Category Archives: Around the Nation

Our Around the Nation column takes on the world of podcasting.

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ATN Podcast 343: Strength of what, exactly?

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Oh man.

Back in 2011, Patrick wrote a piece on Selection Sunday morning with the headline “Two-loss teams need not apply,” essentially calling out the NCAA football committee for not even considering two-loss teams in previous years and wondering if that would change.

It did change. It changed that season and in multiple seasons which followed. As the seasons have progressed, getting comfortable that a strong SOS would be rewarded has led teams to schedule some really top-quality non-conference games.

This year, we’re back in the bad-ol’ days, it seems like. And when you ask for an explanation as to how the criteria were applied, the only answer seems to be that there aren’t enough at-large bids.

We know this. Thanks.

That puts a damper on what otherwise is not a terrible bracket. Unless you like competitive balance. Unless you like the criteria to actually be used to determine who gets to have home games and who should be traveling. Sometimes there’s a common opponent result that should be consulted.

Patrick and Greg try to understand why, and we also answer a number of listener questions. What teams do we think can actually win the national championship? How would we try to work within the current system to get more at-large bids? That and more, plus, Whitworth coach Rod Sandberg joins us for our Fast Five interview to talk about his team’s last-minute win at Linfield.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by d3photography.com, the licensed photography bureau contracted by D3sports.com.

Plus, we hand out game balls and spotlight the key stories in each region.

Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas discuss, in this edition of the podcast.

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007.

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

Full episode:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.
Photo: Doug Sasse, d3photography.com

 

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ATN Podcast 342: No help for the bubble

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If you were are hoping your team can get some help in getting into the NCAA playoffs as an at-large team, we got so close to being able to give you what you wanted on Saturday. But in the end, a few places where teams were on the ropes turned out to be all about chalk and we’ll all be holding our collective breath for another week of what should be epic games.

Maybe, just maybe teams got some help when the status quo was preserved in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and River Falls didn’t beat La Crosse and turn things into a potential mess. We chat with UWL coach Matt Janus and quarterback Keyser Helterbrand is our guest on Fast Five, talking about everything from playing behind a freshman backup center, to how he ended up at La Crosse in the first place and not some school closer to home.

We hear from Mount Union coach Geoff Dartt after his team got a comfortable win against John Carroll. It was perhaps Mount Union’s first big test of the year, and it didn’t come until Week 10, but it was a test which they passed. And Cortland aced the Empire 8 final, with Cortland turning the tables on Brockport and making its own defensive presence known.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by d3photography.com, the licensed photography bureau contracted by D3sports.com.

Plus, we hand out game balls and spotlight the cool stats from Saturday and key stories in each region. Patrick gives us his take on the four at-large teams as the playoff picture stands right now. Greg predicts who will win the NJAC’s Friday night finales, and we break down the potential five-way tiebreaker in that conference. Yes, there is math. And bacon. And ginsu knives. And more.

Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas discuss, in this edition of the podcast.

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007.

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

Full episode: [display_podcast]

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.
Photo: Darl Zehr Photography for Cortland athletics

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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ATN Podcast 341: Epic endings

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The game between Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg ended in a pretty epic way on Saturday. So did Belhaven’s unbeaten streak this season, at the hands of Maryville. And a 20-year long streak went by the wayside this weekend as well.

Matt Mitchell talks about getting back onto the field at exactly the right time for Hardin-Simmons in this edition of the podcast. Greg Chimera talks about the way his team pulled together when a field goal attempt to win the game went south. And we revisit a couple of other key blocked-field-goal-turned-touchdown moments in the past quarter-century of Division III football in this week’s podcast.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by d3photography.com, the licensed photography bureau contracted by D3sports.com.

Plus, one quarterback says, “Hold my cheese curds,” Plymouth State wins on the unlikeliest of Hail Mary passes, Delaware Valley keeps its MAC streak alive in another improbable way, and Patrick and Greg … celebrate? … the impending arrival of the alphabetical regional ranking release in an interesting manner.

Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas discuss, in this edition of the podcast.

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007.

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

Full episode:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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:

Stories mentioned on the show:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
Photo: Hardin-SImmons athletics