year's bubble teams. For Hardin-Simmons and coach Jesse Burleson, last year's Selection Sunday brought disappointment, as the Cowboys were left out of the playoffs. There's no doubt that the team has been using that snub as fuel for their 2022 fire, and Burleson talks about that, plus the amazing number of players the team has in camp, and how far ahead his team is at this point in the preseason. Plus, you won't believe how many schools Burleson said he called in order to get one D-III team to agree to play them. On the opposite side, we have Bethel and coach Steve Johnson. His Royals got new life on Selection Sunday last year, as the team, which had two losses, both to St. John's, got an at-large bid. The Royals have just over half the players in camp that Hardin-Simmons have, but Bethel has 28 of its top 30 players from last year returning. Johnson talks about the way the Bethel program has been built over his 34 seasons, and what the team's phrase, "play fast and free" means. Pat and Greg field a listener question regarding what effect the coronavirus might have on this year's season, discuss what (if anything) can be learned from a conference preseason coaches' poll, and much more.

This month's podcast finishes our offseason series of conversations with new coaches at Division III playoff contenders, and we get to Podcast 306, where we talk to Carnegie Mellon head coach Ryan Larsen. Larsen is just 35 years old, and he replaced Rich Lackner, who had been head coach at CMU since literally before Larsen was born. Larsen came from Columbia to take this job in Division III, and so did Andrae Murphy, the new head coach at Dean. In fact, Larsen and Dean had offices next to each other. We hear their stories of working together, plus Murphy talks about returning to Dean, his alma mater, which was a two-year school when he attended. Murphy talks about his decision to join the U.S. Army between his playing career at Dean and the beginning of his coaching career, and Larsen tells us about the mantra that Murphy brought to the Columbia program, and is bringing to Dean. Plus, we react to today's news of a new Division III bowl game, the Lakefront Bowl, by matching up the remaining conferences that do not play postseason bowl games. So Pat and Greg run down the list and give every remaining potential game a name, and a sponsor. Who sponsors the ASC-SAA game? The SCIAC-NWC game? We've got ideas! And with preseason Top 25 season around the corner, Pat and Greg field a listener question asking which teams have the potential to be big movers up and down the poll from how last season ended. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Wittenberg played in the Stagg Bowl four times in the 1970s, winning two of them. One of those wins was against Ithaca, which played in four of the first eight Stagg Bowls and has played in seven overall, winning three of them. While this is not your father's Wittenberg or Ithaca, these programs haven't exactly gone away, either, and are still relevant. At least one is in the playoff hunt every year, it would seem. And each this year has a new head coach, which is why we tabbed Ithaca's Michael Toerper and Wittenberg's Jim Collins to join us on Podcast 305. This continues the series, now blatantly intentional, of offseason conversations with new coaches at Division III contenders, one started in Podcast 302 with North Central's Brad Spencer. We asked the listeners for suggestions as to which coach or coaches we should talk to next, and we also opened up the floor for listener questions. Pat and Greg tackle the following: What team is likely to be a surprise playoff team in 2022? How has the pandemic changed Division III football? What's more beneficial to a struggling program, playing a nine-game schedule or having a 10th against a juggernaut? Some heavy questions, plus Greg finds out what's on Pat's Division III football bucket list. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Pat and Greg chat with Nate Milne, Muhlenberg's head coach, about his team's recent trip to Spain, as well as new UW-Oshkosh head coach Peter Jennings. Also on the docket: which conferences will suffer most from having fewer at-large bids, will a one-dimensional team ever win the national title again, what non-conference games are we looking forward to, and how do you pronounce WIAC?

We're continuing our offseason series diving into interviews with new coaches at Division III football powers, as we check in with Larry Harmon, the new head coach of the defending national champion, Mary Hardin-Baylor. Much like last month's guest, new North Central coach Brad Spencer, Harmon had been an assistant coach at his school for years, including defensive coordinator for the past 17. Harmon talks about what the expectations are for the Cru's title defense, the transition into taking over the UMHB program, and what the team learned from spring ball. Plus, UMHB made some of the biggest news of the Division III offseason in April, announcing an ambitious non-conference schedule of Muhlenberg and UW-Whitewater. Plus, three words: ASC-WIAC Challenge?! Sounds like it could happen. That leads us into the other podcast conversation, where we dive into exactly what strength of schedule means, why it's broken, and what it would take to fix it. We have that conversation with Logan Hansen, @LogHanRatings, the former Wartburg player whose ratings have been refined over the past decade to provide a quality ranking of Division III football programs. The current SOS metric could take a couple of minor tweaks to fix obvious flaws, and we talk about those, but it needs a wholesale replacement which involves measuring home-field advantage, and yes, margin of victory. Logan talks about how that works, why running up the score won't work, and much more in our conversation. Plus, Pat and Greg talk about the various big games on the schedules that have been announced so far. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Pat Coleman stopped by in Naperville, Illinois, on a recent Division III basketball road trip and checked in on new North Central coach Brad Spencer. Spencer had been in the job for six weeks, but had only just moved into the head coach office a day and a half earlier. He and Pat talk about Spencer's long relationship with North Central -- not just as an assistant coach, not just as a player, but ... as a bat boy? Plus, they talk about what makes the head coaching job different, what keeps him from getting his lunch eaten on a daily basis, getting to know the guys on the other side of the ball, etc. Also, Pat and Greg borrowed a couple of "big picture" type questions which come from D3boards.com message board posters MUC57. Are the Purple Powers still on top in Division III? Why is the WIAC so good? You know, that sort of thing. Great offseason conversation and fodder. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

