Kyle Hausler is back for Capital. Will they challenge Mount Union? Capital athletics photo

By Keith McMillan
D3sports.com

The smell of fresh-cut grass, the sights and sounds of NFL commercials and fanatics trying to bank a few weekends with the special someones in their lives so they can be cut a little slack during big game weekends. 

They're all signs of the return of football season. And if football is back and ready to kick off, so is Around the Nation. 

Whether you helped us pass the 10 million hits milestone recently or are surfing through here on your first visit, you should find that ATN will bring you insight into Division III football that, quite frankly, you can't get anywhere else. We'll provide opinion, try to tell you a few things you didn't already know and, of course, have a little fun.

Still, ATN wouldn't be what it is without your collective wisdom. Each week we'll ask the readers questions and share last week’s answers. We’ll give you five games to watch, and keep an eye on polls, playoffs and records. 

So before referees in Danbury, Conn., and Wayne, N.J., (the respective homes of Western Connecticut and William Paterson) wind their arms to signal the start of the 2004 season on Friday, let’s play 20 questions. 

Here are 10 we can answer for you right now, and 10 that can only be answered on the field: 

10 questions we can answer right now
• Can St. John's repeat as national champions?
No. Theoretically, anyone has a shot at the Division III national championship, and the Johnnies are one of the nation’s best teams year-in and year-out. But predicting a repeat wouldn’t be respecting how special last year’s Johnnies were. Gone is Gagliardi Trophy winner Blake Elliott, the Stagg Bowl MVP. So are players who helped account for more than 2,200 rushing yards, 3,100 passing yards and 50-plus total TDs. End Jeremy Hood, linebacker Cam McCambridge and nose Ryan Weinandt are just the worst of the defensive losses.

There are enough football-playing students in Collegeville to populate two Division III programs, so we’re sure they’ll find replacements. It might even get them another MIAC title and a few playoff wins, but whatever they accomplish, we highly doubt it will be as impressive as it was in 2003.

• Okay, if not the Johnnies, can Mount Union take the title back?

Yes. We aren’t saying they definitely will, but are you going to stop the Purple Raiders from getting back to Salem? 

• Speaking of the Purple Raiders, Ohio Northern, John Carroll and Baldwin-Wallace have all given it the old college try. Who is going to challenge Mount Union for the OAC title this year?

The Polar Bears did it when they had 49ers running back Jamal Robertson, the Blue Streaks with quarterback Tom Arth and the Yellow Jackets with quarterback Dan Larlham. Despite the lack of a preseason all-American like those teams, Capital is the hot pick to make a run at dethroning Mount Union this season. With 21 wins in the past three seasons, including eight last year, the Crusaders are the next next-best in the OAC. Capital was pasted 35-7 in Alliance last season, but hosts the Purple Raiders Oct. 2.

• What changed since the end of last season?

Take a deep breath … or notes. The Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association is now the Liberty League and the Freedom Football Conference is no more. The winners of two New York-based leagues, the Liberty and Empire 8, will get automatic bids to the playoffs. That brings the number of Pool A bids to 21. Members of leagues without an automatic qualifier and 21 independents will fight for four Pool B bids, and three runners-up in AQ conferences (Pool C) will round out the 28-team field.

But that’s not all. Brockport State and Buffalo State will make the ACFC a six-team conference, while former Freedom members Springfield and Norwich give the Empire 8 seven football-playing schools. The rest of the Freedom disbanded like so: Kings Point, Coast Guard and Worcester Polytech join the Liberty, Western Connecticut plays in the NJAC and Plymouth State is independent. Chowan is out of the USAC. The MIAA adds provisional D-III member Tri-State to become an eight-team league, and I think that covers it.

Non-medical redshirts were eliminated by a vote in January, basically meaning any athlete that plays or practices after the first game will have used a season of eligibility. The change may affect the ASC, NWC and WIAC the most.

Also, North Carolina Wesleyan will play its first game in history, at Shenandoah, Sept. 4.

