2025 season in review

UW-River Falls got all the headlines at the end of the season, but it was a great season in many ways for many programs, including at Crown, the University of New England and Muhlenberg. Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com; David Bates Photo for University of New England athletics; Brenya Gommmel for Muhlenberg athletics

By Greg Thomas
D3football.com

We’ve had a few weeks since the Stagg Bowl to sit with the season that just ended. That space between the last whistle and the first hints of what comes next is always when I’m reminded why I keep coming back to cover Division III football. No matter how long you’ve been around it, no matter how much history you’ve absorbed or how confident you feel in your preseason convictions, the division has a way of refreshing itself. Assumptions get tested. Familiar storylines give way to new ones. The sport evolves just enough to keep you leaning forward. 

Division III football, for all its continuity, is never boring.

For me, what stood out most about the 2025 season was how unfamiliar it felt and how healthy that unfamiliarity was for Division III football.

This was a season that looked different in real, tangible ways. New teams mattered. New faces took center stage. The gravitational pull of the last few years, shaped in no small part by the super-senior era, finally loosened, and the sport didn’t wobble. It adjusted. In some places, it accelerated.

The most obvious symbol of that shift was UW-River Falls winning its first national championship. Not because it arrived on the heels of years of playoff scars (it didn’t) but because it crystallized something many people around the division already believed. River Falls had been close for a while, consistently good enough to be part of the postseason conversation but always just on the wrong side of the line. In 2025, they finally broke through by winning the WIAC, earning the automatic bid, and then winning the national championship in their first trip to the playoffs since the 1990s. It wasn’t a slow climb through December so much as an overdue opportunity, seized immediately. A new champion always matters, but this one felt especially emblematic of a division whose power structure is more fluid, and more accessible, than we sometimes admit.

That fluidity showed up everywhere once the super-senior era officially closed. With rosters returning to something closer to normal, the sport felt younger almost overnight. New names became foundational pieces instead of change-of-pace options. Programs leaned into development rather than retention. I wrote earlier this season about Muhlenberg as a case study in that transition, but they weren’t alone. Across the country, teams were forced, and empowered, to reintroduce themselves.

That reintroduction extended beyond the usual neighborhoods. University of New England and Crown didn’t just have nice seasons; they announced themselves as programs with real momentum. Eastern, in just its third season, went from a program in its infancy to MAC champion and playoff winner. These weren’t just feel-good stories; they were reminders that the middle of Division III is alive, ambitious, and capable of changing the conversation in a hurry.

The map expanded, too. Division III played its first game in the state of Arizona this season. It didn’t come with playoff implications or national rankings attached, but it mattered all the same. It was another small sign that the division is still growing, still experimenting, still willing to see what else it can be.

And then there were the individual seasons that demanded our attention. Montie Quinn rushing for 2,446 yards. Kaleb Blaha setting an all-divisions record for total offense in a single season. Jack Curtis putting together a Gagliardi Trophy-finalist year while battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma. If 2025 was about change at the macro level, it was also a reminder that Division III is still powered by extraordinary individual stories that don’t need embellishment to resonate.

All of which is to say: this was a season defined less by chaos than by transition. The sport didn’t abandon what it has been. It revealed where it’s going. 

What did we know?

That’s a perfect spot to jump in the TARDIS, go back to our August predictions for the 2025 season and see if we knew what we thought we knew. Every year before the season kicks off, D3football.com asks our panel of experts 20 questions about the season ahead. Patrick Coleman, Keith McMillan, Logan Hansen, Riley Zayas, Carlo Guadagnino, Kobe Manzo, and I all weighed in on what we thought we knew about the 2025 season before a single snap was played. Let’s see how much of what we thought in August held up

Which will be the last team chosen in Pool C, and what will its record be? 

Nobody picked Grove City as the last team in, but the 8-2 Wolverines were lucky number 13 in the Pool C order. Keith and Kobe each picked teams that were in Pool C, UW-Whitewater and Wheaton, respectively. Both also picked 7-3 records, which wasn’t quite on the mark. No points awarded to the panel. 

Which team will be the most surprising playoff entry in 2025?

Again the panel swung and missed. The panelists did reach for possible surprising playoff entrants, but none of our guesses reached the playoffs. 

Which team that didn't make the 2024 playoffs will go furthest in 2025?

UW-River Falls is the correct answer and the panel breaks through! Patrick, Greg, and Kobe all picked the Falcons to have the best postseason run of teams that didn’t qualify the year before and all three earn a point.

Which team has the best chance to break up a North Central–Mount Union Stagg Bowl rematch?

It turns out that NPI always had the best chance to break up a Stagg Bowl rematch by placing North Central and Mount Union on the same half of the bracket. On the field, it was John Carroll that eliminated Mount Union in the round of 16 and that would have been the most correct answer. For some partial credit, Ketih and myself each picked UW-River Falls as the team that would break up a repeat Stagg Bowl matchup and with UW-River Falls playing one half of the Stagg Bowl cast, we’ll give half credit for that answer. 

Who will reach the national semifinals in 2025?