If it seems like there is always something important about Division III football being voted on at the NCAA convention, well, we think you’re probably correct. This year, there is a significant proposal that could limit using pads in practice during the fall, but add time with pads and helmets in the spring. This proposal is long and convoluted. Should it be broken up into smaller pieces and voted on individually? What does it even mean for Division III football teams and coaches. The second proposal is much shorter but could have much longer-ranging effects. If the proposal to reduce the number of teams needed for an automatic bid in Division III sports is changed from seven teams to six, there could be one at-large bid which disappears almost immediately, and we only have five to begin with. Pat Coleman talks about what the consequences could be for football. In addition, an expert panel talks about the reasonings behind the proposals and whether they will pass. That panel: Stevie Baker-Watson, the athletic director at DePauw; Brad Bankston, the commissioner of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference; Jason Fein, the athletic director at Bates and co-chair of the NCAA Division III management council; and Angel Mason, athletic director at Berry and Chair of the NCAA Financial Aid committee and the Division III Technology Committee. Pat Coleman and Dave McHugh, sitting in for Greg Thomas, talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football. This podcast contains excerpts from a much longer Hoopsville podcast on D3hoops.com. To hear or see the full version, go to Hoopsville.

It was great to have a 2021 Division III football season to have a podcast about, and since the 300th podcast fell right at the end of the season, we celebrate by bringing back an old favorite — longtime co-host Keith McMillan. Keith joins Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas, along with Frank Rossi to break […]

Oh, heck yeah -- we have one of those nice new Stagg Bowl venues with a nice new stadium smell. And no, we were never going to get 23,000 people to attend this game, but having it played in a big, professional stadium, next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame ... that's pretty special. The teams, North Central and Mary Hardin-Baylor, are veterans of the Stagg Bowl and are loose and ready to go. We'll hear a little of that from each coach. We'll also talk to Mary Hardin-Baylor quarterback Kyle King and linebackers Micah Hackett and Jacob Mueller, plus Andrew Kamienski and Jake Beesley from North Central. How do you prepare to defend Brandon Jordan? What do the UMHB players think of North Central running back Ethan Greenfield? How often does Kyle King audible out of a play in any given game? Plus, Greg Thomas puts Pat Coleman and guest host Frank Rossi on the spot with a few over-unders, such as, how many passes will Jordan catch? How many carries will Greenfield get? Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

We get a new, never-before-seen matchup in the Stagg Bowl, and that's something to be excited about. In the latest edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast, Pat and Greg break down each of the semifinals, and North Central coach Jeff Thorne and Mary Hardin-Baylor coach Pete Fredenburg join us to do the same. For North Central, the key performances came all over the field: from an offensive line missing two starters, from a freshman kicker called on to do the unlikely on a rainy and windy day, and of course from the dare-we-say future All-American running back and his quarterback, and the entire defense. We'll talk about each of those performances. For Mary Hardin-Baylor, of course, the biggest performance on offense was from the biggest man on the offense, Brandon Jordan. Plus the defense did more than enough to keep Alex Peete in check, and there are very few questions for UMHB. But we ask those questions anyway! Plus, we talk about who the elite teams are in Division III football right now, and where does Mount Union rank among them after we've had two consecutive Stagg Bowls without the Purple Raiders for the first time since the early 1990s. And what the heck was up with the replay official in Whitewater on Saturday? Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

This is not perceived slight. This is actual, honest-to-goodness, true, verifiable slight. Near the beginning of our podcast season we had some audio Jeff Thorne said to his players on the field after his team handled Wheaton in the Little Brass Bell game in which he talked about the program not getting the respect it deserved as defending champion. Well, the Cardinals got it after that game from the D3football.com Top 25 poll, and eventually the AFCA Top 25 followed suit, but apparently not enough people on the NCAA Division III football committee thought so, as North Central was inexplicably sent on the road to Mount Union for the national semifinals. Pat and Greg talk through all the ramifications, everything we learned about this from committee members past and present, and more, including that apparently one thing the committee did was so egregious that a committee higher up could review it as soon as Monday. Plus, we talk with Frank Rossi, for his from-the-sideline take on everything that went down on actual game day in Alliance, Ohio, where Mount Union had to survive in overtime against No. 15-ranked Muhlenberg. And we hit the other three quarterfinals and reflect on what we've learned in the playoffs so far and how that will apply to head-to-head matchups between North Central and Mount Union, and UW-Whitewater and Mary Hardin-Baylor. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football. Related link: Brandon Jordan: A game-saving catch for UMHB

In 2019 the second round of the Division III playoffs featured a number of blowouts, and this year, yes, there were two big wins, perhaps not coincidentally by the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in our Top 25 poll, but a bunch of other games that were one-score or two-score games. That strikes us as being fairly unusual ... and also awesome. Whether that holds up in the quarterfinals remains to be seen, but it's a start. Could there have really been eight teams in the bracket capable of winning it all? Is Mount Union actually vulnerable after giving up 35 points on Saturday? Does Linfield have what it takes to get past Mary Hardin-Baylor on another long trip? Plus, every week it becomes time for more and more players to hang up their cleats -- some by choice, and some who simply run out of time. We talk to both types in this week's podcast. Plus, Ralph Isernia, head coach at RPI, perhaps the most unlikely quarterfinalist, joins us for a playoff-worthy expanded Tight Five to talk about the adversity his team has gone through just in getting this far and the personal sacrifices players have made to come back for this year. That and more in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Plus, we hand out game balls from the weekend that was Division III football. We talk about who will rise in the Top 25 poll based on their performance in the first two weeks of the playoffs. And we tackle the question: Is this more parity? Is it just about teams with super seniors? Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

