For all the games between Top 25 teams, a little perusal of the scoreboard on any given Saturday will show you plenty of other games worth watching. Tufts athletics file photo

Not since the 2014 postseason have I been so fixated on so many marquee games at once. I toggled frequently between the video streams of the three matchups between Top 25 teams: St. Thomas/St. John’s, Wesley/North Central and Wabash/Wittenberg. This is certain to go down as one of the most exciting and intense weeks of the 2015 regular season.

But amid all that, my attention was stolen by an unsuspecting matchup: Tufts at Hamilton. The Continentals went into this one riding a 20-game losing streak and haven’t frequently kept games close. I peeked at the score earlier in the day, and it was shaping up to be a Tufts blowout. But then a surprise happened -- Hamilton rallied with a 21-0 second-half run.

Could the losing streak end? We’ve already seen two very long losing stretches end this season; the first when the OAC’s Wilmington won its opener ending a 23-game skid and when the MAC’s FDU-Florham put a 19-game skid behind them.

Away from the packed stadiums and national exposure of Saturday’s marquee matchups in the Midwest, I became enveloped by what was unfolding in upstate New York. The game was pushed into overtime, and it was there that Hamilton’s light was snuffed out. A missed Hamilton field goal was followed up shortly afterward by Tufts’ Willie Holmquist sending an attempt beautifully through the uprights and the Jumbos’ sideline pouring onto the field in celebration.

For as much as we focus on the games with huge national stakes and rivalry components, it’s also thrilling to see emotions run deep in some of the lesser-known pockets of Division III. At that stadium in Clinton, N.Y., momentum, celebration and angst pivoted from half to half, culminating in a perfect happiness for one school and heartbreaking disappointment for the other.

Still, there was enormous focus across the country on the Top 25 games. I went into my Triple Take picks this past week looking at which unranked teams were playing ranked ones, thinking that there were many potentials for upsets in that realm but not really feeling one jumping out at me as a lock -- at least not without going beneath the surface.

Checking in with the scoreboard at halftimes would have had many fans of Top 25 teams a little nervous.

• No. 10 John Carroll held a narrow 10-7 lead over Baldwin Wallace.
• No. 11 Johns Hopkins was tied with Muhlenberg at the break.
• No. 13 Thomas More led by just 10 against Westminster.
• No. 16 Rowan had a 3-0 edge over Montclair State.
• No. 20 Ithaca was up 14-10 over Alfred.
• Chicago had already built a 28-10 lead against No. 21 Centre by halftime.
• No. 25 Cortland State held a 24-21 margin over Utica.

Of all of those teams, only Centre was upset at the end of 60 minutes of play, and in many cases, the ranked teams went on to create margins of three or more scores. There’s a reason many of these teams are ranked, and much of it has to do with their stamina on the field, their ability to adapt to their opponent and to make their adjustments matter in the second half.

The games between ranked teams were exciting at the half, too. Despite No. 9 Wabash appearing to hold the edge in all intangible aspects of the game against No. 15 Wittenberg, the Tigers hung in there for the first 30 minutes, creating an air of uncertainty as the teams entered the locker room at halftime. Even more of a concern for the Little Giants was that star running back Mason Zurek was injured and was seen being carted to the locker room. Ultimately, that occurrence slowed Wabash little as the team surged in the second half and showed Top 10 flair.

James Okike's touchdown catch with 7.5 seconds left and the subsequent two-point conversion capped one of the dramatic moments of the day on Saturday. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com

Between No. 8 St. John’s and No. 12 St. Thomas, I suppose we can again go back to calling this game the Tommie-Johnnie Game after the Tommies shredded their rival coming out of the break in front of more than 17,000 people and with a buildup worthy of ESPN. If you have a 230-yard rusher like Jordan Roberts, that kind of thing is going to happen.

The day’s other Top 25 game -- where No. 5 Wesley scored in the waning seconds and succeeded on a two-point conversion to beat No. 22 North Central 50-49 -- was perhaps the most surprising outcome because of how much the offenses controlled this game. Wolverines quarterback Joe Callahan was amazingly elusive, getting sacked just once despite seeing pressure over and over. He clearly stood out as a quarterback able to find the open man and make plays. North Central was most effective on its numerous slant passes that were able to chip away at the Wesley defense again and again. By the time the clock ended, nine different players from both teams had found the end zone.