• What’s going to change after this season?
The playoffs expand from 28 to 32 in 2005. Some bids will still be set aside for Pool B, but Pool C will essentially get all of the new bids. In a season like last year, when 9-1 Hampden-Sydney and Mary Hardin-Baylor missed the playoffs while five of the six Pool B teams also had at least one loss, and two (Ithaca and RPI) fell on the final weekend, the new system would help all of those teams be evaluated equally.

With the playoffs centered around automatic qualifiers, expect conference with less than seven members to move toward an AQ. The Northwest Conference expects football-only applications from Menlo and Colorado College, even though they would have to wait two years after making the move to be awarded an AQ.

Also, Becker College, a small school near Worcester, Mass., will be adding football, presumably bringing the number of Division III teams to 232. Several Minnesota teams are at least a few years away from making the UMAC an Division III conference with an AQ.

A vote to allow as many as five weeks of spring practice in Division III (with a ball) could take place this winter as well.

• Which of last year’s surprise teams is a good bet for an encore?

Simpson and RPI lose star quarterbacks, while East Texas Baptist has questions and must get by preseason ASC favorite Mary Hardin-Baylor and star-studded Hardin-Simmons.

Delaware Valley, on the other hand, lost just eight seniors from a roster of more than 100 players. Though the Aggies won't catch anyone off-guard this year, the attitude change implemented by former Florida quarterback and coach G.A. Mangus means success is now expected in Doylestown, Pa. Their first MAC title since 1982 is not out of the question.

Check for North Central, with 13 wins in two seasons under John Thorne, to take a step forward, CCIW games at Wheaton and Millikin might keep them from winning a conference title.

Monmouth chalked up its second eight-win season in three years in 2003, and comes into the fall with seven consecutive wins. The Midwest Conference belongs to St. Norbert, which has lost two conference games in five seasons. If the Scots can make it three, at home on Sept. 18, 2004 could be their encore.

• Which teams could win seven or eight games again and miss the playoffs?

Trinity (Conn.), or whoever wins the NESCAC, is a best bet, because conference presidents prohibit participation in the NCAA playoffs.

Seven wins would get a team to a bowl in a Division I-A-type system, but in Division III's AQ age, even eight isn't enough. Twenty-two teams won seven regular-season games last year and were not in the 28-team field, and 15 won eight and missed the show. Some conferences, like the NCAC and the CCIW, had three teams win at least seven and miss out. In the MAC, Delaware Valley, Albright, Wilkes and King's each won seven and finished behind Lycoming last year.

Of the 15 teams that won eight games but no championship, all but Trinity (Conn.) and St. John Fisher finished behind an automatic qualifier.

The moral of the story: Win your conference.

• Does a 9-1 record guarantee the playoffs?

Ask the 2003 Hampden-Sydney, Johns Hopkins and Mary Hardin-Baylor squads.

To avoid their fate, teams in tough conferences need a schedule that accomodates a loss that could prevent an automatic bid. For instance, Hardin-Simmons went 8-2 and missed the ASC bid in 2003 by a points-based tiebreaker, having gone 1-1 against the other co-champions. Had they won their game at UW-Stout last year and finished 9-1, 8-1 in-region, the boost may have pushed them in ahead of Simpson, Bethel or Baldwin-Wallace. 

Since the Royals' loss came by three at St. John's while Baldwin-Wallace's blemish came at Mount Union, Simpson's schedule simply outranked that of the Tigers and Blue Jays. H-SC and JHU's hopes were finished the days they lost to Bridgewater and Muhlenberg, fair or not.

A 32-team field should help avoid those situations, but for this final year, count on one or more nine-game winners having a legitimate gripe about going home for Thanksgiving. Ithaca lost two games last year, made it in Pool B, and made the most of the opportunity by going to the national quarterfinals.

• The nine-member IIAC had only two teams with losing records last year, and 0-10 Dubuque was the only team to lose an out-of-conference game. Does that mean it’s the strongest conference?

We'd say the OAC is the best conference, but it's top-heavy. The MIAC is too. The WIAC is often the most well-balanced, though the MAC could make a good argument for that based on its top eight or so teams. The CCIW is up there too, and IIAC teams scheduled top teams from other conferences and beat them.

