I was column E this week. There are probably seven more teams I could have voted for here. It's fun to have real depth in this region again. 

Quote from: unionpalooza on September 14, 2026, 05:23:49 PMmaybe I'm a weirdo for wishing the highest-penetration media coverage of D3 football wasn't a poll that is more lazy opinion than expert analysis.

I actually had a really tough time settling on what to do with JHU/RMC/Dickinson.  The whole thing would have been a lot easier had Dickinson played and won (or lost) to a team for which I have some kind of meaningful reference point.  Losing to D-I Davidson sounds like not that big of a deal, but Davidson last year only won two games- one against Valparaiso who lost to a D-III team and what was very clearly an any-given-Saturday outlier vs. Presbyterian.  Davidson is not very good.  Exactly how they translate to a D-III tier, I have no idea, which makes contextualizing the result vs. Dickinson difficult, which dominoes its way into JHU/RMC. 

I know it's easy to see the final poll result and ascribe the results to lazy groupthink, but it really isn't that. I put a good deal of thought and time into my ballot each week and I presume most/all of the other 24 who vote in this poll do as well.  If anybody at all wanted to rank in order Dickinson-RMC-JHU somewhere in the 20s, that would have been a perfectly reasonable ballot. But there were other reasonable ways to ballot this week also.

Quote from: MUC 2008 on September 14, 2026, 10:51:13 AMPat had a great point on the podcast - if any other team had wholesale coordinator changes and wholesale roster turnover, no one bats an eye at a 1-1 start with a 1 point loss to a top 5 team on the road. That's the other thing many of us here (myself included, I'll own it) have taken for granted for so long - a coaching staff so well schooled in the minutia and finer things of the game that preparedness and sheer will can change the game. I don't think it's unfair for me to say that, at times, has not been seen by this head coach. LK and VK could take a team that was, on paper, outmatched by its opponent and win - sometimes by a surprisingly wide margin. With this staff, it seems to be the opposite: continually playing down to competition and lacking a killer instinct. Case in point, an end zone INT would, most other years, end in a Mount TD and a 14 point swing. Instead it's an immediate giveaway back. Having a lack of playmakers and "home run hitters" can lend itself to that, especially since no one has stepped up on offense yet.

Ouch!

Quote from: Cardinal773 on September 09, 2026, 08:40:40 PMI know I'm just daydreaming here, but how cool would it be if we could talk ESPN into hosting College GameDay in Naperville on October 10th? They went to Amherst/Williams for the Biggest Little Game back in 2007, why not the Battle for the Little Brass Bell?

If anyone knows anyone who could make this happen, let's get that ball rolling! The tailgating scene is solid for homecoming and it would look good on TV.  Let's do this!

10/10 has Georgia @ Alabama and ESPN is almost definitely going to be in Tuscaloosa.  And if they aren't there, they're at the Red River game in Dallas.  This would be cool for sure, but there is no business reason why ESPN would be in Naperville. 

Quote from: Whitecarrera on September 08, 2026, 12:22:15 PMWeek One, and the NCAC lacrosse board has had more chatter in the last week! What's up?

Good win for Wabash- nervy stuff to go down 14 early and come back and win against a solid team.  Obviously, they won't get away with 14 accepted penalties as league play gets underway, but better to be sloppy and 1-0 than the other way around. 

It's always hard for me to know what to take away from games against  W&L.  They're just such an outlier opponent, especially their offense.  Wittenberg, kind of a mystery to me going into this week's game. 

DePauw was uneven, but came back and won.  RHIT might be better than people think- their transfer QB looks like a dude and could cause some issues in the HCAC. 

WashU looked light years better than anybody else in the league on Saturday.  I don't know how good Rhodes is or isn't, but WashU was crisp. No notes. 

JCU won a good game at a really good CMU team.  It might take a minute for Tyler Green to settle in to that offense, but JCU's defense looked elite. CMU got nothing going all game. 

Denison- relatively competitive as you'd expect, but just a step behind Hope at the moment. 

OWU put up a ton of points against Bluffton. I'm not sure what to do with that information.  We'll find out how legitimate any of that is this weekend when JCU comes to Selby.

Kenyon, Wooster, Oberlin- Nice win for Kenyon, but I do think these three are a tier behind the rest. 

Quote from: bluestreak66 on September 05, 2026, 11:33:14 PMMount hasn't lost back to back games since 77.....BW won the championship in 78..... I swear if Mount screwed up the timeline and BW wins the Stagg next year, I'm going to be officially mad

1988

Quote from: unionpalooza on August 12, 2026, 01:24:26 PMF*ck NPI.  Everything that is truly great about D3 is served by games like this.  A million times better than flying out to UW-Somebody to maximize NPI.  Show me a school that is making scheduling decisions that are bad for NPI and I'll show you a school that is living the D3 way.

