How we ranked the conferences
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 McMillan, who has provided color commentary on D3football.com's national broadcasts of the Stagg Bowl since 1999, played in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference for four years and covered it for two more. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Sep. 27 Ranking the conferences, part 2
Sep. 26 How we ranked the conferences
Sep. 20 Wild weekend at the Catdome
Aug. 30 At long last, let's play ball
Jan. 26 2006 year in review, part 3
Jan. 16 2006 year in review, part 2
Jan. 8 2006 Year in Review
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Even the most thorough preseason examination of available information only goes so far toward telling us what will really happen, before results begin to trickle in and we invoke the cliché 'That's why they play the games.'
With conference play underway in all but six of the nation's 26 conferences (although to be fair, another four conferences have played just one game total) and with it set to reach full swing on Saturday, Around the Nation figured now was as good a time as any to look back at our conference rankings from Kickoff '07, our preseason publication, and see what's borne out as expected and what's changed.
Perhaps no conference has provided more September surprise than the Empire 8, where St. John Fisher and Alfred sit atop the standings undefeated while the other two teams expected to contend are bringing up the rear. Ithaca and Springfield were each in the top 25 after Week 2 but have lost twice since, while St. John Fisher has remained steady at No. 5 nationally. Alfred crept into this week's rankings at No. 22 following a 37-7 shellacking of Springfield, ranked No. 9 in the preseason and first two weeks and coming off a 10-2 season in which its Chris Sharpe-led offense scored 35 points per game.
Alfred, in recent seasons the Empire 8 program which could win eight or nine games but could never get over the conference championship or playoff hump, has been the early-going's best story. The Saxons have averaged 40 points per game and surrendered 11 in wins at Thiel and against St. Lawrence and Springfield. With a 256-280 run/pass balance, running back Vinson Hendrix is nearly halfway to 1,000 yards while quarterback Paul Keeley has completed 70 percent of his passes with nine TDs and one interception so far. Defensively, Alfred's received a balanced effort, though sophomore linebacker Chad Pieri leads the Saxons with 18.5 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery.
But Alfred's play hasn't been the Empire 8's lone surprise. Hartwick's 32-30 upset of then-No. 24 Ithaca was a stunner, but moreso because the Hawks had lost 48-21 to Western New England of the lightly regarded New England Football Conference in their opener.
Across the board, the Empire 8 ranked as the fifth-strongest among the 25 conferences Publisher Pat Coleman and I ranked in Kickoff. Our reasoning centered largely on the performance of the league in out-of-conference competition (25-10 in 2006) and in the playoffs (two teams went 4-2, with St. John Fisher eliminating Springfield in the second round and losing 26-14 at Mount Union in the semifinals), and the depth of the conference (four of its seven teams won seven or more games last year).
The Empire 8 has gone 12-6 in non-conference competition so far, with wins against the Liberty League's Union and Rochester, and losses to RPI and No. 16 Montclair State. The conference has held up its end of the bargain so far and deserves to maintain its place, approximately, in our conference rankings.
Listed by where they ranked in Kickoff's rundown of 25 Division III conferences, here's how other conferences have fared in non-conference competition in the early stages of the season, with the exception of the NESCAC, which plays a closed schedule and isn't ranked in Kickoff's comparison, and independents:
No. 1 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC)
2006 non-conference record: 19-9 (Two playoff teams went 5-2 with a Stagg Bowl appearance)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Long the division's most competitive conference, a dominant team finally emerged from the WIAC with UW-Whitewater's past two trips to the national championship game. But the reason the conference has always remained the nation's best is because even its bad teams tend to be hard for teams from other conferences to beat.
2007 non-conference record so far: 15-7
What's been established so far in '07: That it's still Division III's top conference. No one schedules a more rugged group of opponents – 10 of the non-conference games have come against Division I FCS, Division II and NAIA opponents, including UW-Eau Claire's 42-13 win against Division II Southwest Minnesota State. UW-River Falls pushed No. 3 St. John's before losing 21-10 and UW-La Crosse went to Texas and beat Hardin-Simmons 47-21.
No. 2 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)
2006 non-conference record: 14-4 (Two teams went 7-1 in the playoffs with a national championship)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Same as always. The OAC has the strongest top half of any conference in the country, but lacks the depth of the WIAC.
