Division III Notes and Thoughts on College Football Every Day

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November 7th:

  • Saint John’s should get their 700th win in program history tomorrow when they take on St. Scholastica - a team they haven’t lost to in seven tries. What’s funny - the Johnnies beat the same team back in the 2014 playoffs for their 600th all-time victory.

  • Three teams have already clinched their spots in the playoffs: Concordia - Wis. (NACC), Hanover (HCAC) and Wartburg (ARC). The winners of these games will clinch tomorrow: Coast Guard at Springfield (NEWMAC), Salisbury at Christopher Newport (NJAC) and Belhaven at LaGrange (USAC). On top of that, eleven teams just need to win their game on Saturday to clinch.

  • Dipping into the Centennial Conference, Johns Hopkins and McDaniel are meeting for the 103rd time in a series that dates to a 16-0 win by then Western Maryland in 1894, and have met every year since 1947 except one (1963 game canceled after President Kennedy assassination). JHU leads the all-time series 62-35-5 and has won 23 straight against the Green Terror. Of note - this week’s meeting marks the first time since 1979 that Johns Hopkins and McDaniel are not meeting in the final game of the regular season.

  • After scoring a touchdown on every possession last week in a 70-29 win at Dickinson, the Tartans return home to take on Franklin & Marshall (7-1, 5-0). Carnegie Mellon enters the contest with the Diplomats for the 31st time with the Tartans leading the series 21-8-1, though this is the first meeting since 2006 when the Tartans won 34-14 in Pittsburgh. The first ever game between these teams dates back to 1909 when the Tartans prevailed 11-5.

November 1st:

  • Big game in the Midwest Conference, as the winner between Monmouth and Chicago should win the conference title. Monmouth as won all five meetings since 2019…

  • There are still a lot of scenarios regarding the race for the Centennial Conference title, but a win by Johns Hopkins over Muhlenberg today will clear things up a bit. After winning 11 of the last 13 meetings, the Blue Jays have taken a 29-25-1 series lead.

  • The WIAC has another great conference game today: UW-Whitewater at UW-River Falls. This feels like a classic case of elite offense vs. elite defense. UWRF has thrown for more yards than anyone else in the WIAC, UWW has intercepted more passes than anyone else in the WIAC. UWRF leads the league in rushing TDs, UWW has allowed just two rushing TDs all season. That’s the kind of matchup we have in River Falls.

October 30th:

  • Got my first look as to how things are shaping up for the playoffs in this division, especially how the Pool C bids (at-large) are looking. Unfortunately, work is blocking my access to the d3datacast website (NPI ratings site) - which is frustrating. lol

  • Another source of info to use for a preview of the playoffs is Hansen Ratings - which is a simulation of how the season is likely to play out. This site I can play with at work!

  • An example of using these two sites together: I was surprised to see Coast Guard (NEWMAC) ranked 25th thus far in the NPI ratings, but when I go to see how the simulator plays out the rest of the Bears season, it has them losing two future games (Springfield and Merchant Marine I assume). This will allow Springfield to swoop in and pick up the NEWMAC bid - even though the NPI ratings has them on the outside looking in currently.

  • Mount Union currently sits at the top of the NPI ratings, while top ranked and defending Division III national champion North Central sits in the fourth spot - behind Wartburg and Johns Hopkins.

October 24th:

  • Midseason coaching changes are happening in all divisions! Jim Collins is no longer the head coach of Wittenberg, as the Tigers are 2-5, and have lost four consecutive games. Collins was hired in November 2021 to replace Joe Fincham, who retired after compiling a record of 224-51 in 25 seasons.

  • UW-Whitewater will host UW-Platteville for the 32nd George Chryst Memorial Bowl in a matchup of top ten teams. Saturday marks the 117th meeting for the series that dates back to 1895. UW-Whitewater leads the all-time series 85-27-4. In 1993, the rivalry game became the George Chryst Memorial Bowl in honor of the longtime head coach for UW-Platteville. The Warhawks lead the bowl series record 27-4. 

  • Ursinus and Franklin & Marshall, from the Centennial Conference, will be meeting for the 106th time since 1894. F&M leads the all-time series 68-33-4, but the two teams have split the last 24 meetings going back to 2000.

October 23rd:

  • Division III head coaches still looking for their first career win: Nick Sheehan (Maine Maritime), Matt Rogers (Hilbert - NY), Luke Bakanowsky (Dean - MA), Adam Gonzaga (Lawrence - WI), Dave Marquis (Otterbein - OH), and Richard Sanchez (La Verne - CA).

  • Not only is Hilbert’s head coach looking for his first win, but the program is still in search of its first-ever win. Since playing their first game in 2022, the Hawks have lost all 31 games.

  • Albion and Kalamazoo will be lining up this weekend for their 139th all-time meeting. The Britons of Albion will be looking for their 97th win in the series!

September 4th:

  • This division is playing 116 games this weekend - spread out over three days.

  • Something I just found out and find hard to believe - Lycoming College has a 58-year-old defensive lineman on their football roster! Tom Cillo, graduated high school in 1984 and went on to work for the city of Williamsport, PA. He is now a criminal justice major at Lycoming, and he made the team this summer after reaching out to head coach Mike Clark about his interest in playing.

September 3rd:

  • The last division to get things going, D3 will have there first kickoff in less than 30 hours. Averett and North Carolina Wesleyan will get things going in Rocky Mount, NC at 6:00pm. They are familiar opponents, as this will mark the 20th all-time matchup between the former USA South schools. Averett secured a 41-29 victory last year, but the Battling Bishops have gotten the best of the Cougars as they lead the all-time series 12-7.