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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 315: Lookin’ alive in the 5

We talk about all six regions, multiple times, in each D3football.com Around the Nation podcast, For example, this week, who’s lookin’ alive in Region 5?

Ripon is lookin’ quite alive as the Redhawks remain unbeaten here in what coach Ron Ernst has announced is his final season. The team is tied for first in the Midwest Conference after knocking off Lake Forest on Saturday, and Ernst joins us for a Fast 5 minutes to talk about the team, how it has come together, and whether anyone has presented him with a keepsake on this farewell tour through the Midwest Conference.

Also from the 5, a stat of the week detailing exactly how dominant the North Central run game was this past weekend. Plus a little safety dancing from Dubuque’s win at Coe, Concordia (Wis.) heading for a conference championship showdown, and more.

How does UW-River Falls’ loss at Platteville affect the playoff at-large bid picture? Greg Thomas just wrote about it last Thursday in Around the Nation and there will be more talk about it now.

In all, 48 schools merit serious mention in this week’s podcast. Who’s getting it done in Region 1? Who’s blue in the 2? What’s the score in the 4? Who’s tryin’ to survive in the 5? Plus, who’s in the mix in the 6, and what is the sound of 19,000 cats, anyway?

In addition, Pat and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight the unexpected in Stat of the Week, make guesses about Week 8 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 our mailbag from Jeff Seidel @seideljeff: Taking recent playoff success into account, dating back to 2018, how does JHU, Muhlenberg, Sus and Ursinus compare to the top 4 in other conferences? Especially since several 2018 kids are still playing at Hop?

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, d3photography.com

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ATN Podcast 288: Close calls from Week 5

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, your 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 to 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.

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: DJmentos.
Photo by Martin Santek photography for Washington & Jefferson athletics