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ATN Podcast 316: All eyes on Platteville, plus regional rankings

Some things we can’t seem to avoid talking about every week this season:

  • The Cortaca Jug game in Yankee Stadium
  • The University of Wisconsin-Platteville

This week, Platteville made headlines again, and for the second week in a row, extremely positive headlines as the Pioneers shook up the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 17-14 win against then-No. 3 UW-Whitewater. What in the name of Dan Arnold is going on with this program? How did the Pioneers go from losing back-to-back games by an average of 40 points, to these two consecutive wins against River Falls and Whitewater?

We’ve had these questions. We assume you’ve had these questions. So we ask these questions. We ask them of Ryan Munz, the Platteville head coach, who is our guest on Fast 5, plus maybe a couple of extra minutes at the top of the podcast.

Plus, it’s really time to dig into how the playoffs are set up in Division III football. If you’re new to Division III, this is a must-listen. Even if you’ve been following for a few years, a refresher might be helpful and yes, some things have changed, even if they are small things.

In all, 69 schools merit serious mention in this week’s podcast. That includes the way in which Cortland beat Utica, how North Central handled Washington U., Austin College and Beloit breaking long losing streaks, not to mention Bowdoin pulling off an unexpected victory as well.

In addition, Pat and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight the unexpected in Stat of the Week, make guesses about Week 9 games and more. There’s a list in small type at the bottom of this page of all the teams that are talked about.

Fan question in the mailbag from @mikey_shoultz: What team from the bottom 10 ranked conferences in your conference rankings has the best chance to win a playoff game?

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:

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.
UW-Platteville athletics photo

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ATN Podcast 281: Could spring games lead to spring practice?

There is so much here to talk about as we are midway through March in Division III football, and one of the things that Division III football coaches are pointing to right now is how all of the old excuses given for why D-III can’t have pads in practice in the spring are being proven wrong.

They said it would be impossible to find field time, that athletic training staffs would be stretched too thin. Well, here we are having had coming up on 100 games in Division III this spring — and we’re not talking about asking for games: We’re talkin’ about practice.

We’re joined by three head coaches who each give their take on renewing the drive to add pads and helmets in the spring, as we hear from Hendrix coach Buck Buchanan, Lake Forest coach Jim Catanzaro and Whitworth coach Rod Sandberg. Plus, we talk with Berry coach Tony Kunczewski about his team’s 4-0 spring, and with Trinity (Texas) coach Jerheme Urban about what his team accomplished with its spring football as well.

But the best part of this podcast may well be our chance to catch up with former Berry defensive back Justus Edwards. You may remember his name because in 2018, he suffered a catastrophic spinal injury during the Vikings’ game at Centre. He has continued to inspire his classmates and former teammates on the sidelines, and he was at the team’s appearance at the SAA championship in Little Rock, Arkansas. We talked with him about the work he is doing to get stronger, plus the foundation he has started to help people who have suffered similar injuries and have nowhere to turn.

That interview starts just before the 40:00 mark, if you are so inclined to skip ahead.

Meanwhile, we talk about the big games from Week 6, hand out two weeks’ worth of game balls, and bring back a well-known name to talk about Montez Archer and offer some advice to the Bluffton freshman who has intercepted six passes over the past two games.

Plus, we tackle a listener question. All that and more in Podcast 281.

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:

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: DJmentos. Trinity/Birmingham-Southern photo by Hendrix athletics, Justus Edwards photo from Instagram

Around the Nation Podcast: On the clinchers

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Sam Sura had a busy day, carrying 40 times for 119 yards for St. John’s in the Johnnies’ win vs. Bethel. (St. John’s photo by Richard Larkin McLay)

The playoff picture began to take shape this week, as 14 of the 24 automatic bids were claimed. Pat and Keith talk through the teams who are in, who has yet to clinch and who might be in line for the Pool B bids.

Meanwhile, did Wabash and St. John Fisher move onto the bubble or all the way off of it? What are Centre’s chances like if they pick up a loss next week? Keith and Pat discuss the upsets, the near-upsets and much more in this week’s Around the Nation Podcast.

Plus they hand out their game balls, look at teams on the rise, under-the-radar highlights, key stats and more.

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

You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in iTunes. 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

Plus, all the highlights and interviews from around Division III in the postgame show: