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Around the Nation Podcast 222: We predict at-large teams

Often this time of year we do a projected Division III NCAA Tournament field, but this year we’re so busy making podcasts that we didn’t do one. Instead, Pat and Keith are doing both at the same time: talking through the process of selecting at-large teams right on this podcast.

This is a projected playoff field if the season ended today. All six teams that we got to choose can affect their playoff resume on the field on Saturday, and for that matter, so can all of the teams with automatic bids. Even those who are already in the field could impact their seeding with a loss or by winning while others around them lose.

And those are just the normal scenarios. We could see crazy scenarios, such as, say, last year when Carnegie Mellon committed a penalty and had a punt blocked to kill its potential upset of Case Western Reserve. What are the unlikely, but awesome scenarios that could occur? Greg Thomas threw a few out there and we discuss those as well.

Plus Kevin Bullis tells us how his UW-Whitewater team is looking entering Week 11, Keith asks Pat what could go wrong with this projection and Pat asks Keith to figure out what the Mayors Cup is. That and more in the 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.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.
Full episode:

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in iTunes. 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

Link: NCAA Division III playoff criteria, from our FAQ
Link: Playoff primer podcast (No. 216, with committee chair Jim Catanzaro)

Photo: Frostburg State back Grayson Boyce (Frostburg State athletics photo)

Theme music: DJmentos.

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Around the Nation Podcast 211: The Tommie-Johnnie game, and more

This weekend’s key games include one game for first place, and a bunch of games that could help determine who remains in the playoff hunt. And now, heading into Week 7, there’s just enough reason to begin to really talk about the playoffs. If you’re new to playoff consideration, we’ll give you a quick rundown of how the NCAA calculates and tabulates strength of schedule and where you can find the latest numbers.

This weekend we have the Tommie-Johnnie game, plus a key game in the WIAC and tough tests for playoff contenders in the Empire 8, OAC, MAC and for the one Centennial team which plays this week. Our guest on this week’s podcast is Redlands coach Mike Maynard, plus Pat and Keith and company preview the big games in Week 7.

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. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.
Full episode: 

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in iTunes. 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

Photo: St. John’s linebacker D.J. Catherman tries to bring down St. Thomas wide receiver Vinny Pallini. (Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com)

Theme music: DJmentos.

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ATN Podcast 204: Now that was surprising

It was a surprising win for Misericordia, a surprising comeback for Thomas More. There were some great defensive performances and there was some good kicking as well. Yes, we can give a kicker or two a game ball, right? And we’ve been talking about this rant by Widener coach Mike Kelly, which came before his team lost in Misericordia’s sixth win ever, so we’ll really get down to it. We also hear from Thomas More coach Trevor Stellman about his team’s rally vs. UW-Platteville.

And with that, most of Division III’s non-conference play is over. Columnist Adam Turer will rank all of the conferences a little later in the season, but Pat and Keith take a look at which conferences are the big winners and which are on the other end after non-conference play.

Meanwhile, some teams have friends in low places, others get knocked down but get back up again, and it’s all good on the Week 3 Monday 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. 

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.
Full episode: 

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in iTunes. 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

Bonus link: Baldwin Wallace-Mount Union broadcast archive. The BW team runs out at about the 18:00 mark.

Purchase Football For a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL from Amazon (and D3football.com gets a buck or so in the process).

Photo: Muhlenberg players celebrate. (Muhlenberg athletics photo)