This slimmed-down version of the first round actually worked out pretty well. Five of the eight games went down to the final couple of minutes, and the three blowouts were against the No. 38, No. 39 and No. 40 seeds in the tournament. So now that that’s out of the way, we can move on to the Round of 32. But first, we’ll recap those eight games, you…

Why is Endicott playing in the first round? Why is Ursinus? Why does Centre get a bye? Why does Salisbury have to face a 6 or 7 seed in its first game instead of a 9 or 10? When the teams are already identified and all boiled down to a number value by a mathematical equation, the bracket is all we can talk about, and go figure, sometimes decisions …

A couple of key teams had a couple of close calls, and they were games that we were keeping a close eye on on Saturday. In Podcast 367, we’re talking about Cortland pulling out its narrow win over Brockport to clinch the Empire 8 conference automatic bid, as well as Mount Union’s similarly narrow win against Marietta to clinch the automatic bid fro…

Most years, we dedicate some space on the website or some time in our podcast to really give newcomers to Division III football a bit of a primer as to how the playoffs are structured, how at-large bids are determined, the whole 10 yards. But this year, let’s face it — we’re all newbies in some manner. Nobody has ever actually put together the Divi…

This past week, a number of teams had their shot. They had the opponent they wanted to play on the field in front of them. They generally even had that game at home, in front of their home fans. But in Week 8 of the 2024 Division III football season, it didn’t really break as these teams hoped. Not for Ursinus, not for Coe, not for Case Western Res…

No, we didn’t get a four-way tie for first in the MAC after this weekend, but we still have plenty of chaos across Division III football after seven weeks. Part of this is because eight more playoff bids means more teams are in contention for the playoffs, but mostly, we’re just talking about teams chasing conference automatic bids. So in the Presi…

Hardin-Simmons came out of Saturday with another big, signature win, its second in as many weeks. The Cowboys keep exorcising those demons, this time coming up with their first win in Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Crusader Stadium. What’s it like to have beaten Mary Hardin-Baylor pretty impressively but also know that that’s a good team on the other sidelin…

We were waiting. Waiting for WIAC play to get started, with its great games seemingly every week. And waiting for UW-Platteville to face an opponent that our Top 25 voters could really measure them up against. Count that a success! Platteville went into La Crosse, Wisconsin, and not only came away with a win, but did so in dramatic, stunning fashio…

With so many teams taking the week off, there was a big opportunity to step up and grab the spotlight, and boy did schools such as LaGrange and Bates do exactly that. Nothing like getting a double-digit game losing streak off your back. Plus, a game of the week that absolutely looked like one, as we break down Carnegie Mellon at Washington & Jeffer…

Well, welcome back to the Purple Power of the South! It had been a good 11 months or so since we last really had to consider the Cru, when they lost to Hardin-Simmons last Oct. 28, and this season was a mixed bag with UMHB’s most telling game being a loss to a Top 10 NAIA team. Well, that’s no longer the case as the Cru went to UW-Whitewater and ca…

Sometimes Week 2 of the Division III football season can be a bit of a letdown. We know — teams generally improve the most between Week 1 and Week 2, says every football coach ever. But for the fans, Week 1 is a huge rush, and Week 2, well, some conferences are on bye and with fewer games, some years it just doesn’t stack up. For the record: 2024 w…

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 basicall…

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 i…

Division III schools are having some hot fun in the summertime, as training camp is in full swing, and for a number of Division III head coaches, they are running camp for the first time. This is true for schools from Vermont to New Jersey to Pennsylvania to Virginia to Mississippi to Wisconsin to Texas to Minnesota and beyond. Sometimes it’s hard …

There’s a bunch of serious business being done by Division III quarterbacks this offseason, as nearly four dozen of them have joined up to raise money to fight cancer as Quarterbacks vs. Cancer. There’s also some light-hearted work being done by Division III football coaches, as two of them in the NJAC have joined up to fight food insecurity and ba…

Hey, we get it — you don’t like to think about math during the summer. If you’re taking a class during the summer, it’s probably not math-related, rather some elective. But unfortunately, the math is now going to be just as important in Division III football as it was in the BCS days in Division I. We know. That’s not encouraging. And maybe we can’…

It’s not often that we’ve had to call a coach back the next day and ask follow-up questions, but when news broke less than 24 hours after we talked with Berry coach Tony Kunczewski, we knew we had to get his take on his team getting Randolph-Macon added to its schedule. For Berry, it’s one season after a 9-1 season with a low strength of schedule e…

When Crawfordsville and Greencastle, Indiana, found themselves beneath a total eclipse last week, it turned out to be a great time to combine a rare celestial event with a chance to talk with the coaches in one of Division III football’s top rivalries. In the case of DePauw, that’s Brett Dietz, whose team has won the Monon Bell two years in a row a…

