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ATN Podcast 358: Did that really happen?

Listen, this podcast is fun to put together and we think and hope that it is informative, but we are always trying to do more. So this week, since we’ve finally had some games played, we’re adding a couple of new wrinkles to the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

First of all, since this season the at-large bids and the seedings are basically all going to be done by computers, we figured we’d better get you all ready for that, so we’ve invited back our Math Correspondent, Logan Hansen. In his Football Analytics 3:01 segment, he’s going to spend exactly 3 minutes, 1 second of your time talking about who is key in the running for those top eight spots in the new NCAA Power Index, that thing we call NPI. We’ll tell you more about what that means. He’ll also spotlight some of the big games — key leverage games and games that will shape the playoff picture.

When you ask Patrick and Greg what the most shocking result was from Week 1 and they both say the same thing, that says a lot. It’s a quick run through the top games from this past week, plus the implications and some of the history.

We also hand out game balls to the top performers, pick out the stats of the week, and run through region by region to get some of the other stories you might have missed. And since that didn’t seem to be enough, Greg and Patrick have to pick one more region to tell one more story about on the fly. At a roll of the dice, you never know what they might end up talking about — even a JV game?

Plus we chat with Calvin head coach Trent Figg, just minutes after his team defeated Oberlin in dominating fashion in the program’s first-ever football game. There’s that and so much more in this week’s podcast, so give it a listen!

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. New episodes are published weekly during the season.

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

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:

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Texas Lutheran athletics photo by Nick Trumble

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ATN Podcast 357: Big games in Week 1

We had to wait an extra week longer than just about everyone else, but we are here to get you ready for Week 1 with our preview podcast. Patrick and Greg will talk about the big games nationally in this week’s pod, but also about the biggest games in Region 1 all the way through Region 6.

Plus, as you may know, tech is going to play a bigger role in the 2024 Division III football season, and not just in the ways we’ve already talked about. In addition, the Centennial Conference is instituting replay review for its football games, and regardless of how well you think that might work with a typical Division III broadcast, we’re here to tell you that yes, it’s a good thing. Peter Gallagher, the head coach at Ursinus, joins us to talk about that and the challenges of competing in a league dominated by Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg, as well as getting to learn a whole new set of teams from the New Jersey Athletic Conference, and more.

We answer all the big questions, such as, why exactly did we not start with games this week? What’s the best Twitter/X handle for a Division III football head coach? Who really really needs a W in Region 1? Who is going to take snaps for Aurora this week? (Nobody really knows that answer yet, actually.) What low-key big game is under the radar a bit in Region 3? Is Calvin actually favored in its first-ever Division III varsity football game? And is anyone not in the mix for the SCIAC title?

Sometimes it’s hard to get hold of coaches at this time of year, but we are super grateful to get two of them to take time out of their busy jobs and chat with us about how camp is going in their first head coaching jobs.

The D3football.com podcast is a weekly in-season podcast by Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas, which was started in 2007. New episodes are published weekly during the season.

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

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.
John Carroll athletics photo by John Reid III

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ATN Podcast 323: Down to a fantastic four

No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 12 are the four teams left in contention for a trip to Annapolis, Maryland, for Stagg Bowl XLIX. Mary Hardin-Baylor took down Bethel with a fourth-quarter surge, while Mount Union eased past Delaware Valley, North Central trounced Ithaca and Wartburg did the same to Aurora.

The key story at Wartburg? Just the mere fact that Nile McLaughlin was in the lineup at quarterback for the Knights. For Mary Hardin-Baylor, it was KJ Miller’s 65-yard touchdown catch and run. We’ll hear him talk a little about that. We hear from North Central’s Luke Lehnen and Mount Union’s Braxton Plunk as well after they quarterbacked their teams to victory.

Pat and Greg give out their game balls, one on offense and one on defense, and you can learn more about the status of the big postseason awards that are coming in the next week, plus find out which players were on Pat and Greg’s Gagliardi Trophy ballot.

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.

Plus, the end of the season at Bethel and Delaware Valley also marks the end of careers for key players in this run. The end of the 2022 football season for the Royals leaves coach Steve Johnson feeling a little emotional, and Delaware Valley defensive back Blaine Netterman talks about having played with the Nobile brothers since sophomore year of high school, and the future of the Del Val program.

Plus, what’s the difference between rebuilding and reloading? How do those elite teams remain at that level?

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]

Links mentioned in this 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.
Photos by Juiie Drewes, Wartburg athletics; Mary Hardin-Baylor athletics