We won't say it's the best conference, but when Wartburg plays Millikin, Central faces Augustana and Simpson plays Illinois Wesleyan in Week 1, we can be sure the CCIW teams will give the IIAC's best a good test.

• Which teams are totally flying under the radar?

Here are five that are overshadowed:

1. Wheaton, Millikin and North Central are CCIW teams to watch, but why forget about longtime power Augustana? The Vikings were eight points from being unbeaten last season, and this year's schedule drops UW-Stevens Point in favor of former Division III member Upper Iowa. Augustana plays six road games this year, but six is a familiar number -- it's how many CCIW games they've won in each of the past three seasons.

2. It's easy to forget about Oregon. Of the four Division III football teams in the state, Linfield immediately comes to mind. But coaches in the Northwest Conference always seem worried about Willamette, even when the Bearcats are out of the playoff picture. Last year's seven wins don't tell the whole story. The losses were to Mary Hardin-Baylor, Menlo and Linfield, which combined to go 25-4 in the regular season. In 2004, aside from a road trip to Texas for another game against the Crusaders, Willamette will leave the state just once — on a three-hour jaunt to Pacific Lutheran. Toss in returning NWC defensive player of the year Nate Matlock, and the recipe for a big year is in hand.

3. There aren't many easy wins in the MAC, so a 217-pound star back goes a long way toward them. Wilkes has just that in preseason all-American Brett Trichilo. The Colonels get lost in the talk about Lycoming, King's, Delaware Valley and even Albright. If they can cobble together a defense that resembles the 2000 unit, paired with the big man in the backfield, this will be Wilkes' year to shine.

4. With more than a dozen schools in New York state, we rarely mention St. John Fisher. Of course, that's because it won five games from 1999-2001. But eight wins in 2003 put Pittsford on the map, at least in the eyes of Empire 8 opponents. The Cardinals play four of their first five at home, but out-of-conference games against King's and Brockport add to an already challenging duo of E8 contenders, Ithaca and Springfield. If SJF can build some confidence by playing in front of a home crowd early, it might just spur a mid-season run.

5. While the SCAC's Rose-Hulman made strides last season, Centre won eight games. A loss at Washington and Lee and 52-7 defeat against Trinity (Texas) may speak to the relative strength of the rest of the conference, but the Colonels return 15 starters from a team that went 4-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less. So was Centre, which hosts the Tigers and Generals this season, just fortunate in the fourth quarter, or is the team cool in the clutch?

10 questions the games will have to answer 
• Will Bridgewater be the last Virginia team standing?

It’s by no means a sure bet. Playoff participant Christopher Newport won its regular-season meeting with the Eagles last season, while it took a late penalty and touchdown to win at Hampden-Sydney, which finished 9-1 and out of the playoffs. Both of those teams should challenge for playoff bids in 2004, as well as in their meetings with the Eagles.

Bridgewater lost its best player, linebacker Jermaine Taylor, but remains perhaps Division III’s fastest team. They do return starting quarterback Brandon Wakefield, and the four classes in the program were each recruited following a season in which the Eagles won at least 10 games. Bridgewater also hosts the Tigers while playing the Captains at a neutral site, though it is likely to be rather partisan.

This, of course, is all assuming someone like Shenandoah doesn’t come along and pry the USAC title from Christopher Newport’s grip.

In all, it would take a supreme effort from the Eagles to remain where they have been the past. Returning key cogs from the nation’s No. 2 offense in 2004 and nine defensive starters lead us to believe the last team standing will be Hampden-Sydney, 17-3 over the past two seasons. Bridgewater is the only Division III team to defeat the Tigers in that span.

• Are Rowan’s days as a dominant program done?

There have been off years in Glassboro before, so we’ll give them this year to prove K.C. Keeler didn’t take the Profs’ magic with him to Delaware. But with Montclair State (eight starters back on each side of the ball) looming in their own conference, being dominant is a tall order.