Nobody went 4-for-4, which would have been Nostradamus-level forecasting back in August. Patrick, Keith, and myself each picked three of the four semifinalists (North Central, UW-River Falls, and Johns Hopkins). Riley Zayas and Carlo Guadagnino got two correct (North Central and Johns Hopkins), while Logan and Kobe each got one correct (North Central). Quarter points awarded for each correct semifinalist identified.  

Who will win the 2025 national championship? 

Three panelists picked River Falls to make the final four, but nobody picked River Falls to take home Walnut & Bronze. No points for the panel. 

Which 2024 playoff team will have the biggest dropoff in 2025?

In 2024 King’s rode a MAC championship and a first round playoff win to a 10-2 season. 2025 saw the Lions slide back to the middle of the MAC and a 5-5 record, good for a five-win differential from 2024 and the largest dropoff of 2024 playoff teams. Patrick, Logan, and Riley all picked King’s and get a point. 

Which team will improve the most over its 2024 win total?

The hits keep coming from River Falls where the Falcons’ glide to the title netted 14 wins and a 7-win improvement over their 2024 total. None of the panelists had the Falcons here, but Patrick did pick St. John Fisher. The Cardinals had an impressive four-win improvement from 2024 and for having the best pick among the panelists, Patrick gets a cool half point. 

Which 2024 bowl winner will win its conference in 2025?

Hanover was a popular pick and the Panthers came through for Patrick, Greg, Logan, Riley, and Kobe. Keith and Carlo picked Brockport who could not dethrone Cortland from atop the Empire 8.

Who will be the D3football.com Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year? 

Nobody had a clean sweep on this one, but one point each to Patrick, Logan, and Carlo for correctly tabbing Kaleb Blaha as our OPOY and one point each to myself and Kobe for correctly tabbing JP Sullivan as our DPOY. 

Which of the top four returning Division III running backs in total rushing yards from 2024 will rush for the most yards in 2025: Montie Quinn, Rashan La Mons, Brody Bantolina, Isiah Simmons- or someone else? 

It was, of course, Montie Quinn by many, many yards.  Points to Logan, Carlo, and Kobe. 

Which player will score the most total touchdowns in Division III in 2025? 

Nobody found the end zone more than Curry’s Montie Quinn who scored 28 touchdowns in 2025. None of our panelists picked Mr. 2000 for this category, but Patrick’s pick of Brockport’s Isaiah Simmons is the best of the bunch with 24 touchdowns. Half a point for Patrick. 

Which former ECFC team will win the most games in 2025: Alfred State (Empire 8), Anna Maria (MASCAC), Dean (MASCAC), or Gallaudet (ODAC)?

Anna Maria’s 7 wins was the best among the former ECFC quartet. Patrick, Greg, Ketih, Logan, and Carlo all had this one right and pick up a point. 

Who will win the NESCAC?

With a dramatic final week 31-28 win over Trinity, Wesleyan repeated as the NESCAC champion. Only Patrick picked the Cardinals and only Patrick gets a point. 

Which new program will win the most games in 2025: Maine Maritime, New England College, or Roanoke?

Roanoke put together an impressive year 1 notching five wins and landing smack dab in the middle of the ODAC pack. Patrick, Keith, and Logan all correctly picked the Maroons to be the best of the first-years and they pick up a point. 

Which conference(s) will place three teams in the 2025 playoffs? 

The WIAC placed not three but four teams in the field while the new-look Centennial flexed with three playoff teams of their own. Not bad for D3football.com’s top two ranked conferences.  Almost everyone on the panel picks up something here. Patrick, Greg, Keith, Logan, Riley, and Kobe all picked the WIAC for a half point. Keith also picked the Centennial, so he’ll get another half point. 

What will be the most surprising upset of the 2025 season?

Of the upsets the panel picked only three actually happened. Greg and Keith were early adopters on the 2025 Eastern campaign and both correctly picked the Eagles to win over Delaware Valley and King’s, respectively. However, I’m giving the point to Logan’s August call of Christopher Newport beating Susquehanna as the bigger reach (at the time) and the one that came to fruition. 

Can you give us a one-sentence prediction you won’t see anywhere else — but might just come true?

The only one sentence prediction that came true was Riley’s proclamation that the Pool C teams would have a winning record in the 2025 tournament- they did, just barely. The at-large teams went 14-13 in this season’s tournament, bolstered by strong runs by Wheaton and Johns Hopkins who each won three games before bowing out to eventual champion UW-River Falls. 

When it’s all said and done, Patrick Coleman tops the list with 9.25 points earned in my wildly subjective scoring system. 

Stay tuned!

But wait there’s more! The 2025 season has wrapped, but Division III football news and stories keep going all year round. Keep an eye on the always-turning coaching carousel and of course we’ll be tracking the progress of NFL draft prospects. Patrick and I are going to keep the microphones out and active throughout the offseason with monthly episodes of the Around The Nation Podcast, including our first offseason edition this week. 

And lastly, I have to give one enormous thank you to all of the student-athletes, coaches, and administrators that took time to talk to D3football.com for articles, podcasts, or postgame reactions. I also offer endless gratitude to the athletics communications staff around the country that help coordinate those calls and interviews. We couldn’t bring a spotlight to these incredible stories without the effort of all involved, and we are grateful.  

Thank you to everyone who has followed our coverage through the 2025 season. Fire up those offseason pods — we can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store. 

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