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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:

Theme music: Power 2 by DJmentos.
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 314: Another classic week in D-III football

Spoiled. We are just spoiled this season by the great games in Division III football. There’s not much more we can say. The span on Saturday afternoon in which all three games pictured here: Birmingham-Southern at Trinity (Texas), UW-Oshkosh at UW-River Falls and Wartburg at Central each came down to its finish is something that should be remembered long into the cold and chill of the offseason.

We are far from that, though, just a little of the way into October. Trinity survived with a great drive in the closing minute, and we talk with Tucker Horn, the Tigers quarterback, about his team’s performance, the great play of receiver Carter Self, the new life around football at Trinity and more.

In all, 49 schools merit serious mention in this week’s podcast. Who’s on the run in Region 1? Who’s blue in the 2? Who’s feeling sore in the 4? Seriously, what rivalry in the 4 is so intense that one school wouldn’t even say the other’s name … and what happened when that team went up 21-6 on Saturday? Who’s alive in the 5? And are they really alive, or just lookin’ alive? Plus, who’s getting their kicks in the 6, and what does it have to do with a goat?

In addition, Pat and Greg hand out game balls, spotlight the unexpected in Stat of the Week, make guesses about Week 7 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 our mailbag from James Baker @d3fbhuddleI’ll bite and direct this to the Minnesotan of the group. What’s going on over at Carleton? They are NESCACian academics-wise, and they are 1 of 23 #d3fb (unbeaten) playoff eligible teams left in the nation. How’d they get here (and will they just get creamed in Weeks 9&10?)

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]

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 Sam Demmon, Trinity (Texas) athletics; Central athletics photo by Dan L. Vander Beek Photography; UW-River Falls athletics