One thing you can always say about Rowan – they’ll play anyone. With No. 16 Christopher Newport, No. 22 Brockport State and Division IIs Southern Connecticut and Virginia State making up the non-NJAC schedule, if they make the playoffs, they’ll be properly tested.

• Is Linfield’s new quarterback any good, and if so, is that enough to get the Wildcats to Salem?

It’s not just enough. A Stagg Bowl trip pretty much rests on the performance of new QB Brett Elliott, a Utah transfer who started eight games in Division I-A. That alone should tell us something, but we’ve seen highly-touted players transfer into Division III and flop. With receiver George Carter and end Kelley Bertrand back to anchor each side of the ball, Linfield is quite capable of bringing a title back to the Pacific Northwest. After early-season tests at UW-Stevens Point and Pacific Lutheran, the Wildcats should put it on cruise control until the season-ender with Willamette.

Then again, getting out of the west playoff bracket is a task in itself, with perhaps an Iowa, Minnesota or Wisconsin team to go through. Last year the Wildcats were one of four unbeatens in the bracket, struggling to get by SCIAC champ Redlands and IIAC champ Wartburg before running into champion St. John’s in the regional finals.

• Are the Texas teams overrated?

Based on their playoff performance alone, Trinity excluded, we'd have to say yes. Each year an ASC team starts off highly ranked, only to flop when it counts. At the same time, the ASC is a young conference whose top teams have scheduled good opponents. UMHB won at Willamette in 2003, and Hardin-Simmons was far from overmatched in a loss at UW-Stout. Howard Payne didn't represent the league well in a 42-0 drubbing at UW-La Crosse, but there's a common feeling centered somewhere in Ohio that the Lone Star state is living off its name, not its game. Perhaps its a case of state teams beating each other up, but aside from Trinity's 2002 Stagg Bowl run, there hasn't been a lot to brag about in November and December.

• Will any conference race be closer than the ASC was last season?

No race may ever be that close again, when two points separated three teams in a head-to-head-to-head tiebreaker. But this year’s MAC, CCIW and ASC races could again provoke nail-biting across swaths of the nation. The WIAC is always a mess, while the IIAC could go several ways this year. Two-team races to watch are in the Empire 8, where Springfield and Ithaca put more than pride on the line, in the ODAC, where Hampden-Sydney and Bridgewater should again be the cream of the crop, and in the MIAC, where Bethel aims to unseat the national champions.

• Which of the 21 AQ leagues could send two teams to the playoffs?

The OAC is always a safe bet, since coming in second behind Mount Union is a lot like coming in first. But a little research reveals some deeper trends.

In the five years that Division III has sent 28 teams to the playoffs, two teams from one conference have qualified 20 times. Since that's the very definition of a Pool C bid, 15 of those occurrences belong to AQ leagues.

The OAC has qualified two teams in each year but 2001. The MIAC's Bethel has gone in the same year as St. John's three times (one year, Bethel was the champ and St. John’s the runner-up). The IIAC has done it three times as well, with Wartburg involved each time. Montclair State and Rowan did it twice, once in Pool B and once when the NJAC had an AQ. The WIAC, ODAC, NCAC and ASC have each sent two teams once.

Among Pool B conferences, the NWC sent two teams from 1999-2001, while Union and Hobart both represented the UCAA in 2000.

• Will all eight teams that went winless last year break the drought this year?

Bowdoin, Dubuque, Framingham State, Plymouth State, Puget Sound and Sul Ross State are all aiming for their first win in at least 22 months, while Husson and Huntingdon are looking for the first victory in program history.

Only Puget Sound changed its coaching staff. Dubuque brings back 22 starters, but it's hard to tell what that means if the Spartans didn't win a game.

Here's a look at how long each team's losing streak is, when its last win came, and when it might break the streak this season.

20: Plymouth State's last win was a 43-14 rout against WPI to finish off a 7-3 season in 2001. They open with Division II St. Anselm, 3-7 last year, but hosting Husson Oct. 23 is probably the best bet for a victory.

20: Sul Ross State, like the Panthers, last won on Nov. 10, 2001, the final weekend two seasons ago. The Lobos lost twice by a point last September, and once by two later in the year. They're likely to steal one at any time against the lower half of the ASC.

