The 2025 NCAA Convention brought plenty of news including some for the gridiron. The NCAA Division 2 Playoffs will now have automatic qualification (AQ) bids for every conference champion starting in 2025. That’s not all, the addition of AQs will lead to the bracket expanding to 32 teams as early as the 2026 season. The proposal passed with 9 of the 15 conferences, or 60% of the vote, in favor. The new format will go into effect on August 1, 2025, ahead of the 2025 season. Not only was D2 the sole football championship not to have AQ bids, but it was also the only team sport championship in all of NCAA (D1, D2, and D3) that did not utilize automatic qualification in its bracket selection process.
The Previous Format
Before the vote, the D2 playoffs used an “earned access” model that could potentially leave out conference champions due to how the playoff teams were selected. NCAA Division 2 has a 28-team playoff with four “super regions” that will have 7 teams ranked in each bracket. Where the conference champion fell in that ranking relative to other teams determined if a conference champion made the playoffs. As noted by D2Football.com in their extensive playoff selection Q&A:
However, there is a rule in place called Earned Access, which awards the final spot in the seven team regional bracket to the highest ranked team from a conference, IF said team is in the top 9 of the regional rankings, but not in the top 7. For example, if the highest ranked team from a conference is 8th in the final regional rankings, it would be awarded the final invitation in that region. If the highest ranked team from a conference is 10th or lower, that conference will not be represented in the playoffs.
With the earned access system, it’s possible that a conference champion could be left out of the playoffs but still see a team that finished lower than them in the conference standings reach the playoffs. In 2022, Newberry was the South Atlantic Conference champion but did not make playoffs while Wingate and Limestone made the bracket. In 2021, Midwestern State won the Lone Star Conference with a 6-1 LSC record but it was Angelo State that finished in a three-way to for second at 5-2 that made the playoffs. While those are two recent examples, there are numerous times the same scenario played out the same way. With the new rules, Newberry and Midwestern State would have received an AQ bid for their respective conferences and made the playoffs.
The earned access rules also had the obvious possibility of a conference not receiving any bids to the playoffs, which was the impetus for the proposal. The most recent occurrence was 2019 when Bentley and New Haven tied atop the Northeast-10 standings but neither made the playoffs. That same season, Central Washington and Western Oregon both shared the Great Northwest title but both missed the 28-team bracket.
D2 Playoff Bracket Expansion
With the D2 playoffs going to an automatic bid format, an expansion of the bracket is on the horizon. Current policy states that once the AQ bids comprise more than half the bracket, the exploratory phase for bracket expansion should be started. In 2025, the bracket will have 28 teams with 16 AQ bids (57%). The D2 Championships Committee states “that no more than 60% of a bracket may be made up of automatic qualifiers.” The 60% rule wouldn’t necessarily cause an immediate expansion due to the budget cycle. Whether that means the expansion happens in 2026 or 2027 will be determined at a later date.
Based on the snippet above from the D2 legislation, the Gulf South Conference is expected to have an AQ bid for 2025. The GSC is facing heavy departures from realignment that will see its football membership drop to four teams in 2025 with Delta State, Valdosta State, West Alabama, and West Florida competing. Whether the GSC will obtain a waiver to receive an AQ bid for the 2025 season or will add some football members in time for 2025 is unclear.
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