Game day: Bids on the line

We could have nine automatic bids handed out this week and there are two head-to-head winner-take-all games, between Otterbein and Mount Union in the Ohio Athletic Conference and between Trine and Adrian in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

There aren’t any live stats for the Otterbein/Mount Union game, but we’ll have updates here on the blog filling in some of the blanks. There’s live audio for that game and others on the Scoreboard.

I’ll be in Eau Claire, Wis., to see if UW-Stevens Point can keep up its run of nail-biters. In fact, I should be getting on the road pretty soon.

There are a couple of key Pool C (at-large bid) games — one of them between Rowan and Montclair State in the NJAC. I just stumbled on a Rowan football blog with some extra information worth checking out. Huntingdon and Hampden-Sydney play in Alabama in a game that affects both at-large pools. And we talked more about these games in the Triple Take yesterday, of course.

Plenty of other games, as always, and thanks to those who drop by with regular updates each week!

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ATN Podcast: Eyes on New York

Keith took the car out for a trip to upstate New York and came back with a pretty good game. What did Cortland State show Saturday in its win against Montclair State? Keith (and Cortland coach Dan MacNeill) give their thoughts in this week’s Around the Nation podcast.

Also, Keith and Pat talk about the many other big games of the day, including the gutty performance by Salisbury at St. John Fisher. By the way, there’s also some pretty interesting news for Salisbury, Wesley, Case Western Reserve and Huntingdon in the podcast.

You can load the podcast page in iTunes or can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/?feed=podcast

Or you can click the play button below to listen.

Jackson signs with Bills, Taylor with Bucs

A couple of transactions passed across my screen in the past few days. Last night we learned that Coe running back Fred Jackson, a second team D3football.com All-America running back in 2002, has signed with the Buffalo Bills. Jackson follows in the footsteps of Carey Bender, who played for the Bills in the mid-1990s.

Bender also played in NFL Europe, and Jackson might have a chance to do the same. Jackson reportedly has been allocated to NFL Europe. The NFL Europe training camp begins in mid-February.

Jackson played in the United Indoor Football League this past season and was the league’s MVP.

Jermaine Taylor re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will be allocated to NFL Europe as well. Taylor, a two-time D3football.com All-American (third team in 2002, first team in 2003), was in the Bucs training camp last season.

(Minneapolis) Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman wrote this week that former Gustavus Adolphus wide receiver Ryan Hoag is working out in Florida with hopes of landing a spot in NFL Europe as a free agent.