If the committee doesn't do its due diligence to make sure it is giving the teams that have the best criteria home games in the playoffs, but the teams that benefited from this mistake ended up losing, does it make a sound? Sure, UW-La Crosse should not have had to travel to Albion. We knew it. We said it out loud on the last podcast and in the Around the Nation predictions column. But Matt Janus and the Eagles made the most of it, going 470 miles by bus to deliver a message about the strength of the WIAC. We talk with Janus about the trip and how UW-La Crosse's schedule has prepared it for this moment in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Plus we hear voices from all around the bracket, including the reaction of a coach whose program was playing a home playoff game for the first time, one who took points off the board, players who helped deliver the day's only true upset, and much more. Plus, we hand out game balls from the weekend that was Division III football. And we were challenged to come up with a solution that might actually get traction in making the NCAA Division III playoffs better. We've got a couple! Listen to the podcast to find out. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Now we know who is in and who is out, and unless you are a Hardin-Simmons fan, there might not be a lot to complain about with this bracket. Yes, we thought the Cowboys would be in, and surely many people in Texas did so as well, but as it turned out. But the Region 3 committee thought otherwise -- enough so that they even put Randolph-Macon in front of Hardin-Simmons, so Hardin-Simmons never even got to the table for discussion. In other regions, committees made some interesting decisions that ended up boosting the at-large candidacy of teams in their region. Is that fair or is that gaming the system? Plus, what did the committee get right and what did it get wrong? Who gets our game balls from a great weekend in Division III football? Hint -- both made big plays that secured their team's place in the postseason. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

We handed out 15 more automatic bids on Saturday, for a total of 16, and there were a number of games with big results to keep an eye on. So we break it down for you, fellas -- the big game in the WIAC, the one(s) in the Liberty League and the one in the American Southwest, even though it isn't in the ASC proper. Our game balls go to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Our off-the-beaten-path highlights come from New Jersey and Massachusetts. Our surprising results come from Massachusetts and New York. Our stats of the week, from Illinois and Wisconsin. Does Hardin-Simmons get sent a long distance in the playoffs, or do they play closer to home? And what rivalry would we create at random from one Week 11 game? That and much more in episode 293. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football. Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.

Key games in the Centennial and Liberty League didn't finalize those conference chases. But with 27 automatic bids to a field of 32 playoff teams, we have one team which has clinched so far. That's Cortland, which defeated Alfred on Saturday to clinch the Empire 8. Cortland coach Curt Fitzpatrick joins us to talk about his team's amazing defensive performances, plus trying not to look ahead to the Cortaca Jug rivalry with Ithaca in Week 11. Our game balls go to Ohio and Wisconsin. Our off-the-beaten-path highlights come from Connecticut and Vermont. Our surprising results come from Illinois and Ohio. Our stats of the week, from Michigan and Connecticut. What unlikely ways might this week's Birmingham-Southern/Trinity (Texas) game impact the way the bracket is put together. And who has a rivalry trophy already and doesn't need our new one? That and much more in episode 292. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

We have no idea who the leader of the PAC is right now. None. If you have four leaders, you don't have any -- at least, that would be the coach speak version of the answer. We can't fully clear up a four-way tie between <a href="https://www.d3football.com/teams/Carnegie_Mellon/2021">Carnegie Mellon</a>, <a href="https://www.d3football.com/teams/Grove_City/2021">Grove City</a>, <a href="https://www.d3football.com/teams/Washington_and_Jefferson/2021">Washington and Jefferson</a> and <a href="https://www.d3football.com/teams/Westminster_(Pa.)/2021">Westminster (Pa.)</a>, but we'll make a start along that road. St. John's received some bad news over the weekend when starting quarterback, Aaron Syverson, broke his leg. Who replaces him and wat's next for the Johnnies? We're joined for a Tight Five by Lake Forest coach Jim Catanzaro. Now that Jim is no loner the national committee chair, we can focus on his Foresters squad a bit, which is unbeaten headed into its contest on Saturday against Monmouth, one which might eventually decide the Midwest Conference title. Our game balls go to Wisconsin and California. Our surprising results come from Ohio and ... Ohio. Our off-the-beaten-path highlights come from Massachusetts and ... Ohio. Our stats of the week, from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Which two teams from the WIAC and CCIW will play in this inaugural Butter Burger Bowl ... err, Isthmus Bowl? Which two teams should bury the hatchet and find some sportsmanship? That and much more in episode 291.

Regional rankings are coming soon! Usually this would be a great time of year, but this time around, it's going to be more than a little confusing. These sorts of things are handled in the same manner across all Division III team sports, so in this bonus podcast, we are talking about the upcoming changes with Dave McHugh, the host of Hoopsville, which is the podcast for Division III basketball. It's a little bit of D3football.com/D3hoops.com crossover! What's coming? Why are they changing? Whose bright idea was it, and what did they hope would come out of it? Pat and Dave talk about it all in this bonus podcast. Apologies to Greg Thomas, who is not on this edition of the podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football, featuring Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas.

We got a little clarification in some conferences. We had celebrations of some big wins. And we got separation -- or at least, some key players did. Week 6 of the 2021 Division III football season promised to be exciting, and frankly, it overdelivered. To the tune of Matt Clarke rolling up 318 receiving yards for William Paterson. Or already highly decorated return man A.J. Jackson returning two punts for touchdowns in the span of just a few minutes. We'll give you our take on the big games, like the one in Wisconsin, the one in New York, the one in Oregon, the one in Pittsburgh and the one in Texas. But we also have William Paterson coach Dustin Johnson on for a tight five minute interview. A 3-3 season might not seem like much to you, but for WPU, three wins is already more than they've had since 2014. We'll hear a broadcast beg their team not to kick to Jackson, only to see them to do it again, the very next time. Our surprising results come from Illinois and Massachusetts. Our off-the-beaten-path highlights come from Illinois and western New York. Our stats of the week, from Oregon and Ohio. Hear the broadcasters who are on the ball and those who are offbase. Plus, what will it take to get a home game in the playoffs? Which two teams should play for the Old Musket Ball? That and much more in episode 289. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