2007 non-conference record so far: 6-4
What's been established so far in '07: Little, actually. We know Mount Union's still No. 1 and Baldwin-Wallace chalked up a nice victory against CCIW contender Augustana, but the Yellow Jackets will have to fight off Capital, Ohio Northern and perhaps John Carroll to challenge the Purple Raiders. A good sign so far, if defense wins championships as they say: Capital's allowed just 10 points, Baldwin-Wallace 14, Mount Union 21 and Ohio Northern 22, all in 3-0 starts. John Carroll has allowed only 29 points, and 23 of those came in a loss to Ohio Northern Saturday. That doesn't bode well for the bottom half of the league, though Heidelberg did snap a 36-game losing streak earlier in the year.
No. 3 American Southwest Conference (ASC)
2006 non-conference record: 14-7 (Two teams went 2-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: That the conference had established itself as one who produced two playoff contenders per season, was capable of producing a national champion and had reasonable depth throughout.
2007 non-conference record so far: 4-9
What's been established so far in '07: It has not been a good start for the ASC, which moved ahead of the Northwest Conference, which usually ranks third, this preseason. Linfield's head-to-head win against Hardin-Simmons (52-42, after a 21-6 Cowboys win in Texas last season) probably tilts the scales back in the NWC's favor. No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor looked dominating against Christopher Newport (51-19), but other ASC teams have not impressed against the likes of Trinity (Texas), Huntingdon and UW-La Crosse. Mississippi College's 27-26 rivalry game win against Millsaps in the opener was a bright spot for the ASC, but the Majors' 44-10 whomping of Louisiana College the following week was not.
No. 4 Northwest Conference (NWC)
2006 non-conference record: 13-13 (One team went 1-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Bumped down after Linfield had an off year and Whitworth could not carry the conference by itself in the playoffs. Some of its depth had wilted as Pacific Lutheran and Willamette slid below .500 and Puget Sound's 7-3 season included not-very-competitive showings against the NWC's top two.
2007 non-conference record so far: 9-12
What's been established so far in '07: Early NWC results send mixed messages, as Linfield looked powerful again vs. Hardin-Simmons and Whitworth knocked off UW-Stout. But the league is also just 6-6 against the SCIAC and Chapman, the only other measuring stick in Division III on the West Coast. Redlands won 24-12 at Whitworth and Whittier won 28-26 at Puget Sound, leaving us to question the NWC's overall strength this year.
No. 5 Empire 8 (E8)
See above.
No. 6 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC)
2006 non-conference record: 17-11 (One team went 2-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: The eight-team NJAC finished 2006 with two nine-win teams and two more with seven.
2007 non-conference record so far: 15-7
What's been established so far in '07: The NJAC will again be deep in '07, but perhaps in a way that allows no dominant team to emerge for a lengthy playoff run. The conference has been the beneficiary of the smaller MAC's additional conference dates, going 5-2 against that league, including 3-0 against its defending champion, Wilkes. But the NJAC has also inflated its record by going 4-0 against Morrisville State in its second year in Division III. Montclair State knocking off top-10 teams in consecutive games (then-No. 9 Springfield, then-No. 7 Wesley) probably makes up for Rowan's loss to the USAC's Christopher Newport and Kean's struggles against Albright.
No. 7 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)
2006 non-conference record: 15-9 (Two teams went 2-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Non-conference record not as impressive as went seven of the eight teams won all three of their non-CCIW games and the league posted a 22-3 non-conference record.
2007 non-conference record so far: 16-8
What's been established so far in '07: The conference doesn't have the depth of '05, but its schools will still play anyone in the Midwest. Losses have come against Baldwin-Wallace, Ohio Northern, Mt. St. Joseph and Coe, while wins have come against teams from several conferences, including Carthage's win at Whittier in California. Augustana's win over UW-Platteville of the WIAC was big last weekend, but top 25 North Central's loss to Washington U. probably nullified it. Wheaton is off to a great start and has moved into the top 10.
No. 8 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC)
2006 non-conference record: 4-10 (One team went 1-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Traditionally one of the East's toughest conferences.
