INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division III Football Committee announced today the field of 32 teams for the 2017 NCAA Division III Football Championship. The committee selected teams based on conference results and competition within an institution's respective evaluation region.
Twenty-five conferences received automatic-qualifying berths. Two berths are reserved for true independents or teams that are members of a conference that do not receive automatic qualification. The remaining five berths were awarded to teams from either automatic qualifying conferences that did not win an automatic berth, the remaining true independent teams or teams in non-automatic qualifying conferences.
RELATED: Interactive bracket
The first round of the championship will be played November 18 at the host institution's campus or at an alternate site approved by the football committee. The Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the national championship game, will be played Friday, December 15, at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Pool A Berths (25):
| Conference | School |
|---|---|
| Centennial Conference | Johns Hopkins University |
| College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin | North Central College |
| Commonwealth Coast Football | Western New England University |
| Eastern Collegiate Football Conference | Husson University |
| Empire 8 | College at Brockport, State University of New York |
| Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference | Franklin College |
| Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Wartburg College |
| Liberty League | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference | Plymouth State University |
| Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Trine University |
| Middle Atlantic Conference | Delaware Valley University |
| Midwest Conference | Monmouth College (Illinois) |
| Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) |
| New Jersey Athletic Conference | Wesley College |
| North Coast Athletic Conference | Wittenberg University |
| Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference | Lakeland University |
| Northwest Conference | Linfield College |
| Ohio Athletic Conference | University of Mount Union |
| Old Dominion Athletic Conference | Washington and Lee University |
| Presidents' Athletic Conference | Washington and Jefferson College |
| Southern Athletic Association | Berry College |
| Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Chapman University |
| Upper Midwest Athletic Conference | Eureka College |
| USA South Athletic Conference | Huntingdon College |
| Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
Pool B Berths (2):
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
Springfield College
Pool C Berths (5):
Case Western Reserve University
Frostburg State University
Hardin-Simmons University
Illinois Wesleyan University
St. John's University (Minnesota)
The Division III Football Committee also announced the following 16 regional sites:
- Belton, Texas – Chapman vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor
- McMinnville, Oregon – Hardin-Simmons vs. Linfield
- Mount Berry, Georgia – Huntingdon College vs. Berry
- Naperville, Illinois – Saint John’s (Minnesota) vs. North Central
- Doylestown Township, Pennsylvania – Western New England vs. Delaware Valley
- Springfield, Massachusetts – Husson vs. Springfield
- Alliance, Ohio – Washington and Lee vs. Mount Union
- Brockport, New York – Plymouth State vs. College at Brockport
- St. Paul, Minnesota – Eureka vs. St. Thomas (Minnesota)
- Bloomington, Illinos – Case Western Reserve vs. Illinois Wesleyan
- Washington, Pennsylvania – Johns Hopkins vs. Washington & Jefferson
- Oshkosh, Wisconsin – Lakeland vs Wisconsin-Oshkosh
- Springfield, Ohio – Frostburg State vs. Wittenberg
- Dover, Delaware – Rensselaer vs. Wesley
- Waverly, Iowa – Franklin vs. Wartburg
- Angola, Indiana – Monmouth (Illinois) vs. Trine
All games start at noon local time.
In the 2016 championship, Mary Hardin-Baylor defeated Wisconsin-Oshkosh 10-7.
