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ATN Podcast 316: All eyes on Platteville, plus regional rankings

Some things we can’t seem to avoid talking about every week this season:

  • The Cortaca Jug game in Yankee Stadium
  • The University of Wisconsin-Platteville

This week, Platteville made headlines again, and for the second week in a row, extremely positive headlines as the Pioneers shook up the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 17-14 win against then-No. 3 UW-Whitewater. What in the name of Dan Arnold is going on with this program? How did the Pioneers go from losing back-to-back games by an average of 40 points, to these two consecutive wins against River Falls and Whitewater?

We’ve had these questions. We assume you’ve had these questions. So we ask these questions. We ask them of Ryan Munz, the Platteville head coach, who is our guest on Fast 5, plus maybe a couple of extra minutes at the top of the podcast.

Plus, it’s really time to dig into how the playoffs are set up in Division III football. If you’re new to Division III, this is a must-listen. Even if you’ve been following for a few years, a refresher might be helpful and yes, some things have changed, even if they are small things.

In all, 69 schools merit serious mention in this week’s podcast. That includes the way in which Cortland beat Utica, how North Central handled Washington U., Austin College and Beloit breaking long losing streaks, not to mention Bowdoin pulling off an unexpected victory as well.

In addition, Pat and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight the unexpected in Stat of the Week, make guesses about Week 9 games and more. There’s a list in small type at the bottom of this page of all the teams that are talked about.

Fan question in the mailbag from @mikey_shoultz: What team from the bottom 10 ranked conferences in your conference rankings has the best chance to win a playoff game?

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.

Full episode:

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. 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

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
UW-Platteville athletics photo

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ATN Podcast 313: All about the No. 1 votes

Well, folks, Keith McMillan has had enough, and after 30 or so podcasts on the sidelines, with Greg Thomas co-hosting, he’s back and ready to throw down. Ready to throw down about the Top 25 poll, that is. Keith couldn’t understand why anyone would be voting for Mount Union No. 1 considering all the high-quality opponents other teams have played in 2022.

So, once we dispense with the big games between UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse, and North Central and Wheaton, it’s a deep dive into the top five. Keith makes his case, Pat makes his, and occasionally Greg gets a word in edgewise. Seriously, though, these are good questions — in a year where so many highly ranked teams have played top-flight competition, who really has Mount Union played, and why is Pat voting for them?

Thiel snapped its 41-game losing streak on Saturday, the fourth-longest losing streak in NCAA Division III history. We chat with coach Sam Bauman about the Tomcats’ win, the calls he has gotten from fans and alumni, and his hopes for this program, which he took over as head coach. He’s our guest for our Fast Five.

In addition, Pat and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight two interesting things from each of Division III football’s six regions (as always), such as Plymouth State’s unexpected hot start, two Homecoming crowds that went home happy, plus more. There’s a list in small type at the bottom of this page of all the teams that are talked about.

Fan question in our mailbag from Ryan Bielat @rjbielat: Do you ever tire of being asked, “Why isn’t XYZ ranked higher?” You’d think more people would realize that teams exist beyond the sphere of their conference.

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.

Full episode:

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. 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

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photos by Larry Radloff, Doug Sasse, Doug Sasse, Tom Nettleton of d3photography.com

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ATN Podcast 312: Two big games; one classic

Unexpected realizations that if Bethel had had its No. 1 quarterback healthy and won in Week 2 at UW-Platteville, perhaps we’d be in a position where someone might have given Bethel … a No. 1 vote? Stranger things have happened. Or, well, things that are similarly strange have happened already.

We had two big games to key on from Saturday, and one was a barnburner. The other … well, it was just a team getting lit up. But we hear from players on the winning side of both games, including Bethel quarterback Jaran Roste, that aforementioned quarterback who severely dislocated his elbow in Week 1 and was on the field in Week 4. He talks us through the injury, his recovery, a key touchdown pass and more as we talk with him in our Fast 5 segment. Plus In The Huddle’s Frank Rossi was in Abilene, Texas, for the Mary Hardin-Baylor win against Hardin-Simmons and he not only brings audio from Kyle King and Johnny Smith-Rider, he brings his first-hand eyewitness report.

In addition, Pat and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight two interesting things from each region (as always), plus more. There’s a list in small type at the bottom of this page of all the teams that are talked about.

Fan question in our mailbag from Mike Shoultz @mikey_shoultz: Are we ranking the BEST TEAMS? Or the best RESUMES? We all know If Platteville, or Stout line it up against Albion, DePauw, Huntingdon they’re beating them by 7-21 points. While their records aren’t as good, they’re better teams. And if matched up that would be proven. (There’s more in a second tweet from him as well.)

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.

Full episode:

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in Apple Podcasts, and many other places. 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

Here’s how to find us on some of the major podcasting apps:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photo by UMHB athletics