2007 non-conference record so far: 6-18
What's been established so far in '07: No conference has fallen on more difficult times, with four of its eight remaining teams, including the past two champions, off to 0-3 starts. Three teams, none of whom were perennial contenders, defected, leaving behind teams with more open dates to fill than usual. Those dates went to top teams from the NJAC, E8 and ACFC, and has coincided with a year in which few MAC teams returned a lot of experience or firepower. The new-look MAC might never again be so glad to begin conference play, but it could produce a one-and-done playoff representative this year. Albright (vs. Kean) and FDU-Florham (at William Paterson, who beat Wilkes) have provided the highlights.
No. 9 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC)
2006 non-conference record: 14-4 (Two teams went 2-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: MIAC fell some because its top was not as strong but its middle and bottom were still very mediocre and poor.
2007 non-conference record so far: 12-3
What's been established so far in '07: The early start is a bit deceiving since conference teams were just 2-3 vs. the IIAC, but includes some big wins, including Concordia-Moorhead win against Division II Moorhead State. Five of the nine teams have winning records, including St. Olaf and St. John's at 4-0 and Gustavus Adolphus at 3-0.
No. 10 Liberty League (LL)
2006 non-conference record: 19-8 (Two teams went 0-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: League's surge largely due to five of seven teams finishing 2006 with winning records, including four with seven or more wins.
2007 non-conference record so far: 8-11
What's been established so far in '07: It's definitely been a down year so far, with just WPI and RPI remaining undefeated while traditional powers Hobart and Union have two losses each so far and expected contender Rochester is 0-3.
No. 11 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC)
2006 non-conference record: 10-9 (One team went 0-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Despite lack of playoff success in '06, IIAC has always been an upper-middle league capable of producing a top-10 team or multiple playoff teams.
2007 non-conference record so far: 12-3
What's been established so far in '07: Four of the nine teams remain unbeaten, though Wartburg and Dubuque face off this week. IIAC teams have been competitive non-conference, mostly against the MIAC, including Buena Vista's 21-16 upset of Bethel. Cornell, which hasn't won an IIAC game since the middle of '05, beat MIAA contender Alma by 1 for the second consecutive season.
No. 12 Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC)
2006 non-conference record: 22-12 (One team went 3-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Strong overall non-conference record and produced a national semifinalist in '05 and '06.
2007 non-conference record so far: 8-3
What's been established so far in '07: With just five members, including Newport News Apprentice, which is ineligible for the Division III playoffs based on its membership status, it's hard for the ACFC to claim the depth of other conferences. But it features two teams, Salisbury and Wesley, currently ranked in the top 20 and who have been competitive with the best teams in the mid-Atlantic for a few years now.
Conference rankings 13-25, continued
With conference play underway in all but six of the nation's 26 conferences (although to be fair, another four conferences have played just one game total) and with it set to reach full swing on Saturday, Around the Nation figured now was as good a time as any to look back at our conference rankings from Kickoff '07, our preseason publication, and see what's borne out as expected and what's changed.
Perhaps no conference has provided more September surprise than the Empire 8, where St. John Fisher and Alfred sit atop the standings undefeated while the other two teams expected to contend are bringing up the rear. Ithaca and Springfield were each in the top 25 after Week 2 but have lost twice since, while St. John Fisher has remained steady at No. 5 nationally. Alfred crept into this week's rankings at No. 22 following a 37-7 shellacking of Springfield, ranked No. 9 in the preseason and first two weeks and coming off a 10-2 season in which its Chris Sharpe-led offense scored 35 points per game.
Alfred, in recent seasons the Empire 8 program which could win eight or nine games but could never get over the conference championship or playoff hump, has been the early-going's best story. The Saxons have averaged 40 points per game and surrendered 11 in wins at Thiel and against St. Lawrence and Springfield. With a 256-280 run/pass balance, running back Vinson Hendrix is nearly halfway to 1,000 yards while quarterback Paul Keeley has completed 70 percent of his passes with nine TDs and one interception so far. Defensively, Alfred's received a balanced effort, though sophomore linebacker Chad Pieri leads the Saxons with 18.5 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery.
But Alfred's play hasn't been the Empire 8's lone surprise. Hartwick's 32-30 upset of then-No. 24 Ithaca was a stunner, but moreso because the Hawks had lost 48-21 to Western New England of the lightly regarded New England Football Conference in their opener.
