D3football.com » D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast

Typically we're not dropping the first Around the Nation Podcast episode of a particular season until after the first week of games, but the 2015 season is coming quickly and we're looking forward to it.

Keith makes a great case for an unexpected name as the D3football.com Coach of the Year. Hear who, and why. And they also came to a consensus on the D3football.com Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year as well. Also, they discuss the Leipold Legacy and more. Thanks for listening to the eighth season of the Around the Nation Podcast!

We know what you're thinking. How can this outcome, UW-Whitewater vs. Mount Union Part IX, possibly be good for the sport of Division III football. There's no sugar-coating at this point and Pat and Keith give it to you straight.

Pat and Keith hand out their game balls for Saturday, plus talk to people who were on-site covering all four of the quarterfinal games, to get more of a feel of what it was like and help you find out what you need to know about the wins by Linfield, Wesley, Mount Union and UW-Whitewater.

Linfield upset the apple cart with its big win on Saturday, knocking off a UMHB program that had been a play or two from making the Stagg Bowl the past two years. Plus Wartburg, John Carroll and Hobart each survived second-round squeakers.

We can't have 16 great first-round games. It just can't happen. But even from a blowout, we could learn something. And there were close games as well that provided a lot of insight, as well as a game that needed an extra day, and even more.

Maybe we don't agree with all the choices, but Keith and Pat don't find much to complain about who got in the bracket for the Field of 32. So we'll complain about something else.

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.

Now, we finally get some intrigue. Admittedly, when UW-Whitewater is tied at the half and Mary Hardin-Baylor is down and Linfield trails and goes on to lose, sometimes that's what counts for intrigue in Division III football.

Whether there is a separation at the top of the poll, whether it's the top four teams, the top six or seven, or some other combination, one thing is for sure: they certainly separated themselves on the scoreboard this week.

A few unbeaten but unranked teams had the opportunity to prove themselves against opponents with a little more prestige on Saturday. But in the end, Chicago, Gustavus and Emory & Henry couldn't get over the hump.

No offense, but if you like defense, there wasn't a lot to like about Week 6. But if you like big totals on the scoreboard, then this was the week for you.

It's not a surprise that Washington and Jefferson beat Thomas More, but the margin of victory? Definitely surprising. And perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise that Salisbury beat St. John Fisher, considering the Sea Gulls had done so in each of the five previous meetings.

They're probably not too upset in Stevens Point, Wis., or Collegeville, Minn., but it's always good to have something to analyze and talk about.

What's the sound of a team snapping a 31-game losing streak? Or of a team's dreams vanishing in a last-second mistake? You'll hear both of those, and get Keith and Pat's take on it in this week's Around the Nation Podcast.