What’s next? That’s a great question this time of year, and we tackle that big question in a few ways in our January podcast, the first one of 2024. Cortland, now the reigning and defending national champs, says what’s next is turning the page, but before they do, we sit down with Red Dragons head coach Curt Fitzpatrick to reflect on a great (the g…

We wrap up another season, here on the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Perhaps not as well as the Cortland defense wrapped up Luke Lehnen on the two-point conversion attempt pictured here on the page, but we try. Was this the best Stagg Bowl ever? We’ve only seen about half of them in person, but our crew does its best to answer that ques…

It’s great to be back in Salem covering a Stagg Bowl, and Patrick and Greg and Frank Rossi are here to preview Stagg Bowl with North Central and Cortland. For North Central, it’s the fourth time in a row they’ve been to a Stagg Bowl, and in four different places, so how does their experience stack up? For Cortland, it’s the first Stagg Bowl, but do…

Just as we expected — one amazing national semifinal and one blowout. Never mind that people generally thought it would be the other way around — not our predictions, by the way, which did not have North Central winning in a blowout. We talk through the Cortland win against Randolph-Macon, hear the reactions of players Cole Burgess and Jack Winey a…

Yep, that’s correct. You see the colors above, and nary a Purple Power to be found. No more UW-Whitewater, no Mount Union, and of course, none of those other prominent purple powerhouses that failed to make the field. Instead, you’ve got the familiar red of North Central, plus Cortland as actual Red Dragons, along with the Yellow Jackets of Randolp…

We used to do this preview podcasts all the time, before life and day jobs interfered. But it’s great to get back in the saddle, and do some longer interviews in this edition of the D3football.com Around the Nation podcast. Founding co-host Keith McMillan sits down for an in-depth conversation with Randolph-Macon coach Pedro Arruza as his team gets…

We can’t say in any way, shape or form that we called it. But in podcast 343, we did identify Alma as a team that could challenge Mount Union. But when push comes to shove, no, Alma scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Mount Union was not something any of us saw coming. The magnitude of the victory may not have sunk in yet for everyone…

In our first week of playoffs, the teams that should have been hosting went and won on the road anyway, and while we only had a couple of games go down to the final possession, those were certainly thrilling, memorable games. Endicott gets so close to winning a playoff game once again. Susquehanna almost avoided getting upset at home for a second y…

Oh man. Back in 2011, Patrick wrote a piece on Selection Sunday morning with the headline “Two-loss teams need not apply,” essentially calling out the NCAA football committee for not even considering two-loss teams in previous years and wondering if that would change. It did change. It changed that season and in multiple seasons which followed. As …

If you were are hoping your team can get some help in getting into the NCAA playoffs as an at-large team, we got so close to being able to give you what you wanted on Saturday. But in the end, a few places where teams were on the ropes turned out to be all about chalk and we’ll all be holding our collective breath for another week of what should be…

The game between Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg ended in a pretty epic way on Saturday. So did Belhaven’s unbeaten streak this season, at the hands of Maryville. And a 20-year long streak went by the wayside this weekend as well. Matt Mitchell talks about getting back onto the field at exactly the right time for Hardin-Simmons in this edition of the …

The season of regional rankings, mock brackets and things such as Pool C teams is upon us, and how better to get things started than by having a conversation with the chair of the Division III football championship committee? We start every year with burning questions, and Northwestern (Minn.) head coach Matt Moore was kind enough to sit down and c…

Greg Thomas starts off this podcast by quoting one of the famous philosophers of our time, and it is true about what point in the season we have reached. If you intend to play in the Stagg Bowl, just know that Week 8 is only the halfway point. In a week where our panel finally grew weary of picking upsets that never came to fruition, Gustavus Adolp…

UW-Whitewater and UW-River Falls met in another of the big battles that should determine who goes to the playoffs out of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, whether it’s one, two or three teams. And even though one of the most decorated offensive players on the field was held in check — not to mention off the field — for the vast maj…

It seems there can be little doubt that Division III football is at its best on a Saturday afternoon when the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is playing its conference games. They might draw 20,000-plus fans, they might go to double overtime, but whatever the weekend, it always seems at least one or two of the games is going to be ent…

W is for Wartburg. W is for Wolverines. And W is for winning. The connection is purely alphabetical, but we know that the top teams had some big wins on Saturday, one for a bell that is little, and made of brass; one that is against a key conference rival; and one that was on the road after a big turnaround. Berry had Trinity on the ropes before th…