If you don’t already listen to the ATN Podcast on Mondays with Executive Editor Pat Coleman and Managing Editor Keith McMillan, be sure to tune in tomorrow. You’ll learn much more about these marquee games.

Also, read about No. 1 UW-Whitewater beating another No. 1 team Thursday night.

Making sense of it all

Many people ask what it all means or how do we interpret games like this. For 25 of us, our interpretations are made tangible through our voting in the D3football.com Top 25 poll.

My predecessor in the Around the Nation column role, Keith McMillan, periodically revealed his ballot and explained some of his picks. For the first time, I’m going to do the same.

The first list is my preseason ballot, put together when we had information on what players are returning and other details about some of the best teams in the nation. The second list is my ballot after this weekend of play.

Much has certainly changed. Widener, St. John Fisher and Montclair State have fallen off for obvious reasons. UW-Platteville has played itself onto my ballot after its win over North Central. Hardin-Simmons is a surprise team that I don’t think I’ve voted for in years, while this is the first week I’ve added Albright (looking back on last week’s Snap Judgments, I should have included the Lions in my “teams to watch” list).

My ballot also differs significantly with the overall Top 25 poll. I’ve never had John Carroll higher than 20th place, and this is the first week I’ve dropped the Blue Streaks entirely. I don’t have UW-Oshkosh yet, but that’s less to do with anything negative I’ve seen from the Titans than it is because I haven’t seen an instance for them to really show what they are capable of. Same goes for Bethel, though I have begun voting for them.

Additionally, Washington and Jefferson has slid down my ballot while the overall poll still has the Presidents up pretty high. After this week’s win against Alfred, I’m more convinced of Ithaca’s staying power in the competitive Empire 8, so I like them as a Top 15.

All in all, as I vote, I am not as hard on a competitive loss as other voters appear to be. North Central is the perfect illustration. I respect how good of a team the Cardinals are despite the fact they just notched loss No. 2. My feeling is that many of the teams on this list would have two losses if they played games against Wesley and UW-Platteville as NCC has.

If I had two bubble teams that are close to breaking onto my ballot, they would be Chicago and Albion -- well, make it three, because I’m certainly waiting to see what Oshkosh can do, too.

A few other notes

I wrote earlier this season about Division III teams playing scholarship Division I-FCS squads and what they get out of it. That column came in the wake of Maryville’s win over upstart FCS program East Tennessee State. Turns out, ETSU fell victim to another D-III team, Emory and Henry. The Wasps were lifted to their 27-24 win with a touchdown pass in the final minute of play.

MIT had a famously Cinderella-like season in 2014, surviving a few close calls on the football field to finish the regular season undefeated and score a first round playoff win. This season has been quite the opposite as the Engineers started 0-3. This weekend, they nabbed their first win of the season with a 51-26 victory over Maine Maritime. We see this kind of thing often, where one season all the pieces come together for a great run and then the younger players who remain the following year are rebuilding from the rubble of graduation. A swing like that is surely difficult to handle.

Lastly, Salisbury scored 91 points in its win over Southern Virginia. Ninety-one! There’s nothing else to mention.

Weekend recap, columns, tweets and more

For the facts and figures of this weekend in football, check out D3football.com’s Top 25 recap and the national roundup.

There will be a handful of opportunities each week for me to showcase what’s going on nationally in Division III. On:

• Sundays, look for my reaction and recap of Saturday’s games in Snap Judgments;
• Thursdays, see my centerpiece feature story of the week;
• Fridays, read our Triple Take prediction column, where Pat, Keith and I give you some things to look out for in the following day’s games, including the top matchups and upset possibilities.

Between all that will be D3football.com’s regional columns, the ATN podcast, and the team of the week, among other things. Don’t go too far!

Follow me on Twitter at @NewsTipps, as well as D3football.com’s main account, @d3football.

(Also, if you are tweeting about Division III football, don't forget to use the #d3fb hashtag.)