Around the Nation Podcast 219: Breaking down the regional rankings

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Pat Coleman

The first set of regional rankings came out on Wednesday, and our team went through all four regions and looked to see what made sense and what was out of place. You see, the first regional rankings don’t take into account results against regionally ranked opponents, because that relies on a previous regional ranking and … there isn’t a previous ranking yet, just the current one.

Does that mean the next ranking will look a lot different? Pat Coleman and Greg Thomas, our chief bracketology expert, go through each region and tackle the big questions and where things might change. He’s our guest host for this special edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast.

In addition, the placement of Hardin-Simmons and Centre brought out a lot of questions, as did the placement of Cortland and Salisbury. We explore those and others in this podcast.

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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Link: NCAA Division III playoff criteria, from our FAQ
Link: Playoff primer podcast (No. 216, with committee chair Jim Catanzaro)

Photo: Hardin-Simmons and Centre at the center of discussion in the South Region. (HSU, Centre athletics photos)

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Around the Nation 218: The bid-clinching has begun!

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Pat Coleman

Yep, three teams have clinched their automatic bids to the NCAA Division III football playoffs, with 23 more to go, plus five true at-large bids. And it’s those at-large bids which will receive a ton of attention … first off, because they’re the most difficult decisions the committee will make, and secondly, because those teams are going to be candidates to get a first-round home game, and perhaps win a game or two.

Who played their way into consideration? Who played their way out? Which teams are being set up for multiple home games in the tournament, should they win out? Plus, how did Pat and Keith deal with this weekend’s losses on their Top 25 ballots? Who had amazing games that were just a bit under the radar? Which conference has games that just aren’t competitive at all? And everyone’s favorite backup quarterback wasn’t a backup this week.

Plus game balls, the week’s interesting stats and more in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. 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.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.
Full episode: [display_podcast]

Link: NCAA Division III playoff criteria, from our FAQ
Link: Playoff primer podcast (No. 216, with committee chair Jim Catanzaro)

Photo: St. John’s, UW-Whitewater and Berry athletics photos

Theme music: DJmentos.

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Around the Nation Podcast 217: It’s not who you think

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Pat Coleman

Our Friday podcast is our game day special, the one you listen to when you know to know everything about the upcoming week’s games. Pat and guest co-host Frank Rossi of In the Huddle go through a half-dozen big games, then a half-dozen one-liners, and Frank makes six picks at the end to see if he can take them to the house.

Basically, this entire podcast consists of putting Frank on the spot, as he was called to fill in for Keith McMillan. We waited for the full class period before leaving, though, since Keith must have a Ph.D. in Division III football.

Our guest this week is Western New England coach Jason Lebeau, who talks about how you find Division III schools with football everywhere in New England, what it’s like taking over at your alma mater as a first-year head coach (sound familiar?) and talks about his players to watch so far this season.

Plus, Pat clucks like a chicken and talks like a computer, and Frank autocorrects Pat on his six incorrect picks from last week’s batch of 25. That and more in the latest D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. 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.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.
Full episode: [display_podcast]

Photo: Johns Hopkins defense swallowing up a Gettysburg player (not literally). (JHU athletics photo)

Theme music: DJmentos.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download