19: Dubuque last beat Martin Luther on Sept. 14, 2002. A trip to Blackburn (2-8 last year) on Sept. 11 might be their best look, as the IIAC is rather unforgiving.

14: Framingham State beat Massachusetts Maritime on Oct. 5, 2002. It doesn't look good for the Rams. Outscored 308-34 last season, they lost 48-0 to 1-9 Maine Maritime. In the third year under Mark Sullivan, the Rams will have to make strides and catch someone off guard to snap their skid.

12: Bowdoin's streak is shorter than most because they play only eight games a year, but it goes back to a win against Hamilton Oct. 12, 2002. The Polar Bears will try rival Bates, Hamilton or another lower-echelon NESCAC team for a win.

11: Puget Sound last beat Menlo, 21-20 on Nov. 2, 2002, and are 1-26 in their past three seasons, including 0-15 in the Northwest Conference. With new coach Phillip Willenbrock calling the shots, the best chance to snap the streak may arrive as La Verne, 1-8 last season, does. The Leopards' trip would be a 17-hour, 1,130-mile drive from Southern California to Tacoma.

7: Huntingdon: This is just a guess, but hosting Southwest Assemblies of God on Oct. 9 looks like a winner.

6: Husson: The Braves didn't exactly assemble a juggernaut schedule, but it might be what a second-year team needs to gain some steam. No one on the schedule won more than four games last season, and including NAIA Southern Virginia, Husson's opponents were a combined 15-75 (a .166 winning percentage).

• Fourteen teams won just one game last year. Which one will win the most games this year?

Of Whittier, William Paterson, Utica, Millsaps, Maine Maritime, La Verne, Lebanon Valley, Kean, Hiram, Heidelberg, FDU-Florham, Eureka, Bethany and Newport News, several teams have or had new coaches, and will come into 2004 believing they can win. We like William Paterson, which starts the season with four home games. With four very winnable games on the schedule, a couple of upsets could push the Pioneers past .500.

• The East hasn't sent a team to the Stagg Bowl since Rowan in 1999. Can it this year?

Absolutely. It just takes a team playing well in the playoffs, and perhaps a stroke of luck. The brackets aren't officially labeled North, South, East and West, but with the emphasis on short road trips to make the playoffs cost as little as possible, they usually shake out that way. It would work best for an East team to draw a semifinal opponent from the South, probably the next weakest region overall. But a team -- perhaps Springfield, Ithaca, Brockport or Montclair State this season -- with its top players healthy late in the season can ride a determined effort to Salem, even if home is in the East region.

• Which four teams will play Dec. 11 for a chance to go to Salem?

Before Around the Nation goes out on a limb with its final four pick, promise us you'll share yours in the feedback section below. We'll share our non-scientific results in a future ATN.

Here are our four (and yes, we will bring this up again in December when someone proves us right or wrong).

From the North, a Mount Union team without a title is like a woman scorned. The Purple Raiders might very well be furious and determined to bring the title back to Alliance. Even though we've hardly heard of any of their players, the Purple Raiders have a JV that might make the playoffs. Quarterback Zac Bruney has the job to himself this year, and we'll take Mount Union over the CCIW champion in the round of eight.

The West will be stacked again — the IIAC champ, the MIAC champ and the WIAC champ often end up here. The Northwest champion most certainly will. If that team is Linfield this year, and we think it will be, we like them to be one of the last four standing, even if they struggle with the SCIAC champion in the first round again. Most of last year's team, which lost only once, to champion St. John's, is back and a year wiser.

The South rarely puts forth a sure thing. We're certain Hampden-Sydney will have plenty of offense, and with nine starters back on D, they need to summon the power to stop teams in clutch situations. If the Tigers earn the AQ and/or the bye, they'll have a significant home field advantage over opponents from Texas or Pennsylvania. It's very likely that the ASC and MAC representatives will enter the playoffs beat up from conference play, while it's the Tigers turn to catch a break against Bridgewater. This is no easy region to pick — the Eagles were the last South team playing last year, and they knocked down an end zone pass to outlast PAC champ Waynesburg, avenged a regular-season loss to Christopher Newport in the second round and beat Lycoming 13-9.