My slightly warmer than tepid but not quite hot take on this is-- scheduling to beat the NPI is mostly a fool's errand.  There's no guarantee the non-con opponent(s) you schedule will be NPI helpers when the dust settles (yes, you can make educated guesses, but sometimes a 5-5 season happens to the best of us).  Goal 1 should always be to schedule 10 games.  If you've cleared that, then schedule games that are net positives for your institution- whether it's something that's important for the community like the Anchor Bowl, a competition opportunity against an institution that you have a larger partnership with, or a game in an area that is an important center for alumni relations or recruitment- do those games.  And then if you have those things down, sure, try to outsmart the NPI.  At the end of the day, you get in by winning your league or winning 9+ games.  After that, it's a crap shoot and your Week 1 scheduling choice probably has very little to do with what side of the bubble you end up on. 

Yeah- these institutions are vital parts of the Hampton Roads region. This event serves a bigger purpose than chasing NPI decimals. 

Quote from: that guy 31 on April 16, 2026, 03:55:39 PMCMS football schedule is posted. It includes 2 non-conference games and one matchup with each SCIAC team. Pomona game is game three which really stinks for CMS and PP fans.

Also the last week is blank and says "SCIAC Championship Weekend." I wonder if this just means they'll play a conference title game or if they are going to match up everyone based on records. Either way I don't like the sounds of it.

The divisions are gone (RIP Sun and Surf), but the SCIAC will have a 1 vs 2 championship in Week 11 to determine the AQ. 

We've got a segment in today's new ATN pod with WashU head coach Aaron Keen.  Should be a nice listen for those who want to get acquainted with the NCAC's newest football affiliate.

Quote from: D3fanboy on March 09, 2026, 10:10:38 AM

Quote from: edward de vere on March 08, 2026, 08:07:26 PM

Quote from: D3fanboy on March 02, 2026, 02:54:30 PM[NCC coached by a guy scared to take the jump. 

Next time you see Larry Kehres tell him he was too  scared to take the jump.

even LK's final year (2012) is a completely different sport than in today's world.  The upper division money cannons are out of control, as evidenced by the rampant coach and player free agency.  While I'm sure that LK had his fair share of offers to move on, they likely were nowhere near the life-changing money that is being thrown around in today's college football.  Without some sort of reform, I highly doubt that we'll see any D3FB coaching legend lifers any longer.

Mostly I just want to get the quote embeds under control here, but also agree with the bolded above.  It will happen very occasionally, but not often.  The economics are just not going to support the best of the best staying in D3 for entire careers. 

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 10, 2026, 12:18:37 PM

Quote from: CCIWFan69 on February 10, 2026, 08:54:54 AM

Quote from: hazzben on February 10, 2026, 07:54:31 AMBethel @ NCC
Mount @ Wheaton

Sept 5 is serving up some really good football in the Chicago suburbs. My son's varsity game is on Thursday that week. Might have to see about making a trip down and doing a few campus visits on Friday and Saturday!

Love that we are seeing great noncon games like this. Tip of the cap to Wheaton last year showing 2 top NPI losses were not something that kept a team from the field, or from making a run.

Hopefully, one day game and one night game but doubtful if it requires the added cost of a hotel.  Would be quite the doubleheader though!

Sorry, but unless one of the DuPage County football powers changes its schedule you're out of luck. NCC is showing a noon start vs. Bethel at Benedetti-Wehrli on Sept. 5, while the Wheaton website has the Orange and Blue kicking off against Mount Union at McCully that day at 1 pm.

Yeah, the road mileage for the visitors almost certainly precludes an evening kickoff.  Unfortunate- that would be an incredible D3FB double feature. 

Quote from: emma17 on January 07, 2026, 05:51:36 PMAnyone catch the FCS championship game? IL State vs. Montana State. What a game. I won't spoil the outcome in case you recorded. ISU had one heck of a run in the playoffs (4 loss team) and MT St has some real playmakers.

Two comments regarding the game:
1. How about the Stagg in Nashville/Vanderbilt? The FCS championship was held there. It's not any farther to travel for midwest teams.
2. The FCS championship game further cements my position on kicking and American football- they don't belong together. If kicking must be a part of the game- I believe the kicker (all kickers) must be either a starter on offense or defense and not a specialist.

In addition to eliminating clean/dry/non-bruised players from playing a critical role in a game of physicality, it would also greatly impact play calling to the betterment of the game imo.

I'm all for the Stagg Bowl going to any city/venue that is committed to providing a great experience for the student-athletes.  By accounts I've read, Nashville/Vandy did great by the FCS game. It seems people didn't exactly leave there pining for a return to Frisco. 

The next two Stagg Bowls are in Salem and back to Canton. After that, we don't know!  Here's hoping that there have been some good bids in this cycle. 

Quote from: D3fanboy on January 05, 2026, 12:19:14 PMI dont think Mount needs to run 80+ plays a game, but I really hope Jeff with a G was watching last night.  UWRF used  an athletic QB's legs and arm to get the ball to their playmakers in space and the greatest defense that D3FB has ever seen was visibly frustrated and could not stop it. 

Mount has ran the "top gun" type offense in the past when Burke was in Alliance.  They used to run it pretty damn fast, it was the "Oregon" offense back then.  I believe Dartt was on the offensive staff back then as well. Only a blind man would not have seen how much better the 2025 Raiders offense was when they played with pace instead of running the play clock down to 5 or less seconds

OC job is open now.  I trust you're applying as you've got all the answers, yes?

I would absolutely love to see the fish stringer come back out.