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We started our deep dive into the playoffs on last week's edition and we know we had a lot of new listeners -- now we have to really talk about some of the automatic bids. Some conferences have pretty interesting races here in the final two weeks of the regular season and Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan look closely at the PAC, where two teams could finish unbeaten and never play each other, along with the NACC, NCAC, NJAC and the American Southwest Conference.

It's finally time to talk in-depth about the postseason -- picks, prognostications, problems and the like. If you're new to Division III, we'll give you a quick roundup of how it's set up and if you're a veteran, we're ready to talk about strength of schedule and who the top at-large candidates are. Will three WIAC teams make it? Can Hardin-Simmons avoid playing Mary Hardin-Baylor in the first round? The first full answers are in this podcast.

In a handful of conferences, the first-place team and the highest-ranked team in our poll changed over based on Saturday's results. Pat and Keith break down where things changed in the Empire 8, the IIAC and the NCAC based on Saturday's games, plus talk to two coaches whose teams have made big turnarounds and much more.

We had a game with 17,000-plus fans, a top five team save its bacon in the final seconds, and just a ton of great finishes all around the nation this week. In fact, it's pretty clear we can consider this the best week so far of the Division III football season. So Pat and Keith take some time to go through all of it -- as many of those great finishes as we can find. But Keith starts this podcast on the sidelines after getting flagged for premature tweeting ...

Hard to start anywhere but with UW-Whitewater and Mount Union this week, as Whitewater comes away with a key win and the Purple Raiders looked a little shaky in their win vs. Ohio Northern. Plus we talk about a couple of key injuries, including two in the MIAC, we look at the big matchups in New Jersey and Iowa, hand out our game balls and more.

We'll spend a good amount of time talking about the St. Thomas-St. John's game, but that's not all that went on this past Saturday. UW-Whitewater preserved Division III pride as the No. 2 Warhawks handled NAIA No. 2 Morningside, but the win didn't come without questions. We hear from Whitewater coach Kevin Bullis, plus dive deep into the Mount Union quarterback rotation and more in this week's podcast.

It was definitely a tough weekend for Linfield and Washington & Jefferson, and a great weekend for Mary Hardin-Baylor and Thomas More, and we had people at both games and talk with the people involved. But we also have to re-evaluate what we thought we learned about some teams in the first two weeks — is Delaware Valley’s win vs. Wesley, or Utica’s win vs. Ohio Northern as big as we thought? Pat and Keith walk us through it in the Around the Nation Podcast. The Around the Nation Podcast is a weekly conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan covering the wide range of Division III football. It drops on Monday morning weekly throughout the season. Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device.  Photo by Joe Fusco, d3photography.com 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

Benedictine avoided going 0-2 this week thanks to a big win, and Utica is on the opposite side of the ledger, starting off 2-0. Lots of discussion of Utica beating Ohio Northern, but also, some discussion of hope for the teams that are 0-2 and a word of caution for those happy about their hot start.

It never fails -- once we start playing games, the surprise results start pouring in. Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan chat about a good number of them, then chat with Johns Hopkins coach Jim Margraff and look at some of the off-the-beaten-path highlights, the unusual stats and more from Week 1 of Division III football.

Every August, Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman meet to go through the process of ranking all 248 teams, ranking the conferences, editing some of the volumes of stories that come in for Kickoff and lately, drop a new podcast. So, expect to hear some talk about who the 2016 surprise teams will be, who is expected to drop a little further down the ladder, and oh yeah, what we think about those purple powers' chances this time around. Plus get their reaction to the news out of Susquehanna, Ithaca and Christopher Newport.

One of the questions we've focused on this year in our slate of offseason podcasts and interviews is to ask coaches what it would take for their school to get to the next level. Earlier this offseason we asked what the distance is like between Wabash and the elite teams in Division III. Or this time, what separates Stevenson from reaching the level of Wesley, the power in Division III in the Mid-Atlantic? What would it take for St. Thomas to join the Mount Union/Whitewater tier?

Guests this month include Franklin coach Mike Leonard, Washington & Lee coach Scott Abell, Lawrence head coach Rob McCarthy and Lawrence offensive coordinator Mark Speckman.

One of the best stories of the offseason has been a player from last year's draft class, Concordia-Moorhead quarterback Griffin Neal. He talks about his year playing overseas in Germany and how he managed to talk his way into a pro day and eventually try out for the New Orleans Saints. Ohio Northern coach Dean Paul chats with us about what his team has coming back, the state of the Ohio Athletic Conference and his former wide receiver Devon Price's chances of sticking with an NFL team. Meanwhile, Mike Cerasuolo, the new head coach at Springfield, talks about taking over the program at his alma mater from his former coach and what that might mean for the Pride's signature triple-option offense.

Yes, that's right -- an Around the Nation Podcast in April! Pat and Keith will be doing monthly podcasts during the offseason, and they'll check in with newsmakers in and around Division III football. This episode features guests in Wabash coach Don Morel, Southern Virginia coach Joe DuPaix and Trinity (Texas) coach Jerheme Urban.

The 43rd championship season of Division III football is over, with Mount Union hoisting the trophy. But there was a little more business to do, including handing out game balls (which differed, perhaps, from the one the media on-site gave out), deciding the players of the year, looking ahead to next year and more. Plus, Adam Turer joins us to answer one of August’s burning questions. That and more on this week’s Around the Nation Podcast. The Around the Nation Podcast is a weekly conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan covering the wide range of Division III football. It drops on Monday morning weekly throughout the season. Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile 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