|
| UW-Whitewater not only leads Division III's strongest conference but also has the conference's biggest signature win. (It also took part in the MIAC's biggest signature win as well.) Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com |
By Greg Thomas
D3sports.com
As the Division III football season reaches the quarter pole, non-conference play has all but concluded (with a nod to Hilbert’s tour of the NCAC and a certain Week 11 engagement in the Bronx), which means it’s time for Around The Nation to stew over those non-conference results from our first months’ worth of games and reorganize our ranking of Division III’s conferences.
Changes to this year’s rankings may be more subtle than we saw last year, but there will be some major moves down below (posting a 25-3 record as a conference will get a response, MIAA). We also saw some conferences bounce back well from disappointment 2021 seasons: I’m looking at you NJAC.
Last year at this point in the season, we had seven conferences that did not have teams without a win through four weeks of play. This year, that number has grown to eight! The CCC, E8, MIAA, NEWMAC, and WIAC repeated the feat. The MIAC, NJAC, and SAA are new the not-winless club this year.
Non-conference records are not exclusive to games against other D-III opponents, but only games recognized by the NCAA are included (i.e. no contests against club teams are counted). I've also not included non-conference results against conference opponents.
Without further ado, here is your conference re-rank!
1. Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2021 ATN ranking: 1
Non-conference record: 14-10
Signature win: UW-Whitewater 28, Mary Hardin-Baylor 24
The WIAC continues to be the premiere conference in Division III. Just when you may have thought that the WIAC was coming back to the pack following Whitewater’s Week 1 loss at St John’s, the Warhawks bounce back and defeat the defending national champions one week later. UW-La Crosse also went over to Detroit and beat Division II Wayne State for good measure. Four teams from the WIAC are ranked in the top 17 as of the publication of these rankings and the team WIAC’s media and coaches picked to finish seventh in the league, gave the MIAA’s favorite all they could handle. The depth of quality in this conference remains unrivaled, and the WIAC’s position at the top of these rankings remains a very safe distance from the next tier of challengers.
|
| The St. John's win against UW-Whitewater was a significant result for more than one conference. Photo by Wade Gardner, d3photography.com |
2. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 2
Non-conference record: 14-4
Signature win: St. John's 24, UW-Whitewater 10
The MIAC has posted a stronger non-conference record this season than last, but their hold on the No. 2 spot is tenuous. Losses by Bethel and Gustavus Adolphus created an opening for conferences ranked just behind the MIAC, but challengers weren’t quite able to capitalize. The Johnnies are admittedly carrying a lot of the MIAC’s water this season with wins over Whitewater and UW-River Falls, but those are two very significant results. Carleton and Augsburg also remain undefeated. I’d like to see some more MIAC–ARC crossover to offset the multitude of results against the UMAC. Those are the kinds of games that can start to help the MIAC reel in the WIAC.
3. American Southwest Conference
2021 ranking: 3
Non-conference record: 5-11
Signature win: Mary Hardin-Baylor 62, Muhlenberg 13
The ASC had a golden opportunity to climb back to No. 2 with a very aggressive non-conference schedule. A win or two against the SAA from teams in the lower two-thirds of the conference, plus a certain game in Whitewater going a different way could have done it. Despite the poor win percentage in non-conference play, the ASC didn’t lose ground in this year’s rankings. The reigning national champion resides here, after all.
4. College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
2021 ranking: 4
Non-conference record: 6-4
Signature win: North Central 52, Wabash 12
While the signature win for the conference is North Central’s Week 2 win at Wabash, the signature result might be Wheaton’s 17-16 overtime loss to Trinity (Texas). With that result, Wheaton showed that they will remain among the division’s best teams despite massive graduation losses. Non-conference results are limited in the 10-team CCIW, but results have gone largely as expected.
|
| The Ohio Athletic Conference has Mount Union, but also doesn't have a lot of significant non-conference wins to show how strong the conference is before December. Photo by Thomas Nettleton, d3photography.com |
5. Ohio Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 5
Non-conference record: 6-4
Signature win: Heidelberg 31, Adrian 0
The OAC, while still quite formidable, is missing the second elite team that the conferences ranked ahead of them do. Mount Union looks poised to make a run at the 2022 national championship, but the losses to Mount St. Joseph, Alma, and Washington & Jefferson are the misses that keep the OAC from climbing back into the top four.