Across the board, the Empire 8 ranked as the fifth-strongest among the 25 conferences Publisher Pat Coleman and I ranked in Kickoff. Our reasoning centered largely on the performance of the league in out-of-conference competition (25-10 in 2006) and in the playoffs (two teams went 4-2, with St. John Fisher eliminating Springfield in the second round and losing 26-14 at Mount Union in the semifinals), and the depth of the conference (four of its seven teams won seven or more games last year).
The Empire 8 has gone 12-6 in non-conference competition so far, with wins against the Liberty League's Union and Rochester, and losses to RPI and No. 16 Montclair State. The conference has held up its end of the bargain so far and deserves to maintain its place, approximately, in our conference rankings.
Listed by where they ranked in Kickoff's rundown of 25 Division III conferences, here's how other conferences have fared in non-conference competition in the early stages of the season, with the exception of the NESCAC, which plays a closed schedule and isn't ranked in Kickoff's comparison, and independents:
No. 1 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC)
2006 non-conference record: 19-9 (Two playoff teams went 5-2 with a Stagg Bowl appearance)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Long the division's most competitive conference, a dominant team finally emerged from the WIAC with UW-Whitewater's past two trips to the national championship game. But the reason the conference has always remained the nation's best is because even its bad teams tend to be hard for teams from other conferences to beat.
2007 non-conference record so far: 15-7
What's been established so far in '07: That it's still Division III's top conference. No one schedules a more rugged group of opponents – 10 of the non-conference games have come against Division I FCS, Division II and NAIA opponents, including UW-Eau Claire's 42-13 win against Division II Southwest Minnesota State. UW-River Falls pushed No. 3 St. John's before losing 21-10 and UW-La Crosse went to Texas and beat Hardin-Simmons 47-21.
No. 2 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)
2006 non-conference record: 14-4 (Two teams went 7-1 in the playoffs with a national championship)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Same as always. The OAC has the strongest top half of any conference in the country, but lacks the depth of the WIAC.
2007 non-conference record so far: 6-4
What's been established so far in '07: Little, actually. We know Mount Union's still No. 1 and Baldwin-Wallace chalked up a nice victory against CCIW contender Augustana, but the Yellow Jackets will have to fight off Capital, Ohio Northern and perhaps John Carroll to challenge the Purple Raiders. A good sign so far, if defense wins championships as they say: Capital's allowed just 10 points, Baldwin-Wallace 14, Mount Union 21 and Ohio Northern 22, all in 3-0 starts. John Carroll has allowed only 29 points, and 23 of those came in a loss to Ohio Northern Saturday. That doesn't bode well for the bottom half of the league, though Heidelberg did snap a 36-game losing streak earlier in the year.
No. 3 American Southwest Conference (ASC)
2006 non-conference record: 14-7 (Two teams went 2-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: That the conference had established itself as one who produced two playoff contenders per season, was capable of producing a national champion and had reasonable depth throughout.
2007 non-conference record so far: 4-9
What's been established so far in '07: It has not been a good start for the ASC, which moved ahead of the Northwest Conference, which usually ranks third, this preseason. Linfield's head-to-head win against Hardin-Simmons (52-42, after a 21-6 Cowboys win in Texas last season) probably tilts the scales back in the NWC's favor. No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor looked dominating against Christopher Newport (51-19), but other ASC teams have not impressed against the likes of Trinity (Texas), Huntingdon and UW-La Crosse. Mississippi College's 27-26 rivalry game win against Millsaps in the opener was a bright spot for the ASC, but the Majors' 44-10 whomping of Louisiana College the following week was not.
No. 4 Northwest Conference (NWC)
2006 non-conference record: 13-13 (One team went 1-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Bumped down after Linfield had an off year and Whitworth could not carry the conference by itself in the playoffs. Some of its depth had wilted as Pacific Lutheran and Willamette slid below .500 and Puget Sound's 7-3 season included not-very-competitive showings against the NWC's top two.
2007 non-conference record so far: 9-12
What's been established so far in '07: Early NWC results send mixed messages, as Linfield looked powerful again vs. Hardin-Simmons and Whitworth knocked off UW-Stout. But the league is also just 6-6 against the SCIAC and Chapman, the only other measuring stick in Division III on the West Coast. Redlands won 24-12 at Whitworth and Whittier won 28-26 at Puget Sound, leaving us to question the NWC's overall strength this year.
No. 5 Empire 8 (E8)
See above.
No. 6 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC)
2006 non-conference record: 17-11 (One team went 2-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: The eight-team NJAC finished 2006 with two nine-win teams and two more with seven.
