Selection Sunday in Division III delivered a 40-team field with a brand new conference in the mix and two familiar names on the outside looking in.
The NCAA revealed the bracket this evening. This is the first postseason with the NESCAC participating, and the league landed three teams: Trinity (Conn.), Wesleyan and Amherst. Trinity is the automatic qualifier even after Wesleyan handed the Bantams their first loss, 27-20, on Saturday.
The WIAC got two. UW-Whitewater (10-0) is a top seed and UW-Platteville (9-1) hosts Hope in the second round.
Defending national champion UW-River Falls is not in the field. The Falcons beat North Central 24-14 in Canton last January for the program's first national title, and they closed this regular season with a 41-0 win over UW-Stevens Point.
Mount Union is out too (for the first time in nearly 40 years). The Purple Raiders, owners of 13 national titles, beat Otterbein 73-0 on Saturday, but the OAC's lone bid belongs to unbeaten Baldwin Wallace (10-0), which earned a top seed.
The committee handed out 11 at-large bids, and D3football.com reported that only the top eight teams in the selection order were protected. Twenty-four teams get a first-round bye, but that doesn't mean the top 24 teams do. Hardin-Simmons, #21 in the order, opens at home Saturday against Texas Lutheran, #31. The Cowboys are coming off their first loss of the season, 13-3 to a tough Mary Hardin-Baylor squad.
DePauw (9-1) got a bye, but not a second-round home game. The Tigers head to North Central (9-1), which has played in the last six Stagg Bowls and won it in 2019, 2022 and 2024. That happened because the other half of that pod is an all-Texas second-round game, with Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-1) hosting Trinity (Texas) (9-1).
Unbeaten Concordia Wisconsin draws Linfield in the second round, and the committee kept UW-Whitewater and UW-Platteville on opposite ends of the bracket.
If Whitewater and Wheaton were to meet, it won't happen before the national semifinals.
Committee vice chair Keith Buckley, the athletic director at Pacific, told D3football.com the group wanted to avoid having teams "play each other every single year." He specifically pointed to the Northwest Conference and SCIAC, which had become a near-automatic playoff pairing.
First-round games are Saturday, November 21.
UW-Whitewater quarter
- Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-2) vs. Huntingdon (8-2), winner at UW-Whitewater (10-0)
- Trinity (Texas) (9-1) at Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-1), second round
- DePauw (9-1) at North Central (9-1), second round
- Benedictine (9-1) vs. Hanover (8-2), winner at St. John's (10-0)
Wheaton quarter
- Heidelberg (8-2) vs. Monmouth (8-2), winner at Wheaton (10-0)
- Christopher Newport (9-1) at Washington & Jefferson (9-1), second round
- Linfield (8-2) at Concordia Wisconsin (10-0), second round
- Wartburg (8-2) vs. Northwestern (Minn.) (6-4), winner at WashU (10-0)
Cortland quarter
- Amherst (8-1) vs. Bridgewater State (8-1), winner at Cortland (10-0)
- Merchant Marine (8-1) at Hampden-Sydney (9-1), second round
- Wesleyan (8-1) at Springfield (9-1), second round
- Trinity (Conn.) (8-1) vs. RPI (8-2), winner at Endicott (10-0)
Baldwin Wallace quarter
- Susquehanna (9-1) vs. Eastern (8-2), winner at Baldwin Wallace (10-0)
- Dickinson (8-2) at Utica (9-1), second round
- Hope (9-1) at UW-Platteville (9-1), second round
- Texas Lutheran (9-1) at Hardin-Simmons, winner at Calvin (10-0)
Hampden-Sydney picked up an unexpected home game when Merchant Marine was unable to host.
The second round is November 28, the third round is December 5, the quarterfinals are December 12 and the semifinals are December 19.
The Stagg Bowl LIII is Sunday, January 3, at 8pm EST and will take place at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia, the game's longtime home.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.