It’s a glorious undertaking thrust upon a national columnist at the start of each season, presumably to open himself up to as much e-criticism as possible. But nothing gets the season cracking like preseason picks.

You've seen the polls, so you already know who most of the favorites are. But which squads could come out of the shadows and roll right into the playoffs (excluding our friends in the NESCAC, of course)?

Keep an eye on Around The Nation's dark horses:

You'll excuse us if we don't act surprised if UW-Whitewater runs through the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and into the playoffs, right?

This is a team that went out of its way to schedule two-time defending champion Mount Union for its opener, then picked up national semifinalist St. John's for Week 3 when Macalester left MIAC teams with open dates. In between, they've scheduled a 1,863-mile road trip to Eastern Oregon. And that's all before the Warhawks start conference play, in which they've gone 5-9 in the past two seasons. Three of those losses came by one point, two more by a field goal and another by a touchdown in overtime.

Returning eight starters, including a junior running back who has already piled up 2,226 rushing yards, from an offense that averaged more than 30 points, leads us to believe that this may be the year that the Warhawks get over the hump.

Of course, we agree with the WIAC's preseason pollsters, as Stout (ranked 14th in our top 25), Eau Claire (22nd) and Stevens Point are probably the teams to beat. But when conference play gets going in this football-frenzied Division III hotbed, not even Miss Cleo could predict the outcome.

Our WIAC dark horse does have a few advantages in its opener. One, Mount Union will visit Perkins Stadium, one of the largest in Division III with a 13,500 capacity. Two, Whitewater head coach Bob Berezowitz, entering his 18th season as head coach, isn't waging the entire season on whether his is the best purple-wearing team on Saturday afternoon. "We're just preparing for our first ballgame," he said, as the approach of the season's kickoff gave him butterflies in his stomach.

Three, the Warhawks staff won't select its starting quarterback until the night before kickoff. Senior Randy Borgardt and junior Reggie Stauss split time last season, posting near-identical statistics. Each played in all 10 games and passed for just under 1,000 yards, completing about 50% of his passes.

"That's how nip-and-tuck they are," said Berezowitz, who said he'll stick with one starter this year.

Running backs Chad Wurth and Jesse Klemp will make things easier on whomever gets the job. Wurth went over 1,000 yards both as a freshman and sophomore. Klemp, the fullback, is a classmate.

But it might not be the quarterbacks, running backs, guard Jeff Kraus, a healthy Dan Flanagan at defensive end or a new defensive coordinator that will make the difference this season.

It will be the Warhawks' clutch performance.

To improve on its 10-10 record of the past two seasons, Whitewater will have to get better in close games. The Warhawks are 3-6 in games decided by a touchdown or less, including gut-wrenching losses to Platteville (27-26) and Stout (28-25) on both ends of a four-game slide last October and November.

"It'll be the little things that make the difference," Berezowitz said. "In close games, you've got to put the ball through the uprights. And in games that close, you shouldn't be giving up that many points. Good teams win with good defense."

I'm a huge proponent of scheduling good out-of-conference competition, so seeing Whitewater's schedule is a delight. Even with losses to the top two teams in most Division III polls (Mount Union and St. John's), the Warhawks might still be primed for what some regard as a brutal conference slate.

While Berezowitz says he didn't necessarily go looking for trouble on the schedule, he does believe you have to play the best teams to be the best. Whitewater signed a home-and-home contract with the Purple Raiders last December. Then, as Macalaster's departure from the MIAC left the other conference schools with scattered open dates, the WIAC adjusted its schedule to fill them. 

Berezowitz says this partially came because WIAC teams have trouble getting teams to schedule them. "Nobody in the state of Wisconsin, the private schools, will schedule us," he said.

Whitewater got itself a trip to St. John's, where the Johnnies will play just their second home game on artificial turf. But it's the trip to LaGrande, Ore. — in the upper eastern corner of the state, about 200 miles south of Pullman, Wash. — that might go down as the Warhawks' most memorable road trip.

Berezowitz says road trips are nothing new, especially for the players who were on the roster when Whitewater made the trip to Hardin-Simmons of Abilene, Texas, two seasons ago.

The team stayed on the Saturday night following the 37-8 loss, and saw the grassy knoll and Kennedy Memorial in Dallas.

"[The road trips] have always been a great educational experience," Berezowitz said. "[The kids] learned more that day than they would have from any textbook in the Friday of class they missed."

With a team frequently playing in close games and the nation's most challenging schedule, this season for UW-Whitewater promises to be an experience as well.

Here's a look at some of the other conferences in Division III:

West Region
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Favorite: St. John's
Dark horse: St. Thomas
Our view: Hard to call a team that averages seven wins per year a dark horse, but in the shadow of two-time champion Bethel and St. John's, a team at its best come playoff time, a run by the 20th-ranked Tommies might actually be a surprise to some.

Northwest Conference
Favorite: Linfield
Dark horse: Willamette
Our view: In a competitive conference that had three-way champions (Linfield, PLU and Whitworth) last year, it's easy to forget about perennial contender Willamette. It's darn-near impossible to go against PLU, especially with the talent they have back, but 18 Linfield starters back ticked by not going to the playoffs after a 7-2 season is hard to ignore.

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Favorite: Central
Dark horse: Cornell
Our view: The Dutch replaced 16 starters last year and won a competitive conference, so no reason why they can't win again with just nine starters back. The Top 25 poll says it's Wartburg's year, and Buena Vista was in the hunt late last season, but we wonder if Cornell can repeat the magic of last year.

Midwest Conference
Favorite: St. Norbert
Dark horse: Monmouth
Our view: The Fighting Scots went from 3-7 to 8-2 in 2001 and might be the team to unseat perennial contenders St. Norbert and Ripon, the two teams that beat the Scots last year. Ripon lost a ton, and it's hard to best against the three-time champion Green Knights. 