6. Centennial Conference
2021 ranking: 6
Non-conference record: 4-6
Signature win: Johns Hopkins 54, Case Western Reserve 14
Johns Hopkins is off to a strong start punctuated by its blowout win in Cleveland. Muhlenberg, the conference’s other national player in recent seasons, has stumbled to a 2-2 start. Susquehanna may finally be poised to make a run into the postseason in their final season in the Centennial Conference, while Ursinus has shown that they remain strong enough to challenge the league favorites.
7. Empire 8
2021 ranking: 9
Non-conference record: 18-7
Signature win: Utica 31, Union 24
The Empire 8 is our first position change in the 2021 rankings. The conference had a tremendous September, posting an 18-7 record, including a 9-4 record against the Liberty League. Utica’s win at Union highlights that list, other notable wins between these conferences include St. John Fisher’s 3-0 win over RPI, and Morrisville State’s 24-13 win over Hobart. We would be remiss to skip a mention of Cortland -- the Red Dragons look every bit as good as the team that completed an undefeated 2021 regular season.
8. Liberty League
2021 ranking: 7
Non-conference record: 14-11
Signature win: Ithaca 24, Brockport 0
The Liberty League produced a wild four-team race in 2021, however early returns suggest some of that depth has faded. RPI has struggled mightily offensively, while Hobart and Union have both already lost games out of conference play. The league’s depth appears to have eroded just slightly from 2021’s 19-6 nonconference record. Ithaca appears to be a clear favorite in the league, and the Liberty League’s signature result in 2022 very well may not materialize until Week 11’s Cortaca Jug game in Yankee Stadium.
9. Southern Athletic Association
2021 ranking: 8
Non-conference record: 15-9
Signature win: Trinity (Texas) 17, Wheaton (Ill.) 16 OT
The SAA has steadily climbed in these rankings over the last 10 years, peaking at No. 8 last year Trinity’s performance in the first round of the 2021 NCAA playoffs at Mary Hardin-Baylor coupled with their win over Wheaton in Week 2 crystallizes the Tigers as among the nation’s best teams. Last year’s other SAA playoff participant, Birmingham-Southern, dropped their nonconference rivalry game to Huntingdon, while Berry also lost to UW-Whitewater by an admirable, if slightly deceiving, 17-3 score. The SAA remains a strong league, if only a whisper behind the overall strength of last year’s edition.
10. Northwest Conference
2019 ranking: 13
Non-conference record: 12-6
Signature win: Linfield 41, Huntingdon 34
After a 2019 low point of No. 15, the Northwest Conference is climbing back up the rankings. Linfield has since avenged surprising losses in Southern California in that 2019 season to reach the quarterfinal round of the 2021 playoffs, including a win at St. John’s. Linfield’s win at Huntingdon this season looks better with each passing week. George Fox is off to an historically good start, highlighted by a 42-39 victory over Howard Payne.
11. Presidents' Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 10
Non-conference record: 9-9
Signature win: Carnegie Mellon 35, Whitworth 17
The nation’s longest active win streak resides in the PAC as Carnegie Mellon has won 11 consecutive games. The Tartans have also posted impressive wins over Whitworth and RPI. Washington & Jefferson also posted a strong win for the second straight year over John Carroll. Westminster (Pa.) just missed an opportunity to notch another great win for the PAC in their Week 1 loss to Delaware Valley. While the top half of this league is as tightly grouped as any, the bottom half of the league continues to struggle, which does act as an anchor on how high the conference can move up -- particularly in the absence of more top 25 or playoff wins.
12. American Rivers Conference
2021 ranking: 11
Non-conference record: 7-11
Signature win: Wartburg 27, UW-Stout 0
At the time these rankings are published, Wartburg will have allowed just seven points this season -- a perfunctory touchdown scored by Monmouth at about 1 a.m. local time in the fourth quarter of a game Wartburg was leading 34-0. The Knights appear to have taken the favorite’s mantle from Central. Central remains a very good team but are clearly not matching the lofty heights of the 2021 Dutch behind Gagliardi Trophy winning quarterback Blaine Hawkins. A couple of near misses from Dubuque (at Marietta) and Coe (at Hope) also contributed to the ARC’s slight dip this year.
13. Michigan Intercollegiate Conference
2021 ranking: 17
Non-conference record: 25-3
Signature win: Hope 38, Aurora 35
That’s not a typo -- the MIAA has flambéed their competition to the tune of 25 wins and three losses this season. The record is absurd- so why not higher for the MIAA? While we can recognize the achievement, we can’t ignore that the record has been built largely through competition with the neighboring HCAC -- a conference that has struggled for many years against non-HCAC competition. Other notable results from the MIAA include wins over Ohio Northern (Alma), 2021 playoff participant Rose-Hulman (Albion), and Centre (Trine). The MIAA’s previous highwater mark in ATN’s rankings has been 16. Playoff wins will be the requisite to continue to climb in future years.