It’s not often the outcome of a single game can turn perceptions in Division III on their head, especially a game in September. But last Friday night, Endicott not only defeated No. 5 Hardin-Simmons, the Gulls defeated the Cowboys soundly. And Pat was there to witness, interview and report. Did Hardin-Simmons losing their starting quarterback and t…

This week didn’t feature five games between Top 25 teams, but as we’ve known for years in Division III football, that doesn’t make it any less thrilling. Out of 116 games, you’re going to see a little bit of everything, such as a game where three touchdowns were scored in the final 60 seconds. A walk-off field goal for a Top 25 upset. A 0-3 team ra…

It was a fun night for Trinity (Texas) fans in San Antonio, and the same for fans of Eastern on a rainy night in Philadelphia. Oberlin got a losing streak out of the way, King’s looks good at 2-0, Susquehanna got a win off of the Brockport bullpen, and UW-Whitewater followed a Week 1 statement with a Week 2 statement. Yes, Trinity got over the hump…

It really does seem as though the 2023 Division III football season is going to be just like the 2022 version. But with even more games between ranked teams, more nailbiting, more magic. Johnnie Magic up in Collegeville? Perhaps, if you’re a fan. If you’re Trinity (Texas) coach Jerheme Urban, you may come from a different mindset. He gives his pers…

The 2023 Division III football season is upon us, kicking off on Thursday night, Aug. 31. Birmingham-Southern is one of those teams kicking off on Thursday, and the fact that B-SC is here at all is something to celebrate. The school nearly closed this past summer and still faces sever funding issues, but is here for another year, under new coach An…

Teams are in training camps, and if you’re new to Division III football, or awaking from a long slumber, this is a good time to get caught up. Because if you’re coming to Division III for the first time, as a Division I FBS fan, just know that this is not the same. D-III is expert level, with 28 automatic bids (yes, now there are 28!) and just a ha…

Nobody at the American Southwest Conference is talking on the record — heck, there basically is nobody at the American Southwest Conference since they showed their commissioner the door, and two more schools left their all-sports membership not all that long ago. This is desperate times calling for desperate measures for the ASC, and if you thought…

The Division III basketball season is wrapping up and Pat Coleman is diving back into D3football and podcast production, but that doesn’t mean basketball is far from his mind. As it turns out, when you combine the two Division III basketball Final Fours, eight teams, across seven schools, only three of them sponsor football, and that’s exactly the …

We’ve been talking about it for a year now: This upcoming 2023 football season will have just four at-large bids. It’s getting harder and harder to make the NCAA Division III football playoffs as an at-large team, there’s no denying it. Before it gets even worse, this is the time that Division III administrators need to recognize the issues and act…

And just like that, the 2022 season, arguably the greatest season in NCAA Division III football history, is in the books. But before the podcast goes into offseason mode and becomes a monthly show, we do what we always do at the end of the season — discuss, debate if necessary, and determine the D3football.com final awards: D3football.com Offensive…

The Stagg Bowl comes around holiday time and really is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the time when you can’t duck questions any longer, and we talk with both head coaches and offensive and defensive players on both teams in this Stagg Bowl preview podcast. On the air with us: Mount Union head coach Geoff Dartt, wide receiver Wayne Ruby …

It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2, just as everyone expected, as North Central and Mount Union advance to play in Stagg Bowl XLIX in Annapolis. While this is a rematch of teams that played in the second round in 2019, then in the semifinals the next season (2021), this particular rematch turns the tables. 2022 Division III football playoff bracket It’s unusual …

The games are here! We’ve got 16 games on Saturday that will get us started on the road to Shenandoah, Texas, where the Stagg Bowl will be held one more time this year before it moves to Canton, Ohio. Our crew will break down each of the four brackets in terms of first-round games, and there is plenty more preview coverage on D3football.com. We als…

A weekend of big games begged the question for D3football.com Top 25 voters as to which team should be No. 1. While there are 19 voters who picked Team Alliance Purple as No. 1, there are now six in Team Belton Purple’s camp. Are you of the mind that “the champ is the champ until they lose,” or are you more likely to favor whoever is playing better…

There are six huge games between ranked teams (or ranked teams and unbeaten teams) this week, and this is a week Pat will be on the road, as he is heading out to Los Angeles to see a pair of games involving evenly matched teams at each end of the SCIAC. Big games abound: No. 7 Hardin-Simmons at No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor; No. 5 Frostburg State at No.…

We love a gutsy call. Sure, our job isn’t being put on the line when a coach makes the decision to go for two at the end of a key game, but this is Division III — the coach’s job isn’t really on the line on one play call. We love a little gamble, especially when it pays off. Whether you call a Philly Special (or something that looks similar but foo…