Week 5 was witness to a number of key battles, both inside and outside of the Top 25, and if you're living life in the fast lane, you hopes for making the postseason may be already gone in the long run. One of these nights, you think, someone is going to upset the team you are chasing in the standings, or in the Top 25, and then there's going to be a heartache tonight. That did not happen to Washington & Jefferson, which survived a close game at Geneva and will finally get another home game. Presidents coach Mike Sirianni talks about that and more with us in our Tight Five segment. There's no wasted time when we get the interview down to five minutes. Or perhaps you are exceeding everyone's expectations and you're the new kid in town. That could well be FDU-Florham, which took it too Widener this weekend. There's implications here beyond the MAC standings, however, and if you can trust your lyin' eyes, you can probably have a peaceful, easy feeling about your postseason chances. Saturday night also saw a big game down in Georgia that we'll talk about, and of course, you'd have to think hell freezes over if we don't talk about that big win for Ithaca against Hobart. Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Central against Wartburg -- 2021 style, anyway. Perhaps not 2019 style. Plus, who really are the best dual-threat quarterbacks in Division III? You are not alone if you think it's your quarterback, so we'll give you a few more names because your program may not be the center of the universe. What have been the most impactful plays of the season so far? Which two teams should play for the Twilight Trophy? That and much more in episode 288.

There were a lot of eyes on the big game of Saturday night between Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons, and we talk plenty about that game, its breakout star, the aftermath and the implications. But it wasn't the only big comeback of Week 4. Witness Salve Regina, which rallied from even further back -- 25 points -- to defeat Rowan. We take you through that game too, with the help of Seahawks coach Kevin Gilmartin in what we are calling our Tight Five. We take exactly five minutes of the podcast with a guest to get to the key questions. And if you're puzzled about how to rank Hardin-Simmons, after this loss or any other loss in any season to Mary Hardin-Baylor, well, you're not alone. We take you through what a voter has to consider when filing their ballot in this particular instance. Plus, game balls go to the ground game, we go off the beaten path to a commonwealth, and Greg has to go all Minnesotan to answer a question in On the Spot. That and much more in episode 287.

From bell reality to poll potential, there's a lot to talk about in this week's podcast. First off, you can hear exactly what North Central coach Jeff Thorne had to say about a lack of respect for his team immediately after Saturday's Little Brass Bell game win against Wheaton, and how his team reacted. Andrew Kamienski will tell you what he was feeling when he took the trophy and then took off running to bring it to his teammates and their fans. And we'll tell you what we saw from this team, its new quarterback and more. North Central, the new No. 1. Not too big a surprise there, we presume. But this is the time of year where fans of teams which start off, say, 2-0 or 3-0 look at the Top 25 and say, hey, why aren't we ranked? There are a number of reasons, and we'll talk about them. It's a good reminder of how hard it is to get ranked! Plus, game balls go to defensive backs who made big plays, including one in a big upset. That and much more in episode 286.

We got our first look at the defending national champions this past week, and against a ranked team as well. What do the Cardinals look like? Greg Thomas has his take, and it's bad news for the rest of Division III football. Plus, we got to see UW-Whitewater against a Top 10 team, and that was super enlightening as well! Plus, Pat and Greg hand out their game balls, including one to a special teamer, and dig up the great off-the-beaten-path highlights, the weekend's surprising results. Plus, we take a look at the games coming up in Week 3. All that and more in Podcast 285.

If you have gone 650-some days between games, you can be expected to be happy, and you can be excused for being a little bit emotional as well. And when that long break culminates in a big win, well, all bets are off. We talk to a couple of players who had big wins of varying varieties in Week 1, plus Pat and Greg give out game balls, find the off-the-beaten-path highlights and surprising stats from Week 1. And for Week 2, they discuss their games to watch, pick a first-year coach to go 2-0, and make up a rivalry game (and more!) on the spot from a random game in the Week 2 schedule. All that and more in Podcast 284. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

First of all, it's official: We're back. And secondly, Pat and Greg have a confession to make, perhaps some news to break about who is the No. 1 team on their preseason ballots. Meanwhile, for many programs, including most of the top five teams in the poll, their next game will be the first in 600 to 700 days. That includes for Wheaton, which has had 'new' coach Jesse Scott for more than 18 months before he gets to coach his first game for the Thunder this upcoming Saturday. He sits down with us to talk about the wait, and the weighty expectations on his program. Plus, Pat and Greg talk about their games to watch, spotlight some of the unexpected programs who are benefitting from the year off, and make up a rivalry game (and more!) on the spot from a random game in the Week 1 schedule. All that and more in Podcast 283. Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

At the time this episode drops, Wesley was scheduled to play one last time this upcoming weekend. It's not exactly a fitting end for a proud Division III football program, but in this 2020-21 season, it's the end we have. The Wolverines were not always a Top 10 program. When Wesley joined the Division III ranks in the mid-1980s, they lost their first 25 games. Those struggles included a time where the team had to make a call: play a powerhouse team while suiting up only 27 players, or sit the week out. We've collected those memories and more of 30-plus years of Wesley football for this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Who did one player get way too hyped up to play? What did one 18-year-old young man do on his first long snap of his Wesley career? Who clocked a future NFL player out of bounds in a hyped-up matchup? And who got the big play to send the Wolverines to the playoffs for the first time? The following Wesley alumni and others associated with the Wesley football program sent in their memories for inclusion in this podcast: Milt Alexander, Norman Bauer, Jason Bowen, Nick Cipot, Shaun Clark, Eric Czerwinski, Calvin Griffin, Shawn Matthews, Chris Panter, Ken Pippin, Jason Schatz, Justin Sottilaire, Rick Vogel, Dante Walker, Matt Walker and Mike Ward. And special thanks to Chad Kragh, former athletic trainer at Wesley, for helping us reach so many of these alumni. Plus, Pat and Greg look back on some of the great conference title games of the past few weeks, hand out game balls, and talk about all the games that haven't yet been postponed. All that and more in Podcast 282. Pat Coleman, Keith McMillan and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

