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

LiDarral Bailey ran for 110 yards and threw for 123 for Mary Hardin-Baylor. UMHB athletics photo

There were a bunch of teams with big wins, the ones we like to call signature wins. The ones that used to be talked about openly as being necessary for playoff consideration, back when we used to have 16-team brackets and not-so-strictly followed playoff criteria.

That’s not the case anymore, but those wins are still key in terms of national exposure, respect and rankings. Pat and Keith talk about some of the key wins this weekend in this week’s Around the Nation podcast.

Also, there are plenty of unbeaten teams remaining, including teams that aren’t ranked. Why aren’t they ranked? Keith and Pat run through the list, plus some of the other surprise teams. 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 [ 56:33 ] 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.

Also, this week’s photo galleries:

• St. Thomas vs. St. John’s
• UW-Whitewater vs. UW-Platteville
• Cal Lutheran vs. Redlands

Adrian · Augsburg · Bethel · Birmingham-Southern · Cal Lutheran · Centre · Curry · Dubuque · Endicott · Hobart · Huntingdon · Lewis and Clark · Mount Union · Muskingum · Ohio Northern · Redlands · Salisbury · Springfield · St. John's · St. Olaf · St. Scholastica · St. Thomas · Trine · Trinity (Texas) · Wartburg · Wesley · Wittenberg · Worcester State

Keith McMillan talks at length about some of the trips he has taken since starting the Around the Nation column back in 2001. Some of those trips he and I have taken together, sometimes he’s been on his own, but the goal, at least unofficially, is to see every Division III team play someday, and see a game in every home stadium.

Now, to be honest, that isn’t very realistic. The fact remains that it’s very difficult to see more than one game in a weekend, which limits the number of teams either of us can see in a season. And I recently moved away from the east coast, where I had a much better chance of knocking teams off the list. But I’ll continue to give it a try.

I’m only counting the teams I’ve seen play (must have seen at least half of a game to qualify) and stadiums I’ve been in for a D-III game. I’ve also visited a bunch of campuses and walked through, or around a bunch of stadiums: Aurora, Beloit, Concordia (Ill.), Delaware Valley, Hamline, Huntingdon, Illinois Wesleyan, LaGrange, Lake Forest, Lebanon Valley, Lewis and Clark, Millsaps, Mississippi College, North Park, Northwestern, Oberlin, St. Thomas, Susquehanna, Trinity (Conn.), Wittenberg, Wooster, WPI. But I’ve seen 108 teams play, by my count, and seen games in 61 stadiums.

This doesn’t count Swarthmore, which I saw play back in the ’90s. Unfortunately, it seems that was a one-time occurrence.

Some of the places I’ve seen games have changed quite a bit. I mean, I was at St. John Fisher in 1994 but I know the stadium isn’t a bit like that was. I saw FDU-Madis… excuse me, FDU-Florham in a different era. Soon my view on RPI will be outdated. But they all count. And maybe I’ll get back there again.

Here’s who I’ve seen play, starting in 1991: Albright, Alfred, Augsburg, Augustana, Aurora, Benedictine, Bethel, Blackburn, Bridgewater (Va.), Brockport State, Cal Lutheran, Capital, Carleton, Carnegie Mellon, Catholic, Central, Chicago, Christopher Newport, Coast Guard, Coe, Cortland State, Crown, Curry, Delaware Valley, Dickinson, East Texas Baptist, Elmhurst, Emory & Henry, FDU-Florham, Franklin & Marshall, Frostburg State, Gallaudet, Gettysburg, Greensboro, Grove City, Guilford, Gustavus Adolphus, Hampden-Sydney, Hanover, Hardin-Simmons, Hobart, Howard Payne, Huntingdon, Ithaca, John Carroll, Johns Hopkins, Kean, King’s, Linfield, Louisiana College, Lycoming, Macalester, Maranatha Baptist, Mary Hardin-Baylor, McDaniel, McMurry, Merchant Marine, Methodist, Millsaps, Mississippi College, Minnesota-Morris, Montclair State, Mount Union, Muhlenberg, North Carolina Wesleyan, New Jersey, Newport News, Nichols, North Central, Northwestern (Minn.), Pacific Lutheran, Principia, Randolph-Macon, Rockford, Rowan, RPI, Salisbury, Shenandoah, Springfield, St. John Fisher, St. Olaf, St. John’s, St. Scholastica, St. Thomas, Susquehanna, Thiel, Thomas More, Trinity (Conn.), Trinity (Texas), Union, Ursinus, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Stout, UW-Whitewater, Washington and Jefferson, Washington and Lee, Washington U., Waynesburg, Wesley, Western Connecticut, Wheaton, Widener, Wilkes, William Paterson, Williams, Wittenberg, Worcester State.

