Rudy Rudolph caught seven passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns for Christopher Newport in a USAC-clinching win at Ferrum. CNU athletics photo

If it seems like we have a lot of automatic bids already clinched, well, you’re right. With 20 down and just five to go, an unprecedented number of bids have already been claimed.

That doesn’t stop teams from potentially shooting themselves in the foot (Albion, Thomas More), however. There are 12 teams who clinched this week and many play in Week 11. Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman talk about each of those 12, plus a classic Mount Union/Baldwin-Wallace game and much more in this week’s Around the Nation Podcast. Scroll to the bottom and read the tags to see which teams are mentioned in this week’s show.

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Plus, here’s the first look at this week’s D3reports, as well as Division III football highlight reels. These will also appear on the front page on Monday afternoon.

Albion · Baldwin-Wallace · Benedictine · Christopher Newport · Delaware Valley · Dubuque · Framingham State · Franklin · Hampden-Sydney · Hobart · Kean · Lewis and Clark · Linfield · Mary Hardin-Baylor · Montclair State · Mount Union · North Central (Ill.) · Norwich · Pierre Garcon · Redlands · RPI · Salisbury · St. John's · St. Olaf · Thomas More · Trinity (Texas) · Union · Wabash · Western New England · Widener

Alex Tanney is the third Tanney to play football at Monmouth, but will be known as the best in the family Monmouth athletics photo

Records fell, as did snowflakes and the chances of anyone else winning any of eight conference titles. The Centennial, PAC, MIAA, MWC, MIAC, WIAC, UMAC and SCIAC each got the ultimate clarity on Saturday: automatic bids.

We talk about those, the records set by Mike Zweifel and Alex Tanney, the interesting things the purple powers did and really, much more. Check the list of tags at the bottom of this page to see who’s discussed.

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You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Plus, here’s the first look at this week’s D3reports, as well as Division III football highlight reels. These will also appear on the front page on Monday afternoon.

Adrian · Albion · Alex Tanney · Amherst · Baldwin-Wallace · Bridgwater State · Cal Lutheran · Carthage · Central · Centre · Christopher Newport · Coe · Dubuque · Endicott · Ferrum · Framingham State · Frostburg State · Guilford · Gustavus Adolphus · Hampden-Sydney · Hardin-Simmons · Ithaca · Johns Hopkins · Josh Vogelbach · Lewis and Clark · Linfield · Louisiana College · Luther · Maine Maritime · McMurry · Mike Zweifel · Monmouth · Mount Union · North Park · Norwich · Otterbein · Pacific Lutheran · Salisbury · St. John Fisher · St. Scholastica · St. Thomas · SUNY-Maritime · Thomas More · Trinity (Conn.) · Trinity (Texas) · UW-La Crosse · UW-Oshkosh · UW-Stevens Point · UW-Whitewater · Wabash · Wartburg · Washington and Lee · Wesley · Western New England · Wittenberg

Mount Union might be struggling on offense but you can’t beat them if you can’t score. Mount Union athletics photo by JT Higgins

Records could fall, bids could be clinched, but the key story of this past week was big defensive performances by the top teams. UW-Whitewater’s defense may well have won it the game at Oshkosh, Mount Union shut down and picked off Capital, St. Thomas did its job at Bethel and North Central more than did so at Illinois Wesleyan. But as we caution, don’t forget special teams.

And there seems to be a bit of a pecking order emerging for those six at-large playoff bids. Who is in the drivers seat, as much as anyone can be for an at-large bid? Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan name six teams. They discuss that and more in this week’s Around the Nation Podcast. See the list of tags at the bottom of this post to see who else is discussed.

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You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Plus, here’s the first look at this week’s D3reports, as well as Division III football highlight reels. These will also appear on the front page on Monday afternoon.

Alex Tanney · Bethel · Capital · Delaware Valley · Dubuque · Hartwick · Illinois Wesleyan · Justin Peery · Lewis and Clark · Louisiana College · McMurry · Mike Zweifel · Monmouth · Montclair State · Mount Union · New Jersey · North Central · Occidental · Redlands · Salisbury · Scott Pingel · St. John Fisher · St. Olaf · St. Thomas · TCNJ · Trinity (Texas) · UW-Oshkosh · UW-Whitewater · Wesley · Westminster (Mo.) · Widener

Trinity (Texas) answered Huntingdon’s statement with one of its own. Trinity athletics file photo

It was an interesting week down south, with Birmingham-Southern and Huntingdon taking losses and Centre and Trinity (Texas) getting a leg up in the SCAC race. Salisbury rolled up an amazing point total and continues to dominate against Empire 8 foes. Wartburg fell and Redlands rose in crazy fourth quarters. (Here’s a link to that video.) Plus Kean picked up its first loss after flirting with it in previous weeks.

Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman discuss that and more in this week’s Around the Nation Podcast. See the list of tags at the bottom of this post to see who else is discussed.

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You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Plus, here’s the first look at this week’s D3reports, as well as Division III football highlight reels. These will also appear on the front page on Monday afternoon.

Alfred · Birmingham-Southern · Brockport State · Cal Lutheran · Central · Centre · Claremont-Mudd-Scripps · Cornell · DePauw · Dubuque · Heidelberg · Huntingdon · Kean · Loras · McMurry · Mount Union · Olivet · Presentation · Randolph-Macon · Redlands · Salisbury · St. Scholastica · St. Vincent · Texas Lutheran · Thomas More · Trinity (Texas) · UW-Oshkosh · UW-Stout · UW-Whitewater · Wartburg · Washington and Lee · Westminster (Mo.)

Conner Warye ran three times for minus-4 yards for Wittenberg at Huntingdon. Wittenberg athletics file photo

Some were surprising, some were foretold, and some where more competitive than expected, but in the end four teams in the national discussion each picked up their first losses on Saturday: Augsburg, Dubuque, Wittenberg and Worcester State. Who gained respect by losing? Whose win put someone else in the Top 25? And how was one of these games spectacular? Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman discuss in this week’s Around the Nation Podcast.

And that certainly isn’t all — there were two key games in the NJAC, some impressive interceptions, and a little lightning for our lightning round. That and more in this week’s podcast. See the list of tags at the bottom of this post to see who else is discussed.

Around the Nation Podcast [ 59:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast

Plus, here’s the first look at this week’s D3reports, as well as Division III football highlight reels. These will also appear on the front page on Monday afternoon.

Augsburg · Bowdoin · Buffalo State · Case Western Reserve · Castleton State · Catholic · Coe · Cortland State · Dubuque · Fred Jackson · Hardin-Simmons · Hiram · Howard Payne · Huntingdon · Kean · Macalester · Mass Maritime · McMurry · Middlebury · Montclair State · Mount Union · Norwich · Pierre Garcon · Randolph-Macon · Sap Bucket · St. Thomas · St. Vincent · Steven Hauschka · Sul Ross State · UW-Eau Claire · UW-Oshkosh · Wartburg · Washington and Jefferson · Wittenberg · Worcester State