Well, how about that, with RPI getting a big upset win, and Johns Hopkins getting a large win to send Frostburg to Division II on, and St. Norbert giving a valiant effort and Mount Union looking all Machine-like?
No, we know — many of you are not happy with the unbalanced way the bracket was laid out, and some of you are talking about reseeding the bracket. There are definitely positives and negatives to this — the NAIA does it, and college baseball does it as well, so Pat and Keith talk a little bit about what that looks like, and how it could work, if Division III were to ever give it a shot in football.
In addition, Pat and Keith each give their individual take on all eight second-round games. Who did they want to see do the same, but better? Who was playing at ludicrous speed? What does Keith have to say to those who don’t watch Mount Union until the semifinals? Plus, what did Tyler Messinger have to deliver about his great rushing afternoon for Johns Hopkins?
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.
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Photo: UW-Whitewater’s Ryan Wisniewski stiff-arms a smaller St. Norbert player. (Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com)
Theme music: DJmentos.
The argument of keeping the status quo in place regarding a pre-set tournament bracket makes sense. And certainly this isn’t the first time (or the last time) that one side of the bracket ends up being much more difficult than the other. But here’s my central issue: Why is it that Mount Union NEVER, EVER seems to end up in the proverbial “group of death?”
It sure seems like over the years, every DIII powerhouse has been unfortunate enough to end up on the wrong side of the bracket a few times…EXCEPT for Mount Union. With that being said, let me acknowledge that Mount is far and away the premier program at this level. Nobody seriously debates that. Moreover, I understand the argument that some have made that Mount Union’s annual excellence oftentimes makes it SEEM/FEEL like their path to the Stagg Bowl is easier than it actually is. And while perhaps this is true to some extent — I’m having a difficult time remembering a time when Mount had to play, say, the #2 or #3 team in the country in the Round of 8 like UMHB and St. John’s are faced with this week. Maybe I’m wrong — but I don’t think I am.
Personally, I’d have much less of a problem with the pre-set bracket if I knew that Mount Union sometimes suffered the same unfortunate draw of being on the wrong side of the bracket that every other DIII powerhouse sometimes faces.
Am I being unreasonable here?