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DECEMBER 1, 2025
composed by STEVE ULRICH
No publication covers NCAA Division III better. #whyD3

🎄 Happy December. Wait, what?

🗞️ In Today’s Playbook. Say It Ain’t Snow? Football Whittles to 16. Ray Headlines AVCA All-Americans. Kiffin's Disasterous Exit From Ole Miss Spells a Much Deeper Problem in College Football. Babson Freshman is Deported Flying Home For Thanksgiving Surprise, Despite Court Order.

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Top Story

1. Say It Ain’t Snow? Football Whittles to 16

“A half-dozen games came down to the final possession, snow dotted the landscape, three teams from the same conference won playoff games in the same week for the first time, and five road teams won games on Saturday in the round of 32.”

» Scores. Mount Union d. Muhlenberg, 49-7; John Carroll d. Randolph-Macon, 35-6; Berry d. La Grange, 18-14; UW-La Crosse d. Hope, 9-7; Susquehanna d. Christopher Newport, 42-28; Eastern d. Franklin & Marshall, 28-24; Salisbury d. Endicott, 35-28; Johns Hopkins d. Springfield, 34-14; Trinity (Texas) d. Hardin-Simmons, 34-24; North Central d. Hanover, 38-6; UW-Platteville d. Alma, 24-7; Bethel d. Coe, 51-26; Wheaton d. Wartburg, 28-24; DePauw d. UW-Whitewater, 26-23; Saint John’s d. Monmouth, 49-15; UW-River Falls d. Chapman, 58-7.

2. Ray Headlines AVCA All-Americans

“The AVCA is proud to announce its 44th annual All-America teams for NCAA Division III women’s volleyball. The 2025 teams include 42 players - 14 on the first, second, and third teams - from 27 schools.

Lauren Lee of Hope College earns her fourth All-America award, and the University of La Verne’s Mya Ray becomes a three-time, first-team selection.

First Team
OH-Simone Adam, Johns Hopkins, Sr.
MB-Alyssa Dozier, Christopher Newport, Sr.
MB-Gwen Eustace, Salisbury, Sr.
OH-Taylor French, Illinois Wesleyan, Sr.
S-Lauren Lee, Hope, Sr.
S-Kayleigh May, MIT, Jr.
OH-Graycee Mosley, East Texas Baptist, Sr.
OH-Sami Pearlberg, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Jr.
OH-Mya Ray, La Verne, Sr.
S-Wesley Slavin, Ithaca, Jr.
OH-Abby Stanwood, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Sr.
OH-Reagan Whatley, Trinity (Texas), Sr.
RS-Madie Whitehead, Berry, Jr.
OH-Delaney Winkel, Dubuque, Jr.

Player of the Year: Mya Ray, La Verne
Freshman of the Year: Ava Brovet, Berry, S

3. Kiffin's Disasterous Exit From Ole Miss Spells a Much Deeper Problem in College Football

“Five years and five months ago, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey went in front of Congress to push for federal protections that, to date, still haven’t materialized. It was a fraught moment in college sports: COVID threatening to disrupt the football season; legislative pressure building on colleges to allow athletes to earn money through name, image and likeness; and lawsuits meant to strike directly at the NCAA’s ability to regulate itself on a variety of issues like eligibility and transfers.

“If universities are allowed to pay student-athletes for NIL rights,” Sankey said in his written testimony, “the public will begin to perceive college athletics as a semi-professional sport.”

Sankey may be the most powerful person in college sports, but he has been very wrong for a very long time about what truly endangers their enterprise. The problem is not the professionalization of college sports but rather the lack of professionalism.

And this time, it’s occurring right under his nose.”

» Driving The News. “One of the teams that has unofficially qualified for that playoff by every traditional metric is the University of Mississippi. Lane Kiffin, the coach who led Ole Miss to that 11-1 record and the best regular season in its post-integration history, resigned Sunday to become the head coach at LSU.”

» Why It Matters. “Kiffin leaving the No. 7 team in the country to take a job with another SEC program before the sport’s marquee event is bad for the product, and no other well-run sports league would tolerate it. Yet in all the years of listening to administrators like Sankey fret about the unsustainability of the current model and wring their hands about how fans will react if college athletes got paid like professionals or the harm done to bowl games when players opt out, have you heard even a whisper of concern about what the adults are doing to wreck the legitimacy of their sport?”

» Be Smart. “While it’s easy to blame “the system” or “the calendar,” as you might have heard on ESPN over the weekend, the water-toting bobbleheads with microphones fail to grasp that this is a story of individual choices and responsibilities. It’s Kiffin’s choice to leave a trail of sleaze on his way out of town. And it’s the choice of Greg Sankey and other college sports leaders to do nothing about it, to shrug their shoulders and to rail against professionalization of college sports when making it a priority would be the best path for their business.”

4. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Facilities. “Construction will soon begin on a new $6 million Tennis Center for Howard Payne University Athletics with a lead gift of $4 million given by alumni Ronnie '83 and Teri '83 Andrews, of Houston.

» New Program. “Hampden-Sydney College is proud to announce that it will add club squash to its athletic offerings beginning in the 2026-27 academic year. The College also named Grant White as the program's inaugural head coach.The Tigers plan to join the College Squash Association (CSA) with the goal of achieving varsity status by the 2028-29 season.”

» Fundraising. “A total of $592,631 was raised during Luther College's sixth annual One Team Day, making the event the most successful one in the college's history.”

5. Comings and Goings

CENTENARY (N.J.) - Named John R. Schol president
MORRISVILLE - Selected Vic Goeller as head women’s lacrosse coach
SIMPSON - Named Susan D. Steubner president
URSINUS - Named Ryan Burke head men’s lacrosse coach

6. Babson Freshman is Deported Flying Home For Thanksgiving Surprise, Despite Court Order

“A college freshman trying to fly from Boston to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving was instead deported to Honduras in violation of a court order, according to her attorney.

Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, had already passed through security at Boston Logan International Airport on Nov. 20 when she was told there was an issue with her boarding pass, said attorney Todd Pomerleau. The Babson College student was then detained by immigration officials and within two days, sent to Texas and then Honduras, the country she left at age 7.

“She’s absolutely heartbroken,” Pomerleau said. “Her college dream has just been shattered.”

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