There is so much here to talk about as we are midway through March in Division III football, and one of the things that Division III football coaches are pointing to right now is how all of the old excuses given for why D-III can't have pads in practice in the spring are being proven wrong. They said it would be impossible to find field time, that athletic training staffs would be stretched too thin. Well, here we are having had coming up on 100 games in Division III this spring -- and we're not talking about asking for games: We're talkin' about practice. We're joined by three head coaches who each give their take on renewing the drive to add pads and helmets in the spring, as we hear from Hendrix coach Buck Buchanan, Lake Forest coach Jim Catanzaro and Whitworth coach Rod Sandberg. Plus, we talk with Berry coach Tony Kunczewski about his team's 4-0 spring, and with Trinity (Texas) coach Jerheme Urban about what his team accomplished with its spring football as well. But the best part of this podcast may well be our chance to catch up with former Berry defensive back Justus Edwards. You may remember his name because in 2018, he suffered a catastrophic spinal injury during the Vikings' game at Centre. He has continued to inspire his classmates and former teammates on the sidelines, and he was at the team's appearance at the SAA championship in Little Rock, Arkansas. We talked with him about the work he is doing to get stronger, plus the foundation he has started to help people who have suffered similar injuries and have nowhere to turn. Meanwhile, we talk about the big games from Week 6, hand out two weeks' worth of game balls, and bring back a well-known name to talk about Montez Archer and offer some advice to the Bluffton freshman who has intercepted six passes over the past two games.

The first-ever February football in Division III is in the books, and Pat and Keith are here to hand out game balls and talk about the goings-on. Coaches were getting a bit of a breather in the fall, but those whose teams are playing now are making up for it. That's what we heard from our guest, Randolph-Macon coach Pedro Arruza. We also talk about what's next for Wesley, playing its final football season this fall. Plus we talk about the big performances of February and the great finishes.

We are mere weeks away from getting games in this Division III football spring season, with nine games slated to go on Feb. 6. And one Division III prospect is getting his crack at the NFL this month as well. UW-Whitewater guard Quinn Meinerz, a D3football.com All-America pick in 2019, just found out he was getting an invite to the Senior Bowl, the same place that St. John's guard Ben Bartch got his big break in 2020 before getting drafted. Meinerz had to make the decision to pull out of whatever UW-Whitewater's spring season would be in order to do so, and he tells us about it, plus the unusual training regimen he had to go through at times to get to this point. Bridgewater coach Mike Clark is ready to take up fly fishing -- but not yet, as the longtime Eagles coach will be coaching one final season for Bridgewater this spring before retiring. Clark talks about what the spring season is going to require from coaches and players, what he did with his unforeseen free time this fall and Pat tells his favorite Mike Clark story. And we hear from one coach that is jumping right in to get a team ready for Week 1, as Jason Bachtel returns to his alma mater just days before practice starts at Howard Payne for a Feb. 6 opener. Plus, we take three listener questions. All that and more in Podcast 279.

Four teams are playing games in October and all four were supposed to be playing within a few miles of each other last Saturday, Of course, Because Of The Pandemic, that didn't exactly happen. Bluffton is still planning to take the field this weekend for the first time, Trine finishes the fall at 2-0, Manchester got to open its new stadium and Adrian has a chance to finish 2-1. Each of those four teams takes something different away from its October schedule but they all got a chance to get some work in, and play in the season they were intended to play in. Pat was at Manchester and at Trine and we talk with all four of these teams on the latest D3football.com podcast. Guests: Bluffton coach Aaron Krepps, Trine quarterback Alex Price and coach Troy Abbs, Adrian running back Steven Moses and coach Jim Deere and Manchester coach Nate Jensen. We discuss that and more in Podcast 278. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

This eternal offseason is destined to continue, but even into mid-August, things move so quickly that conferences, and individual schools which had been sure they were going to play football games this fall, have turned out to be headed back to the sidelines. That leaves very few teams still in a position to play ball this fall, but we'll talk to two schools who just had their season dashed this week and one which is still on course. Adrian has 150 players on campus already and is looking to play up to its maximum five games, the number of games a team can play without using a year of its student-athletes' eligibility. And they might want to go beyond that. Bulldogs coach Jim Deere talks about who they'll play, who they are talking to, how they'll keep the players safe and how important sports is to the college. Simpson was among the schools that had its fall hopes dashed when the American Rivers Conference reversed course and changed its mind after previously saying their schools would play football in the fall. Storm coach Matt Jeter talked to us mere hours after the decision was announced and discusses the quick change, what happens to the student-athletes left in travel limbo, and how he might use his team's 114 permitted days of football over the next academic year. And we talk with Northwestern (Minn.), which had a five-game schedule lined up until every American Rivers Conference team slated to play had to drop off the schedule. The Eagles have to go back to watching from the sidelines as well, and coach Matt Moore talks to us about that process and more. We discuss that and more in Podcast 277. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

With the fall championship all but called off, schools that haven't called off their fall sports already will probably be doing so soon, and those who are looking to potentially play football in the spring may be starting to make plans. We talked to all three of our interview subjects on the day that the Division III Management Council said it was recommending the 2020 fall championships in Division III be canceled, and although that hasn't formally happened yet, it almost certainly will. So we talked to three people who are all in different stages of the 2020 season: First, we talk with TCNJ coach Casey Goff. His school was one of the first to say they would not be fielding fall sports teams, so he has known for more than a month that there wouldn't be a 2020 fall season for his program. With that perspective, Goff talks about whether it was good to know early in the process, what he thinks of his school's plans. And, is spring football possible? We'll get his take on that. We also talk with Centre wide receiver Jordan Gunter. He would have been playing his senior season for the Colonels this fall, and his school is in a conference which is pushing publicly to get football moved to the spring. Is he looking forward to playing football in the spring? No -- because he also is a starting outfielder for the Colonels, and he's already lost a baseball season to COVID-19. He'll explain why he would play baseball in the spring, given the choice. And we have a conversation with Illinois Wesleyan coach Norm Eash. IWU and the CCIW have yet to make any announcement on their plans for the fall, so we get the perspective of a coach with a program that still has hopes of playing football. In the fall.

