The NCAA announced the bracket for the Division III Football playoffs, but not without some controversy. The usual suspects got in – Wisconsin-Whitewater, Mount Union, and Mary Hardin-Baylor – through their automatic bids. The controversy, as it usually does, came in the at-large selections. Both Muhlenberg and St. Thomas made it into the field at the expense of UW-Oshkosh, North Central College, Framingham State, and Bethel.
The West region was bound to be a mess with UW-Oshkosh having a 6-4 overall record and 6-1 against Division 3 opponents. In the end, they were not deemed not strong enough to be in the field, which is debatable depending on your point of view.
Let’s look at each region and the match-ups for Saturday.
Region 1
Macalaster (9-1) at Wisconsin-Whitewater (10-0) – 1 PM Eastern Time
Franklin (8-2) at Wabash (9-1) – 12 PM Eastern Time
St. Scholastica (10-0) at St. John’s (MN) (9-1) – 1 PM Eastern Time
St. Thomas (MN) (8-2) at Wartburg (10-0) – 1 PM Eastern Time
Region 2
Muhlenberg (9-1) at Widener (10-0) – 12 PM Eastern Time
Christopher Newport (7-3) at Delaware Valley (9-1) – 12 PM Eastern Time
Chapman (8-1) at Linfield (8-1) – 3 PM Eastern Time
Texas Lutheran (9-1) at Mary Hardin-Baylor (10-0) – 1 PM Eastern Time
Region 3
Hampden-Sydney (7-3) at Wesley (9-1) – 12 PM Eastern Time
MIT (9-0) at Husson (8-1) – 12 PM Eastern Time
Rowan (7-3) at Johns Hopkins (10-0) – 12 PM Eastern Time
Ithaca (7-3) at Hobart (10-0) – 12 PM Eastern Time
Region 4
Benedictine (IL) (6-4) at Wheaton (IL) (10-0) – 1 PM Eastern Time
Centre (10-0) at John Carroll (9-1) – 12 PM Eastern Time
Washington & Jefferson (9-1) at Wittenberg (9-1) – 12 PM Eastern Time
Adrian (8-2) at Mount Union (10-0) – 12 PM Eastern Time
All first round games are to be played on Saturday, November 22. The second round games will be played on Saturday, November 29 and Quarterfinal games will be played on Saturday December 6 at the designated host institutions.
The semifinal games will be played at the designated host institution at a time that fits into the TV schedule. The Division III Championship game, the Stagg Bowl, will be played on Friday, December 19 at 7 PM Eastern Time. The Championship will be televised live on ESPNU.
An interactive bracket can be found here.
