We’re not sure what was more exciting, the games themselves in the first round or the rush of 16 games all underway at once. It seemed like you couldn’t hit refresh without getting some interesting new tidbit, whether it was Curry pulling away early or TCNJ winning late, Salisbury tying Muhlenberg in the fourth quarter or N.C. Wesleyan taking W&J to overtime.

Plus, Keith and Pat, remember, both saw N.C. Wesleyan the first week of the season. Hear their hindsight on what each saw and how it colored their predictions from last week. And go through the rest of last week’s games and the ones coming up.

It’s our Around the Nation podcast, which continues through the Stagg Bowl.

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Well, we survived another Selection Sunday, though the day has barely ended as I write this portion of the site. Four hours of sleep, up at 7:15, off to ESPNU, analyze the bracket, check graphics and pronunciations, go over highlights, write a script, go through a dress rehearsal and do the show. Then tape a segment for ESPNews (did anyone ever see that?) and another for online.

Thankfully, the podcast was pretty simple, too, only requiring one edit to piece two parts together.

It’s our look at the bracket, the key points in each game, etc. How many points can Capital give up and still win? Do Keith McMillan and I both like the way this was put together? Why Eau Claire instead of Whitworth?

It wasn’t quite a record day trafficwise but with the brackets being revealed so early in the morning, we didn’t expect it. But it was a great day in Division III football, both Saturday and Sunday. Hear the highlights in our ATN podcast.

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Confused by tiebreakers? Oh yeah, definitely understandable. See, each conference sets its own rules for breaking ties for the automatic bid, and with the limited number of games played in any given football season, there’s not exactly a lot of data to work with.

So this week, in the Around the Nation podcast, Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman not only run down how the remaining 10 conferences’ automatic bids will be handed out, they run through the tiebreakers in leagues where they’ll be needed, and debate the merit of such tiebreakers in the first place. So get your primer on how the E8 or LL or MIAA will be won.

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