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, we held off on our May podcast episode. Whatever we had planned would not stand up to what the country was going through, and as many podcasts and content creators turned to amplify Black voices, we knew we needed to do the Division III football version. This upcoming season, if there is one, 17 Black men will be head coaches of Division III football programs. One of them, Chip Taylor of Hamline, was on Lake Street in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, just hours before and blocks away from where Floyd was killed. We talk with Taylor about his reaction, the immediate aftermath, plus his Hamline program and how they wrapped up recruiting during COVID-19, not to mention changes coming to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. That's just one of the voices you'll hear on this podcast, though. We also invited three Black Division III football student-athletes, from a variety of backgrounds, to talk about when they realized that this was the killing of a Black man that would bring about a change in perception, as well as their experiences on campus as young Black men, and how they work as leaders on their campuses. Please take the time to listen to Nik Hayes of Millsaps, Malcolm Lang of Wabash and Devin Smith of Cortland as they and Keith McMillan tell their of their stories and experiences. And then, there is some news to tackle right now, even in the uncertainty surrounding the fall season, as Wesley College appears to be on the verge of either going under or getting acquired by/merged into Delaware State University. What would happen to their football program? We chat with Sean Greene, the Wolverines' longtime play-by-play voice on WDEL Radio. We discuss that and more in Podcast 275. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

Will we see games this fall, or spring? Did D-III players miss out on their NFL chances because of the pandemic? Will all of our schools even open this fall? How does one coach on Zoom? All this and more discussed in the latest podcast. Guests: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps coach Kyle Sweeney, Huntingdon coach Mike Turk and D-III expert and higher ed consultant Chris Pesotski.

The fields will stand empty this spring, as college campuses across the country are devoid of student and athlete alike. The Division III football spring practice will be even more non-existent than usual. Dozens of new coaches won't get to see their teams in action, even if that action had been without helmets and pads. Hundreds of quarterback hopefuls won't get to show off their skills in an organized setting. And yet, all this pales to the threat each and every Division III coach, player and fan, across all sports, faces from the COVID-19 virus -- a virus that even helped bring a school to close its doors permanently, with perhaps more to come. In this edition of the podcast, Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan talk with three coaches who are all helping their student-athletes face likely the most significant adversity of their lives. That starts with MacMurray coach Chris Douglas, whose entire team and school was disbanded out from under him last week. He talked with us less than 24 hours after the new broke, to talk about how he and the school were helping his student-athletes and what plans they might have for continuing to play in 2020, for different programs. We also talked with Jeff Thorne of national champion North Central. His spring practice would have been spent helping figure out who would take the quarterback reins from D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year Broc Rutter. Instead, it is spent sheltering at home, meeting with players online and looking for innovative ways to upgrade the Cardinals' X's and O's. And we also talked with FDU-Florham coach Jimmy Robertson, who just took over the program six short weeks ago -- or maybe it seems like longer than that. His vision for turning the Devils around starts with a plan, one which the team will have to start by working out at home. Pat and Keith discuss that and more in Podcast 273.

Keith starts off this podcast by saying, "I think we are sitting on the best offseason podcast in Around the Nation history." And if you care about Division III players in the NFL, or headed to the NFL, or Division III teams playing in NFL stadiums, you are in the right place. We are all about the road to the NFL in this podcast. We start with an enlightening interview with Tampa Bay Bucs offensive lineman Ali Marpet, who is entering his sixth year in the league. He talks about his road into the league, whether he has ever shaken the "D3" label and some of the other Division III alumni he has played with for the Bucs. Marpet also talks about one current D-III alumnus looking to follow a similar path, St. John's tackle Ben Bartch. Bartch was not available for this podcast, but we talk with Marpet as well as Bartch's coach, Gary Fasching. He talks about Bartch's experience at the Senior Bowl. Did you think the Johnnies would never move a home game off campus? You're not alone, and Fasching talks about how the final Johnnie-Tommie game ended up going to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Plus, who will play quarterback for the Johnnies in 2020? We are also joined by a player who also has NFL potential, but didn't make the cut for the Combine. Berry wide receiver Mason Kinsey has the drive in him to make noise on draft day, however -- he'll tell us about what he had to do in order to get a chance to run the 40 for scouts. Plus, we'll get a pretty detailed look at what Kinsey's schedule was at the Shrine Bowl, as well as how he is preparing for the draft. Pat and Keith discuss that and more in Podcast 272, plus the latest coaching hirings and some of the interesting non-conference games which are new to the 2020 schedule. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

The announcements of the departure of Vince Kehres and Larry Kehres from the Mount Union football program and athletic department are easily the most impactful news stories of the young 2020 season. And depending on how the season ends, those twin departures may well be the most impactful news story of the entire year. Who might replace Vince Kehres as head coach? Pat and Keith are joined by Adam Turer, and they look at some of the possible names -- Mount Union alumni who could well be the next Purple Raider head coach. Plus, we'll also talk about what sort of Purple Raider program that person will inherit. In addition, we start our offseason podcasts as we always do, with long-form interviews of Division III coaches. This month, we caught up with Aaron Keen, the new head coach of Washington University in St. Louis -- literally on his first day on the job in mid-January. What is on the to-do list for the man replacing another LK -- Larry Kindbom? Plus, what did he forget to do on Day 1? And why would a man who could be an offensive coordinator in a power conference, or perhaps a Group of Five head coach, want to come back to Division III? We hear his take. We also chat with McMurry head coach Jordan Neal. He enters his second year with the program, one which can seemingly only go up after an 0-10 finish in 2019. We talk with Neal about his career on the opposite side of town, as a quarterback at Hardin-Simmons, plus his time as an assistant coach and how he found all of the people who are now on his staff. And then, how do the War Hawks get the program turned around? And we take your questions: If we could wave a magic wand, where would we put the Stagg Bowl? Who will be the next coach at Wheaton? And who won the decade?