14. Middle Atlantic Conference
2021 ranking: 14
Non-conference record: 11-7
Signature win: Stevenson 35, Salisbury 21
The MAC has been starving for a challenger to Delaware Valley for a long time now, and Stevenson may be the team to finally do it. The Mustangs raised eyebrows with their Week 2 win over NJAC favorite Salisbury and are undefeated heading in to this week’s showdown with the Aggies. The Aggies, have kept on doing their thing- dominating with their defense led by All-American Michael Nobile. Delaware Valley’s Week 1 win over Westminster (Pa.) is also a quality win over a team that could win their conference. Alvernia’s improvement is also noteworthy for the MAC, as is FDU-Florham winning both of their non-conference games.
15. New Jersey Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 16
Non-conference record: 14-12
Signature win: Rowan 38, Springfield 35
We have to give a lot of credit to the NJAC for a return to form in 2022. No, this isn’t the NJAC that was once ranked in the top 5 of our conference rankings, but they have turned around an 8-16 nonconference record from 2021 to a winning record in 2022. Rowan and Montclair State have both had notably better starts this year. William Paterson is 3-1 for the first time since 2010.
|
| Safety Cade Jones and the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets are off to another unbeaten start. Photo by Matt Atherton, d3photography.com |
16. Old Dominion Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 12
Non-conference record: 15-9
Signature win: Shenandoah 34, Maryville (Tenn.) 29
The ODAC is a difficult conference to analyze. Randolph-Macon is very good (if our Top 25 is to be believed), but Shenandoah and Bridgewater also boast 3-0 records. Between the three, those perfect records have been amassed against teams that combine for 8-28 records. Historically, the ODAC has been one of the more volatile conferences in our rankings, which fits with the often-unpredictable nature of the conference.
17. Commonwealth Coast Conference
2021 ranking: 19
Non-conference record: 16-11
Signature win: Salve Regina 28, Rowan 24
The CCC’s nonconference record wasn’t quite as strong as it was in 2021, but the results are worthy of upward movement in the rankings just the same. Salve Regina has played the first month of the season without All-American running back Joey Mauriello and has still managed to play to a 3-1 record, including a win over Rowan. The conference has also scored a win against the Liberty League (Endicott beating St. Lawrence). The CCC has scheduled a nice mix of teams from New England that they are having consistent success against, and challenging themselves with games against traditionally stronger leagues like the E8, NJAC, and LL. The results are paying dividends as the CCC continues to improve.
18. Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 15
Non-conference record: 4-9
Signature win: Chapman 42, Pacific 21
The SCIAC’s 2019 peak feels like forever ago. For the second season in a row, the SCIAC has played a significant portion of their September games against other SCIAC teams in games that do not count in the conference standings. The SCIAC is just 4-9 in games not against one another, with nearly all of those games coming against NWC opponents. The conference’s highest profile teams Redlands and Chapman, have both fallen short in their best opportunities to score major wins for the conference against Linfield and George Fox, respectively.
19. North Coast Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 18
Non-conference record: 7-8
Signature win: DePauw 17, Rose-Hulman 14
The NCAC has managed just about a .500 nonconference schedule with a couple of games left to play against Hilbert. The loss of Allegheny to the PAC doesn’t change the calculus for the NCAC as much as the lack of competitive results against top competition. Wabash and Wittenberg took measures of themselves against North Central and Cortland, respectively, and came away with noncompetitive losses. To date, the conference’s best result is a 17-14 win by DePauw over a Rose-Hulman team that remains winless. The NCAC will need to turn those games against ranked teams into wins in order to halt their slide down our rankings.
|
| Ripon and St. Norbert are no longer in the same conference, so Ripon's win against St. Norbert is a barometer of the strength of the Midwest Conference vs. the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com |
20. Midwest Conference
2021 ranking: 21
Non-conference record: 5-4
Signature win: Ripon 13, St. Norbert 10
One year ago, Lake Forest broke Monmouth’s hold on the MWC crown and Chicago emerged as yet another contender. The MWC lacks the same kind of signature win that the Maroons’ win over WashU provided. Ripon is 3-0 for the first time since 2011 and may be a surprise fourth challenger for the MWC’s championship in Ron Ernst’s final season as head coach. All of the MWC’s non-conference wins come against teams from the NACC or UMAC. Breaking out of the 20s will require some better results against opponents from the neighboring ARC or CCIW conferences.
21. Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
2021 ranking: 22
Non-conference record: 8-9
Signature win: Benedictine 48, Loras 26
No Zimbleman, no problem. After getting stunned by Hope’s second half comeback in Week 1, Aurora has put the hammer down on Franklin and their two opening NACC opponents. Aurora continues to play like a team with the potential to win a round in the playoffs, with the right matchup. We might not have noticed Benedictine’s convincing win over Loras in Week 2, but Loras has since defeated Central which puts some added context on the quality of that result. St. Norbert struggled in their 2021 NACC debut, but the Green Knights are showing signs that they will add to the league’s depth with their 21-14 win over UW-Stevens Point.
22. New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
2019 ranking: 20
Non-conference record: 12-14
Signature win: WPI 10, Montclair State 0
The NEWMAC slides a couple of spots this year despite posting the same nonconference record as they did in 2021. Merchant Marine remains among the favorites in the conference, but are not quite the same without Ian Blankenship running their option offense. Catholic’s slide from 2021 has also been noticeable. The NEWMAC is just 4-6 against the CCC this year -- a mark they’ll need to improve on to get into the top 20 of our rankings.
|
| Methodist missed a chance to strike a blow for the ODAC when the Monarchs, who were 7-2, 7-1 in the USA South last year, lost to Shenandoah (7-3, 3-3 ODAC in 2021) earlier this season. Photo by Dave Hilbert, d3photography.com |
23. USA South Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 23
Non-conference record: 6-19
Signature win: Huntingdon 38, Birmingham Southern 35
The USA South improved significantly over last season’s 2-15 nonconference record, including Huntingdon’s Wesley Cup victory over Birmingham-Southern. The addition of Belhaven should bring long term dividends for a conference that has missed a true perennial challenger to Huntingdon. Maryville has scheduled aggressively with contests against SAA challengers Berry and Centre as well as undefeated Shenandoah in the crossover series with the ODAC, however was unable to notch at least one of those key wins for the conference. Brevard surprises at 0-3 -- the Tornados appeared to have plenty of momentum coming out of their 4-1 Spring 2020 season.
24. Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 25
Non-conference record: 6-12
Signature win: Framingham State 31, St. John Fisher 20
There may be a changing of the guard in the MASCAC as Framingham State’s 20-game conference win streak was snapped by Mass-Dartmouth in Week 3. The Corsairs may be the new favorites in the MASCAC, but they suffered a defeat to Anna Maria of the ECFC this season as well. Outside of Framingham’s win over St. John Fisher, the MASCAC has not fared well in their opportunities against teams from the stronger conferences in Regions 1 and 2.
25. Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 24
Non-conference record: 4-20
Signature win: Mt. St. Joseph 33, Hope 28
Mount St. Joseph has been the story in the HCAC this year behind a dynamic offense led by Josh Taylor and Cornell Beachem, Jr. Outside of MSJ’s three wins, the conference only has a Manchester win over North Park in its portfolio. Defending champion Rose-Hulman is winless to start the year, losing their three opening games to teams that have not yet lost in 2022. There has been significant crossover with the MIAA, which we know the MIAA dominated.
26. Eastern Collegiate Football Conference
2021 ranking: 26
Non-conference record: 8-18
Signature win: Anna Maria 63, Mass-Dartmouth 48
Anna Maria’s signature win over Mass-Dartmouth is tempered somewhat by last week’s surprisingly lopsided loss to the Coast Guard Academy. Gallaudet has also notched a nice victory for their program against the University of New England. Keystone keeps improving and appears close to notching their program’s first win.
27. Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
2021 ranking: 27
Non-conference record: 3-25
Signature win: Greenville 40, Rockford 30
Greenville carries two of the UMAC’s three wins so far in 2022. Five teams in the UMAC enter conference play with 0-4 records. The UMAC’s schedule is predominantly MIAC-based, which makes sense geographically. While we wouldn’t expect better results against our No. 2 ranked conference, improvement in results against the NACC or MWC could pull the UMAC out of the 27th spot.
We don't rank the NESCAC, because conference members do not play outside of the conference, leaving no basis for comparison with the rest of Division III.
That's how ATN sees the conference landscape in 2022. Let us know what you think, respectfully, in the comments below!