South Region
American Southwest Conference
Favorite: Hardin-Simmons
Dark horse: Mississippi College
Our view: You have to look at Hardin-Simmons, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Howard Payne as championship contenders, but the Choctaws went 7-3 last year, coach Johnny Mills' first. Mississippi College has senior quarterback Peyton Perrett back to guide the attack. Of course, Hardin-Simmons has QB Dustin Proctor, who posted a 31-4 TD-to-interception ratio last season.

Centennial Conference
Favorite: McDaniel (formerly known as Western Maryland)
Dark horse: Johns Hopkins
Our view: This may be the year for Muhlenberg or a steadily improving Hopkins to knock the five-time CC champions (and playoff representative) from their perch. The Blue Jays hope to build on their 21-14 upset of the Green Terror in last year's season finale.

Dixie Conference
Favorite: Christopher Newport
Dark horse: Shenandoah
Our view: The new programs may have us looking past a traditionally good Ferrum program, but with reason. The Captains defeated the Panthers and represented the Dixie in the playoffs in their first year of existence. This year, the first five games are against three teams that beat them last year in Salisbury, Randolph-Macon and Shenandoah, plus Bridgewater and Rowan. The Hornets are a coach's dream, returning each and every starter. Keep an eye on them.

Middle Atlantic Conference
Favorite: King's
Dark horse: Moravian
Our view: Could this be run-happy King's chance to pass Lycoming and Widener, which together have won or shared a MAC title in every year since 1993? The Greyhounds have a third-year starter in QB Charlie Bowden and 18 other starters back.

Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Favorite: Bridgewater
Dark horse: Hampden-Sydney
Our view: Last year's Stagg Bowl participants have talented replacements for the players it lost — the Eagles are a reloading team. For the Tigers, it's the third year at the helm for head coach Marty Favret, the architect of the offensive attack that took Catholic to the playoffs three consecutive years. His Tigers should be ready to make a run.

Presidents Athletic Conference
Favorite: Washington & Jefferson
Dark horse: Westminster (Pa.)
Our view: The seventh-ranked Presidents have a ton of talent. The Titans are happy to finally be eligible for the PAC title after coming up from Division II.

Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
Favorite: Trinity
Dark horse: DePauw
Our view: For years, it's been Trinity and then the rest of the pack in this conference. The Tigers' only losses last season came to out-of-conference teams. DePauw won four of its last six, and returns 17 starters and what should be an explosive offense.

East Region
Freedom Football Conference
Favorite: Western Connecticut
Dark horse: Plymouth State
Our view: The Panthers were co-champions last year, but we'll keep them as dark horse because all anyone outside the conference can think of is Western Connecticut.

New England Football Conference
Favorite: Westfield State
Dark horse: Bridgewater State
Our view: Josue Zamora is back to lead the Westfield State defense — they'll contend. Only a 34-30 loss to the Owls kept Worcester State from a shot at the playoffs. Curry, 9-2 last year, lost a lot. Bridgewater State, the 1999 and 2000 conference champions, may make its way back to the top following a 5-4 season.

New England Small College Athletic Conference
Favorite: Williams
Dark horse: Tufts
Our view: It may come to another battle of undefeated Amherst and Williams teams this November, but the question in the NESCAC is can the Jumbos keep it up after a surprising 6-2 campaign.

New Jersey Athletic Conference
Favorite: Rowan
Dark horse: Cortland State
Our view: Tony Racioppi (3,684 yards, 47 TDs last year) will make the adjustment to running the Profs easier for new head coach Jay Accorsi. We know Montclair State will challenge for the title, but will Cortland or The College of New Jersey make it interesting?

North Region
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin 
Favorite: Augustana
Dark horse: Carthage
Our view: The Redmen, 20-18 over the past four seasons, return most of their offensive talent. They'll need it to battle Augustana, Milikin and Illinois Wesleyan for the CCIW title.

Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
Favorite: Anderson
Dark horse: Hanover
Our view: Last year's champ Defiance and surprise Anderson may slug it out like they did last season, with Bluffton in the hunt, but the Panthers were 20-2 in conference play from 1998-2000 before slipping to 5-5, 4-2 last season. Hanover faces playoff participants Thomas More, Defiance and Washington & Jefferson, but its players are used to winning and could get back to form this season.

Illini-Badger Conference
Favorite: MacMurray
Dark horse: Benedictine
Our view: MacMurray and Aurora went to the wire last season, and Concordia (Wis.) was an offensive machine. Benedictine led the IBC in total defense in Mike Murray's first year as head coach, allowing just 72 rushing yards per game and a stingy 1.8 yards per carry. That's worth at least paying attention to. The Eagles lost five starters, but return preseason all-American defensive lineman Pat Ryan.

Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Favorite: Hope
Dark horse: Alma
Our view: The Scots return quarterback Steve Slowke, who passed for more than 3,000 yards last season, to make a run in the now seven-team MIAA. Albion should be in the hunt despite the loss of 29 seniors.

North Coast Athletic Conference
Favorite: Wittenberg
Dark horse: Wabash
Our view: The four-time champion Tigers are the class of the conference, and Ohio Wesleyan was the big surprise in 2001. But the Little Giants return 19 starters from a team that won its last seven games.

Ohio Athletic Conference
Favorite: Mount Union
Dark horse: Baldwin-Wallace
Our view: There's a pretty consistent pecking order here: Mount Union, Ohio Northern, John Carroll — all three are ranked in our top 15. Not that I believe the Purple Raiders can't be beaten, but I won't bet against them again until I see it done. The Yellow Jackets have played those three teams tough and are the last OAC team to beat Mount Union — in 1994.