In the East, you never know what you're going to get from the NJAC -- championship-caliber contenders or early exits. This year, though, should be the Empire 8's turn to rule. Ithaca was young last season and won two playoff games, while top-seeded Springfield was upset by quarterfinalist RPI in its first game. If the Bombers and Pride are the class of the east, we'll take Springfield in the quarterfinals, based on their 29-point win over Ithaca last season.

Poll positions
In observing the differences between preseason rankings of some teams (Rowan ranged from No. 4 to also receving votes), I almost got ambitious and got in contact with Street & Smith's, Sports Illustrated, Lindy's andDon Hansen's Football Gazette to see how much work went into their preseason rankings, and how it was done.

But even when you're sent 34 pages of notes on 60-some-odd teams as D3football.com preseason pollsters were, it can still be an inexact science. With 231 schools, you could probably rank 50 teams and still have relevance.

In any case, perusing the rankings and poll, here are a few oddities:

• Rowan seemed to be living off reputation for Street & Smith's, Don Hansen and SI, who had the Profs 4, 6 and 8, respectively. Lindy's and D3football.com want to see something first, ranking them 23rd and what would be 29th, respectively.

• We wonder if SI picked UW-La Crosse No. 1 just to be different. They made the top four in all four sets of rankings and were one of four teams to receive a No. 1 vote in our poll. It'd be nice to believe this is the year they leapfrog Mount Union, but I haven't seen anything yet which would make me predict that.

• Linfield, on the other hand, was within a touchdown of St. John's in last season's playoffs. The Wildcats were a consensus top three team, except in Street & Smith's, where they were fifth.

• Wittenberg and Trinity (Texas) also seemed to benefit from tradition. The Tigers from Ohio found themselves as high as No. 7, but 24th in our poll. The SCAC's Tigers were ranked 10th by SI, 11th by D3football.com and unranked by Lindy's.

• What to make of Hampden-Sydney's collapse against Bridgewater last season? SI thought it warranted them a No. 6 ranking.

• Brockport State, No. 9 (Street & Smith's) or No. 25 (Don Hansen)?

• The most curious ranking? No. 23 Washington U., by Lindy's. Maybe you get props just for opening up with Mount Union.

Most of these sources won't rank Division III teams again this season, but the American Football Coaches Association, which does not do a preseason poll, will, in case you aren't happy with where your team shakes out in our poll.

Five games to watch on Sept. 4
No. 24 Wittenberg at No. 12 Capital: We always thought the NCAC’s dominant team should play the OAC’s dominant team. We didn’t exactly get our wish, but since the Tigers haven’t won the NCAC since 2001 and Capital is on the rise in the OAC, this should be a game. 

Millikin at No. 6 Wartburg: We'll find out right away if the Big Blue are going to have a team that can challenge Wheaton and Augustana when they take on the defending IIAC champion Knights. 

Rowan at No. 16 Christopher Newport: The Profs have no games to waste in the playoff chase, with just eight Division III opponents to impress the selection committee. The Captains, meanwhile, could solidify their national standing and win an opener for the first time in program history.

St. Norbert at UW-Whitewater: This is a meeting of two teams just outside the Top 25, though I personally voted for them both. The Midwest Confererence gets accused of ducking the WIAC schools, but this is a welcome departure. Whitewater's Perkins Stadium (capacity 13,500) is Division III's largest, and it's not across the street from DePere by any means.

King’s at St. John Fisher: We’ve got a feeling those outside the Northeast ought to get to know these teams. We love when teams jump right in with a challenge (NCAC champ Allegheny playing 2003 playoff team Baldwin-Wallace is another good example). Neither the Monarchs or Cardinals are a favorite in their conference, but neither should be ignored. One will start off on the right foot.

Also keep an eye on: No. 1 Mount Union at Washington U., UW-Eau Claire at No. 2 St. John’s, No. 7 Bridgewater at McDaniel, No. 22 Brockport State at Cortland State, No. 23 Baldwin-Wallace at Allegheny, Augustana at Central, Westminster (Pa.) at Ohio Northern.

