📖 In Today’s Playbook. Is Athletics Hitting a Breaking Point? Baker On Bediako. Duels in the Pool. Harvill Sets NCAA Lax Goal Scoring Mark. American Southwest Conference Joins FloSports. Walking Grass Stole Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Show

🎶 Your Morning Pick Me Up. Light of Day. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

🔈 What We’re Hearing. The University of Maine at Augusta is applying for membership in Division III.

🗞 We’re Asking For Your Support. D3Playbook is your best source for news from around Division III. If you like what you see in our newsletter, please support us with a subscription.

You don't have to read everything — just the right thing. 1440's daily newsletter distills the day's biggest stories from 100+ sources into one quick, 5-minute read. It's the fastest way to stay sharp, sound informed, and actually understand what's happening in the world. Join 4.5 million readers who start their day the smart way.

Join for free today!

“If there’s a sliver of good news for higher education emerging from the Trump administration after a year that kept the sector on edge, it may be a recent remark by the education secretary, Linda McMahon, that the administration plans to shift its attention away from colleges in 2026, and toward K–12 schools.

For much of the past year, higher education has been operating in reaction mode. Nearly constant missives from the Trump administration demanded attention and response, leaving little room to plan ahead even as the financial, demographic, and cultural pressures that have reshaped the sector since the pandemic continued to intensify.

With college leaders finally receiving a moment to breathe, the question now is, what should they do with it? Five storylines I’m following point to where attention should go next. They are less about forecasting than about identifying the threads already visible in my conversations with presidents and trustees that will demand sustained attention in the year ahead.”