2007 non-conference record so far: 15-7
What's been established so far in '07: The NJAC will again be deep in '07, but perhaps in a way that allows no dominant team to emerge for a lengthy playoff run. The conference has been the beneficiary of the smaller MAC's additional conference dates, going 5-2 against that league, including 3-0 against its defending champion, Wilkes. But the NJAC has also inflated its record by going 4-0 against Morrisville State in its second year in Division III. Montclair State knocking off top-10 teams in consecutive games (then-No. 9 Springfield, then-No. 7 Wesley) probably makes up for Rowan's loss to the USAC's Christopher Newport and Kean's struggles against Albright.
No. 7 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)
2006 non-conference record: 15-9 (Two teams went 2-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Non-conference record not as impressive as went seven of the eight teams won all three of their non-CCIW games and the league posted a 22-3 non-conference record.
2007 non-conference record so far: 16-8
What's been established so far in '07: The conference doesn't have the depth of '05, but its schools will still play anyone in the Midwest. Losses have come against Baldwin-Wallace, Ohio Northern, Mt. St. Joseph and Coe, while wins have come against teams from several conferences, including Carthage's win at Whittier in California. Augustana's win over UW-Platteville of the WIAC was big last weekend, but top 25 North Central's loss to Washington U. probably nullified it. Wheaton is off to a great start and has moved into the top 10.
No. 8 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC)
2006 non-conference record: 4-10 (One team went 1-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Traditionally one of the East's toughest conferences.
2007 non-conference record so far: 6-18
What's been established so far in '07: No conference has fallen on more difficult times, with four of its eight remaining teams, including the past two champions, off to 0-3 starts. Three teams, none of whom were perennial contenders, defected, leaving behind teams with more open dates to fill than usual. Those dates went to top teams from the NJAC, E8 and ACFC, and has coincided with a year in which few MAC teams returned a lot of experience or firepower. The new-look MAC might never again be so glad to begin conference play, but it could produce a one-and-done playoff representative this year. Albright (vs. Kean) and FDU-Florham (at William Paterson, who beat Wilkes) have provided the highlights.
No. 9 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC)
2006 non-conference record: 14-4 (Two teams went 2-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: MIAC fell some because its top was not as strong but its middle and bottom were still very mediocre and poor.
2007 non-conference record so far: 12-3
What's been established so far in '07: The early start is a bit deceiving since conference teams were just 2-3 vs. the IIAC, but includes some big wins, including Concordia-Moorhead win against Division II Moorhead State. Five of the nine teams have winning records, including St. Olaf and St. John's at 4-0 and Gustavus Adolphus at 3-0.
No. 10 Liberty League (LL)
2006 non-conference record: 19-8 (Two teams went 0-2 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: League's surge largely due to five of seven teams finishing 2006 with winning records, including four with seven or more wins.
2007 non-conference record so far: 8-11
What's been established so far in '07: It's definitely been a down year so far, with just WPI and RPI remaining undefeated while traditional powers Hobart and Union have two losses each so far and expected contender Rochester is 0-3.
No. 11 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC)
2006 non-conference record: 10-9 (One team went 0-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Despite lack of playoff success in '06, IIAC has always been an upper-middle league capable of producing a top-10 team or multiple playoff teams.
2007 non-conference record so far: 12-3
What's been established so far in '07: Four of the nine teams remain unbeaten, though Wartburg and Dubuque face off this week. IIAC teams have been competitive non-conference, mostly against the MIAC, including Buena Vista's 21-16 upset of Bethel. Cornell, which hasn't won an IIAC game since the middle of '05, beat MIAA contender Alma by 1 for the second consecutive season.
No. 12 Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC)
2006 non-conference record: 22-12 (One team went 3-1 in the playoffs)
Reasoning at the time of Kickoff ranking: Strong overall non-conference record and produced a national semifinalist in '05 and '06.
2007 non-conference record so far: 8-3
What's been established so far in '07: With just five members, including Newport News Apprentice, which is ineligible for the Division III playoffs based on its membership status, it's hard for the ACFC to claim the depth of other conferences. But it features two teams, Salisbury and Wesley, currently ranked in the top 20 and who have been competitive with the best teams in the mid-Atlantic for a few years now.
Conference rankings 13-25, continued