Who are those guys? 
No. 10 Montclair State is one of four Division IIIs opening up with a Division I-AA program. The Redhawks will travel to Iona, while Buffalo State will play Robert Morris, Albion hosts Butler and Wisconsin Lutheran takes on Valparaiso.

Mass-Dartmouth will play host to Division II Merrimack, while Plymouth State faces St. Anselm, Concordia-Moorhead tackles Moorhead State, Willamette gets a visit from Western Oregon and East Texas Baptist plays the Southern Arkansas Muleriders.

Division IIIs playing NAIA teams in Week 1: Principia takes on Southwest Assemblies of God, Lakeland faces Northwestern (Minn.), Minnesota-Morris hosts Mayville State (N.D.), Anderson plays Olivet Nazarene and Howard Payne goes up against Southern Nazarene.

We always need your feedback 
Sharing some of your thoughts has always been a big part of Around the Nation, and that will continue in 2004. Right off the bat we have something we want to ask, and some reactions to the 2003 Year in Review we'd like to share.

When you do write, always include your full name and school or town you're writing to us from. You can use our feedback form to streamline the process.

Before I get on with things, let me give a long overdue shout out to the first guy that ever wrote me, when I was the Mid-Atlantic columnist in 2000.

Steve Kirk, Susquehanna Class of '96, if you're still out there, I should send you a better-late-than-never response. Since then, I've learned to be more considerate and respond to nearly everyone, but at times the amount of e-mail can be overwhelming.

In any case, we took a shot at Blackburn quarterback Tom Fox in the year-in-review. Unlike other folks who dislike what they read on the site, Tom was all class-act in his response. We share:

"Keith, 

Thank you for mentioning me in your January 6, 2004 column as the most overhyped story for Division III football during 2003. I too, was more than a little suprised at the attention that my story attracted, and I am of the opinion that there were more interesting and certainly more inspiring stories across all levels of college football this past season. I played the 2001 and 2002 seasons at Blackburn (with even more meager stats than 2003) and I never once considered my story to be anything out of the ordinary. I'm not really sure how or why my story first attracted the attention of the media, but when it did, I did my best to articulate what my school, teammates, coaches, and Divison III football meant to me, and what it had done for me. Without Division III, I never would have had a chance to fulfill a dream. 

The only story I ever tried to hype was the experience itself. The fact that I could come to Blackburn and have teammates that were so accepting despite a 15-year age difference was, at least to me, incredible. The fact that I never played high school football, and that our coaching staff prepared me well enough to see action, speaks volumes about their knowledge and dedication. The fact that we had 50 young men, and one slightly older one, from diverse backgrounds that would probably only be brought together through football, says something about the game (to be sure, Blackburn's situation is not unique, this is repeated at colleges and universities all across the country). 

I tutor about eight teammates and the rewards that I feel when they achieve something that they did not think they could cannot be described. I think that I get a bigger rush out of seeing them do well than they do. The potential of the young men from all walks of life that play college football cannot possibly be overhyped. That is all I ever tried to portray about my experience at Blackburn, how fortunate I was, and am, to be a part of it."

• We also made a strong suggestion that some Division I-A AD in the Midwest have some guts and go after Larry Kehres. A counterpoint:
"I am writing to you in response to your article that mentions Larry Kehres moving out of DIII. What you may not know is that Coach Kehres has been offered jobs out of DIII more than once. Each time he declines ... Larry likes it in Alliance where his players are there to play football and not to get scholarships and big NFL deals. 
-- Eric Blinn, Mount Union

• If you're still with us in ATN's lengthy season-opener, you're die hard. It's time for some of you know-it-alls to stick your necks out. 

Which four teams will play Dec. 11 for a chance to go to the Stagg Bowl? You can give us your four best teams, but don’t forget to factor in how playoff brackets might look. Rowan, Brockport and Ithaca aren’t all going to be in the final four. Send your picks to keith@d3football.com.