2015 Around the Nation columns

December 22, 2015 2015 Division III year in review This was a year full of surprises. Not only did we not see a Mount Union/UW-Whitewater Stagg Bowl, but there were a handful of significant upsets in the regular season that affected how the brackets would be aligned.

November 19, 2015 Playoff picks, surprises, disappointments Around the Nation has assembled a team of prognosticators for an annual look at who might surprise and disappoint us in the 32-team playoff.

November 12, 2015 Between these four and the playoffs, an archrival stands The final week of the regular season is full of great rivalry games and teams trying to clinch playoff berths. For Salisbury, Cortland, DePauw and Wabash, it's both.

November 8, 2015 Snap Judgments: Muddying up the playoff picture Yes, this was an actual Division III game from Saturday, with playoff implications. How did the D-III postseason get blitzed in Week 10? Ryan Tipps has more in Snap Judgments.

November 5, 2015 Two-sport stars not ready to trade gridiron for court Some of the hardiest of two-sport athletes in Division III play both football and basketball. The practice seasons overlap by at least four weeks, and the hoops season starts the day before the football regular season ends.

November 1, 2015 Snap judgments: Potent potential for Pool C A couple of key losses this season have meant that some traditionally powerful teams are hoping to get into the Division III football playoffs as an at-large team, having fallen into the small group of bids known as Pool C.

October 29, 2015 Clash of the Texas titans It’s the first time since 2004 that Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons have met so late in the season and still been undefeated. Ryan Tipps looks at the teams in Around the Nation.

October 25, 2015 Snap judgments: Pools and conferences shaping up This was certainly the kind of weekend that we needed to separate out some of the challengers. Now the talk about conference champions and at-large bids can have some shape to it.

October 22, 2015 Linfield’s father figure Sam Riddle's experience and maturity at quarterback for the Wildcats may well have its source in his family life. That's where he, his wife and his 2-year-old son, his classes, and oh yes, football, keep Sam on the run from 6:30 a.m. to midnight.

October 18, 2015 Snap judgments: This week proves anything can happen A few key wins by underdogs made sure some conference races were thrown wide open. Haven't beaten your opponent since 2003? No problem. Facing a Top 10 team? No problem.

October 15, 2015 Re-ranking the conferences for 2015 Every August, Pat and Keith rank the conferences based on how they're expected to perform this season. And in October, Ryan Tipps takes the non-conference results and reconsiders them. Where does your conference stand?

October 11, 2015 Snap judgments: What we're learning An instant classic proved that UW-Oshkosh was a legitimate contender. But how have Ryan Tipps' teams to watch fared so far this season? Who are the new teams on the radar? Ryan sums them up in this week's Snap Judgments.

October 7, 2015 First-teamers square off It was quite a show in Danville, Ky., where Hendrix and Centre met, bringing a pair of all-conference quarterbacks.

October 4, 2015 Snap judgments: Wet, and still wild While a couple of games were cancelled and another was postponed, many games got played in various stages of wet conditions across the country, including the one Ryan Tipps was at on Saturday.

October 1, 2015 Starters in the making Waiting is always going to be difficult. Some players sit for years behind a starter, preparing for their opportunity to lead their team on game day. If you don't break into the starting lineup until your senior year, that's a lot of waiting you've done.

September 27, 2015 Snap judgments: Frequently fixated If you weren't at a game, or didn't have a vested interest in one particular team, Saturday was a great day to do the Division III football version of the whiparound and toggle between some of the great games. This is certain to go down as one of the most exciting weeks of the regular season.

September 24, 2015 Policing not only the streets, but also the backfield Josh Brozek said a common question he gets asked is, “When do you sleep?” And considering he not only goes to class and plays football for Crown, but also works as a police officer, that's a fair question.

September 20, 2015 Snap judgments: Three teams to keep an eye on Three weeks in is when the preseason predictions and expectations we had for the season really start to come into focus. Ryan has picked out a few teams worthy of getting a little more of our focus.

September 17, 2015 D-III stacking up against the scholarship squads When Division III teams take on the scholarship squads, a "moral victory" is not what they're after. And sometimes, they get an actual win. Ryan Tipps talks with three coaches who have scheduled up about the goals and the benefits.

September 13, 2015 Snap judgments: Beyond the blowouts The big margins of victory grab a lot of eyeballs, and there's a lot of them, because there's a lot of Division III. But in any sport, the passion is in the margins -- the small margins. Ryan takes a look at a few of those from Week 2.

September 9, 2015 Change for the right reasons At Augustana, Rowan and Emory & Henry, a little change has done the program some good. New offenses have helped spur these programs back into familiar territory, so far.

September 6, 2015 Snap judgments: What does Week 1 tell us? Around the Nation columnist Ryan Tipps weighs in on the first week's results, now that the teams have left the stat sheet and taken the field, with a caution on how to read comparative scores