Category Archives: Around the Nation

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

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ATN Podcast 321: Season’s craziness continues in first round

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We asked out loud how the Division III football playoff bracket could possibly live up to the 11-week regular season.

Are you not entertained?

Sure, every first round has its share of blowouts, and this one had four shutouts. But it also had … dare we say, the biggest first-round upset since the Division III football playoffs expanded to five rounds?

Yes. We dare say that. Aurora coach Don Beebe said his team wanted to get either Mount Union or UW-Whitewater and not only did the Spartans get what they asked for, they made good on it, upsetting UW-Whitewater 33-28.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by the hosts of Stagg Bowl XLIX, and we look forward to seeing all of you in Annapolis, Maryland, for the Division III football championship game on Dec. 16.

Wartburg added to the first-round surprises, defeating UW-La Crosse 14-6 and helping knock the WIAC out of the postseason entirely in the first round for the first time since 2002. We chat with Knights head coach Chris Winter about the challenges faced, the defense that helped them face them, and the week ahead.

Plus, you hear voices from around the bracket, including the coach in a kilt on the sidelines, the story of the kicker who recovered a fumbled kickoff and helped his team take the lead, the quarterback whose shoulder is the object of many questions. That and more.

Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

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

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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.
Photos by Mason Wieser, Caleb Williams, Doug Sasse, d3photogrpahy.com

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ATN Podcast 320: Bubbles burst and the Berea Boink

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The 2022 Division III playoff bracket is out, and we ask our usual questions: What did the committee get right here? What did they get wrong? Who got the toughest road to the Stagg Bowl? What are the best first round games, and what are the interesting things in this bracket that people might have missed?

But of course, we can’t have any of that conversation before we talk about the drama of the closing seconds that somehow got Mount Union the OAC’s automatic bid, the moment when the ball boinked off of a Baldwin Wallace defender’s helmet before settling into the hands of Wayne Ruby, who ran it into the end zone for the unlikeliest of game winners. Stick around to the end of the podcast to find out what happened in the postgame dogpile, and then what was supposed to happen at the end of the game … but did not.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by the hosts of Stagg Bowl XLIX, and we look forward to seeing all of you in Annapolis, Maryland, for the Division III football championship game on Dec. 16.

Meanwhile, we hear from a team making it to the playoffs for the first time — no, not the surprise team. Or at least, not that surprise team. Ithaca coach Michael Toerper joins us for a Fast 5 and we also hear from Cortland coach Curt Fitzpatrick about what his team can take away from this loss as they regroup for the playoffs.

Plus, questions about King’s and Plymouth State, and apparently the WIAC is somehow overrated? Who would fare better against Delaware Valley, assuming the Aggies make it to the second round? And still six regions of wrapup, from fun in the 1 to the rest of the regions.

Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

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 by Doug Sasse, d3photogrpahy.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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ATN Podcast 319: National committee chair takes our questions

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Sure, that might not be the sexiest title for a podcast episode, but it’s important. We got a good 45 minutes with the Division III football national committee chair, subjected him to our questions, and your questions. The ones submitted by readers are the ones in the graphic on this page, but we also asked what the point is of an alphabetical ranking, and does it seem right that 90.5% of the season passes before we get an actual ranking in the only poll that counts for playoff consideration?

That’s J.J. Nekoloff, the associate commissioner of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. He’s been on the committee for three years, and worked to help organize 12 Stagg Bowls in Salem as part of the ODAC office.

This edition of the podcast is sponsored by the hosts of Stagg Bowl XLIX, and we look forward to seeing all of you in Annapolis, Maryland, for the Division III football championship game on Dec. 16.

If you’ve been paying close attention to Division III football and some of the selection committee processes in general for the past 10 years, one of these answers will come as a surprise to you. Plus, we go right off the top to ask how in the heck eight teams got ranked in Region 3, we talk about how much mock bracketing the committee does, we talk about the ways some regions rank primarily by winning percentage before all others, and much more.

In addition, Pat and Greg look at some of the key pieces of this regional ranking, break down the playoffs chances of schools such as King’s, Hardin-Simmons and Alma and Albion.

Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas talk about it all in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation covering the wide range of Division III football.

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.
d3photogrpahy.com photos

Podcast: Play in new window | Download