In other Division III sports, we often get to see schools experience the national championship event for the first time, and often get to see them come away a winner. In football, however, we haven't had too much of that. Mount Union, UW-Whitewater and Mary Hardin-Baylor have combined to win the previous 14 Stagg Bowls. But on Friday night in Shenandoah, Texas, we got something new, something decidedly less purple, as North Central brought a new program to the Stagg Bowl, with new back stories and histories. And the Cardinals came away emphatically as champions, defeating UW-Whitewater 41-14. In this podcast, Pat, Keith, Frank Rossi and Greg Thomas wrap up the game and wrap up the season. You can hear the debate and how we arrived at giving our three year-end awards to members of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. Plus, you'll hear the emotion in a proud dad's voice, a son who wanted to get his dad to hold the trophy, and a most outstanding player who tried to give his trophy away. Plus, who should be No. 2? UW-Whitewater? Mount Union? Wheaton? Pat and Keith and Frank and Greg discuss that and more in Podcast 270. It's the final podcast of 2019. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

This was the scene on Thursday afternoon as they were still painting the end zones in advance of Friday night's Stagg Bowl. Pat and Keith are here to get you ready for the game as well, and they're joined by Frank Rossi and Greg Thomas to get you an around-the-horn style view of what to expect from North Central and UW-Whitewater. Plus, we'll hear from Whitewater guard Quinn Meinerz and North Central linebacker Brian Beauchamp about their thoughts on their team's season so far, and what they'll be up against on Friday night. Will Andrew Kamienski get to 2,000 yards receiving for the season? Will Broc Rutter break the all-time Division III passing career mark? (It's within reach.) Will the vaunted UW-Whitewater defense keep Ethan Greenfield under 75 yards rushing? How many passes will Max Meylor throw? How do Jeff Thorne and Kevin Bullis, each a head coach in the Stagg Bowl for the first time, handle the spotlight? And what do we have to look forward to on Friday? (For example, will any fans show up?) Pat and Keith and Frank and Greg have that and more in Podcast 269. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

There were picks early in the game in Allentown, and late in the game in Whitewater, as North Central and UW-Whitewater booked their tickets to Shenandoah by winning their national semifinals and advancing to Stagg Bowl XLVII. We'll still have purple in the Stagg Bowl. And no, we won't get the shootout-style matchup of the two top quarterbacks in Division III, but we got to see Max Meylor have a breakout game on ESPN3 on Saturday afternoon. Was the running a surprise to him? Yes and no -- he'll tell you more in this podcast. How did UW-Whitewater get to St. John's quarterback Jackson Erdmann? The same way they do every time. Warhawks coach Kevin Bullis describes how the defensive philosophy of pressuring the quarterback has changed since he took over as head coach. (Hint: It hasn't.) And Wojciech Gasienica talks about his game-winning field goal, and we tell you how to pronounce his name. North Central was asked if they have ever come up against anyone that can match their team speed. (Yes -- there's a list.) How hard it is to defend that speed? Yeah ... it's hard. Pat and Keith were each at a semifinal and get you caught up on all the goings-on. Plus, we'll talk about what is coming up on D3football.com this week. That and more in Podcast 268. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

We have two great games to be played on Saturday, with four teams who have never been to Shenandoah, with no players who have ever played in the Stagg Bowl, and with one program guaranteed to play for the Division III football title for the first time. And that fresh new Stagg Bowl feeling is still out there. On this edition of the podcast, we hear from players for all four teams: UW-Whitewater quarterback Max Meylor, St. John's defensive lineman Richard Carriveau, North Central quarterback Broc Rutter and Muhlenberg linebacker Mickey Kober and defensive lineman Frank Lucchesi. Plus, Pat and Keith talk about the retirement of Wheaton coach Mike Swider, the Gagliardi Trophy finalists, and what you'll see on TV when ESPN3 comes to town for the national semifinals. All that and more is covered in Podcast 267. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life.Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

Muhlenberg shuts down Salisbury, UW-Whitewater runs past Mary Hardin-Baylor, North Central avoids a letdown against Delaware Valley and St. John’s survives a crazy ending at Wheaton. That’s the one-sentence version, but Keith saw the Muhlenberg defense up close, and spoilers, he thinks they are the most balanced team remaining in this playoff. Does Pat agree? […]

We're on to the third round of the playoffs, and it's a round that looks a little less purple, a little more wide-open, and has a lot less for people to complain about. Will any of the games be close? Can't say we know that for sure, but one thing we do know is that we have No. 2 through No. 9 in our Top 25 still playing, and that makes things fun. On this edition of the podcast, we chat with Delaware Valley head coach Duke Greco. He's taking his team to face the darlings of the second round, North Central, in suburban Chicago. How has this team progressed since struggling to put points on the board in September against Wesley? Who are these guys up front wreaking havoc on defense for the Aggies? We talk about all that and more. We go around the bracket and preview all four quarterfinal matchups. Who will score enough points in Texas? Do the Thunder have the firepower to outlast the Johnnies? Can the Delaware Valley defensive front keep Broc Rutter from finding the open receiver? How will Muhlenberg do defending the Salisbury option? Plus, Keith predicts who the top rusher and passer will be on Saturday and Pat ranks the defenses and offenses from least outstanding to outstanding. All that and more is covered in Podcast 265. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life.Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