Key gets: I went out of my way to see Cal Lutheran when they came to Muhlenberg in 2002. Saw a bunch of teams last year at the UMAC’s Dome Day. Picked off both Macalester and St. Scholastica just this past weekend. Saw both Susquehanna and Grove City play at Dickinson, in 1999 and 2000, and never since. Traveled with Catholic when I was a student to a game at the University of Chicago.

And the schools at which I’ve seen games: Albright, Augsburg, Benedictine, Bridgewater (Va.), Capital, Carnegie Mellon, Catholic, Central, Chicago, Coast Guard, Cortland State, Dickinson, Elmhurst, FDU-Florham, Franklin & Marshall, Frostburg State, Gallaudet, Gettysburg, Hampden-Sydney, Hardin-Simmons, Johns Hopkins, Kean, King’s, Linfield, Lycoming, Macalester, Mary Hardin-Baylor, McDaniel, McMurry, Merchant Marine, Montclair State, Mount Union, Muhlenberg, New Jersey, North Central, Randolph-Macon, Rowan, RPI, Salisbury, Shenandoah, Springfield, St. John Fisher, St. Olaf, St. John’s, Thiel, Trinity (Texas), Union, Ursinus, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout, UW-Whitewater, Washington and Jefferson, Washington U., Wesley, Western Connecticut, Wheaton, Widener, Wilkes, William Paterson, Williams, Worcester State.

New this year: East Texas Baptist, Macalester, St. Scholastica, Wartburg,

There are certainly some holes in this list. Never seen Wabash (or DePauw, take it easy, people!). I’ve never been to a SCIAC school or seen anyone from the Midwest Conference. Didn’t take nearly enough advantage of my year in Connecticut. But I’ll get the list down, slowly but surely.

Not sure if Keith will chime in with his list, but anyone else is welcome, of course.

Albright · Alfred · Augsburg · Augustana · Aurora · Benedictine · Bethel · Blackburn · Bridgewater (Va.) · Brockport State · Cal Lutheran · Capital · Carleton · Carnegie Mellon · Catholic · Central · Chicago · Christopher Newport · Coast Guard · Coe · Cortland State · Crown · Curry · d3nation · Delaware Valley · Dickinson · East Texas Baptist · Elmhurst · Emory & Henry · FDU-Florham · Franklin & Marshall · Frostburg State · Gallaudet · Gettysburg · Greensboro · Grove City · Guilford · Gustavus Adolphus · Hampden-Sydney · Hanover · Hardin-Simmons · Hobart · Howard Payne · Huntingdon · Ithaca · John Carroll · Johns Hopkins · Kean · King's · Linfield · Louisiana College · Lycoming · Macalester · Maranatha Baptist · Mary Hardin-Baylor · McDaniel · McMurry · Merchant Marine · Methodist · Millsaps · Minnesota-Morris · Mississippi College · Montclair State · Mount Union · Muhlenberg · New Jersey · Newport News · Nichols · North Carolina Wesleyan · North Central · Northwestern (Minn.) · Pacific Lutheran · Principia · Randolph-Macon · Rockford · Rowan · RPI · Salisbury · Shenandoah · Springfield · St. John Fisher · St. John's · St. Olaf · St. Scholastica · St. Thomas · Susquehanna · Thiel · Thomas More · Trinity (Conn.) · Trinity (Texas) · Union · Ursinus · UW-Eau Claire · UW-La Crosse · UW-Stout · UW-Whitewater · Washington and Jefferson · Washington and Lee · Washington U. · Waynesburg · Wesley · Western Connecticut · Wheaton · Widener · Wilkes · William Paterson · Williams · Wittenberg · Worcester State