Tag Archives: Mary Hardin-Baylor

post

ATN Podcast 412: Early look at 1 vs. 2

Posted on by

The wait is almost over, and the 2026 Division III football season is kicking off with an absolute bang. On this episode of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast, we are breaking down our newly released Preseason Top 25 poll and looking ahead to a schedule that is already shaping up to be, well, we used the term “gobsmacking.”

This edition of the D3football.com Podcast is sponsored by GameStrat, the most reliable & fastest in-game video replay system on the market. Find out more at GameStrat.com.

For the very first time in the 23-year history of the poll, the season opens with a monumental clash between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country. It’s an unprecedented Week 1 blockbuster that breaks the mold of the usual Mount Union, Whitewater, or Mary Hardin-Baylor early-season math. We dive into what this historic matchup, between North Central and Bethel, means for the landscape of D-III football, how the poll numbers set up the early schedule, and highlight the games you absolutely cannot miss.

Plus, we are bringing you newsmakers directly from the sidelines to get you ready for the fall:

Coach Brad Spencer and senior safety Brayden Garrigan from North Central join us. Spencer chats about the mindset in Naperville heading into 2026, how the coaching staff is managing the continued sky-high expectations, and the benefits of playing Bethel once again. We also get Garrigan’s perspective on his busy offseason and what it actually feels like in the North Central locker room in terms of bringing new starters and freshmen into the mix.

Mary Hardin-Baylor head coach Larry Harmon drops in to discuss how the Cru are hoping to improve on offense in their second year since the return of offensive coordinator Steven Lee. While the quarterback situation is a little up in the air, we hear a little about the position, plus what UMHB needs to do to elevate the offense. We also talk about the Cru’s schedule, especially key games against Endicott and Rowan which are sure to help the NPI of the winner.

Plus we answer mailbag questions about the preseason Top 25, share our sleeper picks for the 2026 season, talk about how we go about making our preseason votes, and give a brief prediction for the game between No. 1 North Central and No. 2 Bethel. And … what of UW-River Falls? The Falcons lost key personnel to graduation, more to the transfer portal, and their head coach and offensive coordinator. We know, not everyone has heard. Patrick and Greg do not agree as to where UW-River Falls should be ranked in the preseason, but we’ll offer hope for where they might find success in 2026.

That and more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. The D3football.com Around the Nation podcast is a weekly conversation during the season, twice monthly in the offseason, about NCAA Division III football, and has been running since 2007.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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:

Photos: Mathieu Starke, d3photography.com; Mary Hardin-Baylor athletics; Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

post

ATN Podcast 394: All the Falcons, and Knights, and Panthers

Posted on by

Two top 10 teams square off, and one team does something it hasn’t done in a quarter century. Yep, that’s a big deal. Heck, UW-River Falls hadn’t beaten UW-Whitewater that handily since the 1980s. We have talked about Kaleb Blaha fairly often on this podcast in the last few years, and that’s because he’s darn good, and was a big-game player on Saturday.

Three of the 27 automatic bids to the playoffs have already been handed out, and we give our assessment of how Wartburg, Concordia Wisconsin and Hanover will likely fare, what type of seeding they might end up with, and the like. Plus there are several head-to-head games for conference automatic bids this weekend, and we’ll talk through those as well.

Of course, you’ll never guess whether home teams or road teams won the big games in the WIAC. OK, maybe you’ll guess.

Plus, one time drove perfectly all day in Division III, and another drove perfectly long, more than 12 minutes?! Patrick and Greg hand out game balls. We take four mailbag questions, and make good use of Logan Hansen’s D-III NPI Simulator in the process. Who should you root for or against if you need an at-large bid? There are answers out there for you.

Logan Hansen talks about which teams still have a chance of getting an at-large bid and at least one of them may surprise you! We go around each region for even more stories and much more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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 Wade Gardner, d3photography.com; Hanover athletics; Photo for Concordia (Wis.) athletics by Katelyn Cardinale

post

ATN Podcast 390: W’s and L’s, X’s and O’s, 0’s and 1’s

Posted on by

These are the things that make up Division III football this time of year. W’s and L’s as in wins and losses, X’s and O’s as in how plays and schemes are drawn up on paper, and 0’s and 1’s as in the data that is used to determine who will make the playoffs and how they’ll be seeded, in the NCAA Power Index.

We got the first look at the NCAA’s version of the data in the NPI this week, and no surprise to anyone here that the data fully passed inspection and is exactly the same as what we’ve seen on D3datacast — that’s the link on our home page menu, for your reference.

Of course, there were some great games to run down this week, such as how the folks at Johns Hopkins put together a third- and fourth-quarter rally to get past Carnegie Mellon. We talk about how the game turned, what can be learned, how the teams can grow from here. Hardin-Simmons/Mary Hardin-Baylor and Berry-Trinity (Texas) were big games that ended up not being close. What’s up with UMHB? And we also chat with Tony Kunczewski, the head coach at Berry, about his team’s big day and their win in our Fast 5 segment.

And yes, there were upsets in the WIAC. Or were there? What really constitutes an upset in WIAC games these days? Co-hosts Patrick Coleman and Greg Thomas talk it through.

Patrick and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight the unusual stats of the week, Logan Hansen talks about which teams have the best chance of getting a top-eight seed and protected home field in the playoffs, we go around each region for even more stories and much more in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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 Steven Eckhoff for Berry athletics