Highlights, reaction and analysis from across all parts of the bracket are what you find in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. That includes North Central coach Jeff Thorne's reaction to the Cardinals' epic win at Mount Union, and it also includes Jeff's father, John Thorne, who retired from the position after the 2014 season, with his postgame reaction. Salisbury quarterback Jack Lanham talks about the team's balance between running and throwing the ball, and Union's Paul Chambers talks about defending the Sea Gulls' brand of triple option. St. John's Jackson Erdmann and coach Gary Fasching talk about what is next for the Johnnies and what they face at Wheaton, while Wheaton coach Mike Swider expresses his pleasure with the way his Thunder started the game against Central. UMHB coach Pete Fredenburg talks about this week's most notable personnel change of the tournament: moving Jefferson Fritz from safety to linebacker. Why did he do it and what did it accomplish? And Muhlenberg linebacker Mickey Kober talks about one of the secrets to how the Mules have pitched back-to-back shutouts to start the playoffs. And if that's not enough, Pat has a story for everyone who wanted to kick Mount Union out of Division III for being too successful. Maybe also for MIAC presidents as well. Plus, Pat and Keith rank the quarterfinal matchups. All that and more is covered in Podcast 264. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football. Note: The Union player who speaks in this podcast is misidentified. He is George Reed.

The first round of games was much more than just a preliminary, more than the appetizer to the meat and potatoes we get in round two. But that next round in our five-course meal is the second round of the NCAA playoffs, from Maryland's Eastern Shore to Orange County, California and six other spots in between. This is the week where coaches have had to find a way to squeeze in practice, find a way to get Thanksgiving dinner for a hundred or so student-athletes, and either get on a bus or a plane on Thursday. And we talk with Union coach Jeff Behrman about his team's first-round comeback, the craziness of finals plus a round-two playoff game and also, gearing up to face Salisbury's yard-devouring offense. We also hear from Wesley coach Chip Knapp about his decision to start a freshman quarterback last week, and take a look at each second-round game. Plus, Pat and Keith talk about some of the recent coaching changes as well as the Gagliardi Trophy semifinalists, the process and how it's changed this year. All that and more, including which of our hosts is likely to spend time baking Christmas cookies in a few weeks, is covered in Podcast 263. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life.Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

That was a pretty great first round, not gonna lie. A Top 10 team nearly went down in the first round, one team came back from 18 down and another from 24, plus two games went to overtime -- one of which went to three overtimes. Chapman and Linfield made the last game of the day a great capper to a thrilling day. Pat and Keith run down all 16 of the first-round games, rank the second round games from least to most intriguing and hand out game balls. The player who returned a fumble for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown, and threw for a touchdown in overtime? Yeah, probably find him on that list. The guy who won the biggest quarterback duel of the day? OK, yes, him also. Plus we get you sounds from around the bracket.All that and more in Podcast 262. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

The games are here! We've got 16 games on Saturday that will get us started on the road to Shenandoah, Texas, where the Stagg Bowl will be held one more time this year before it moves to Canton, Ohio. Our crew will break down each of the four brackets in terms of first-round games, and there is plenty more preview coverage on D3football.com. We also talk with Hope coach Peter Stuursma. He was on our podcast back in March 2017 closer to the beginning of his tenure, after one season. Now he has his Flying Dutchmen in the playoffs, and with a home game at that. He talks about the progression of the program in the past few seasons, the unusual Division III quarterback he is able to put out there and what's to come Saturday against Wartburg. Plus, Pat and Keith talk about some of those other games outside of the NCAA playoffs which are on the schedule for Saturday, as well as some of the Division III coaches who have stepped down in the few days since the season ended. All that and more in Podcast 261. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

We finally have a bracket, the bracket, the one with the 32 teams on the road to the Stagg Bowl. While folks associated with John Carroll and Susquehanna don't understand why they aren't continuing on into the playoffs (can't say we didn't warn you), there actually is a lot to like in this bracket. Did you see how Wheaton and North Central are on complete opposite sides of the bracket? Other potential conference rematches are pushed off toward the national semifinals. Now if Wheaton and North Central were somehow the two best teams in Division III, we could have a set of Little Brass Bell rivals in Shenandoah, Texas. Do you have questions about how the bracket was put together? We talk to Jim Catanzaro, the Division III football committee chair, about how the at-large teams were selected, why Redlands and Mary Hardin-Baylor are playing in the first round, and much more. Plus, Pat and Keith were at MetLife Stadium on Saturday for the super-sized Cortaca Jug showdown, and give their thoughts about the rivalry, the crowd and the performance of one Joe Germinerio. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.

Alright, folks -- we're down to one week, 112 games and lurking out there in the final game of the night on Saturday is UW-Oshkosh, which can play chaos agent. If the Titans -- or perhaps we should call them Agent UW-Zero -- knock off UW-Whitewater, then so much hell will break loose in the virtual war room that is the NCAA committee's conference call. So much hell. Oshkosh coach Pat Cerroni doesn't care whether you're rooting for the status quo or for chaos, though. We talk about that and more with the Titans' coach on this week's gameday podcast. Plus, rivalry weekend doesn't have enough trophies, so Pat and Keith make up a rivalry trophy for a whole bunch of games this week. We've got previews of a bunch of big games, including the Showdown in the Meadowlands, and much more on the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is sponsored by Gotta Have It: 3D Fan Foam Wall Signs for the D-III fan in your life. This edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is also sponsored by The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum and their limited-edition Mount Union football bobblehead. Pat and Keith talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football.