The first Division III football regional rankings arrived from the NCAA on Oct. 31.
Remember that regional rankings primarily take Division III games into account. Teams are listed with their Division III record only. For more information about the playoff format and how participants are determined, check out our FAQ, or listen to the podcast linked below.
A plus sign signifies that the team also has a non-Division III win, while a minus sign signifies a non-Division III loss.
- Strength of schedule numbers
- ATN Podcast 216: The national committee chair explains the playoff selection process
- ATN Podcast 219: Breaking down the Oct. 31 regional rankings
| East Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 Brockport 8-0 2 Frostburg State 7-0 3 RPI 7-0 4 Delaware Valley 7-1 5 Cortland 7-1 6 Salisbury 8-0 7 Western Connecticut 7-0 + 8 Merchant Marine 6-1 9 Ithaca 6-2 10 Western New England 7-1 |
.503 .533 .549 .464 .473 .437 .483 .603 .534 .481 |
The East Region unbeaten teams at the top are ranked in order of how far they advanced in the playoffs last year, which is one of the criteria used for breaking ties between undefeated teams. ... Cortland's SOS isn't very high, but Salisbury's is even lower, at just .437. That will rise with games against Wesley and Frostburg State to come. ... Merchant Marine looking like the Pool B favorite at the moment, as the highest Pool B team ranked. (Thomas More is also on the board as the South No. 10.) |
| North Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 Mount Union 8-0 2 Illinois Wesleyan 7-1 3 John Carroll 7-1 4 Trine 8-0 5 North Central (Ill.) 7-1 6 Baldwin Wallace 7-1 7 Wabash 7-1 8 Wittenberg 7-1 9 Franklin 7-1 10 Eureka 8-0 |
.532 .578 .528 .472 .506 .491 .469 .506 .415 .374 |
A lot of the North Region ranked teams have played each other, and that helps inform these rankings, but IWU has yet to play North Central and John Carroll has yet to play Baldwin Wallace, so that can still shake things up quite a bit. ... Trine has played nobody who is regionally ranked and won't play anyone who is regionally ranked this year. ... Same for Eureka, whose SOS is about 100 points lower than Trine. (And Trine's is below .500.) |
| South Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 Mary Hardin-Baylor 8-0 2 Berry 9-0 3 Johns Hopkins 7-1 4 Centre 7-1 5 Hardin-Simmons 7-1 6 Muhlenberg 7-1 7 Randolph-Macon 7-1 8 Washington & Jefferson 7-1 9 Case Western Reserve 7-1 10 Thomas More 6-2 |
.445 .554 .630 .598 .571 .583 .559 .499 .452 .555 |
Reminder that the ASC has its automatic bid back this year. ... Berry, which has clinched a bid, is in bold. ... Centre looking like a strong Pool C candidate, as we suggested in recent podcasts. ... Ahead of Hardin-Simmons, in fact. ... And Muhlenberg. ... Washington & Jefferson has the head-to-head advantage over Case, and note that Case is the fourth-highest at-large team in this region, which makes its road to the playoffs highly dependent on losses from Centre, HSU and/or Muhlenberg. |
| West Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 UW-Whitewater 7-0 2 St. John's 8-0 3 Whitworth 7-0 4 Bethel 7-1 5 Linfield 5-1 - 6 St. Thomas 6-1 + 7 Monmouth 7-1 8 UW-Oshkosh 4-2 +- 9 Simpson 6-2 10 UW-La Crosse 5-2 - |
.611 .600 .597 .564 .577 .493 .513 .591 .561 .602 |
Big question was what the committee would do with the top of the West Region rankings with the two teams that have already clinched and were strong No. 1 candidates. ... Bethel ahead of St. Thomas certainly helped by having beaten Simpson, but Bethel and UST meet head-to-head in Week 11. ... Monmouth with uncommonly strong regional ranking resume for an MWC puts them on the board with one loss. ... UW-Oshkosh has three losses overall but one is to a D-II school. (One of the wins is as well.) |
How to use regional rankings: If you are an at-large candidate, you want to be sure you are the top at-large candidate in your region. That will ensure you get discussed by the national committee and have a chance to be put in the field.
There are 26 automatic bids, one Pool B bid (teams not in the 26 automatic bid conferences) and five Pool C (true national at-large) bids. Selection Sunday is Nov. 11.
Being listed in these rankings is not a guarantee of selection to the playoffs. There is no guarantee an at-large team will be taken from each region.