INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division III Football Committee announced today the field of 32 teams for the 2018 NCAA Division III Football Championship. The committee selected teams based on conference results and competition within an institution's respective evaluation region.
RELATED: View the 2018 interactive bracket | Champ history | Buy NCAA championship tickets
Twenty-six conferences received automatic-qualifying berths. One berth was 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.
The first round of the championship will be played November 17 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 14, at Woodforest Bank Stadium in Shenandoah, Texas. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Conferences and Teams Receiving Automatic Qualification (26):
American Southwest Conference University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
American Rivers Conference Wartburg College
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 Hanover College
Liberty League Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Framingham State University
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Trine University
Middle Atlantic Conference Delaware Valley University
Midwest Conference St. Norbert College
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saint John’s University (Minnesota)
New Jersey Athletic Conference Frostburg State University
North Coast Athletic Conference Denison University
Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Eureka College
Northwest Conference Whitworth University
Ohio Athletic Conference University of Mount Union
Old Dominion Athletic Conference Randolph-Macon College
Presidents' Athletic Conference Washington and Jefferson College
Southern Athletic Association Berry College
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Claremont McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Martin Luther College
USA South Athletic Conference Maryville College (Tennessee)
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Pool B Berth (1):
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Pool C Berths (5):
Bethel University (Minnesota)
Centre College
Hardin-Simmons University
John Carroll University
Muhlenberg College
The Division III Football Committee also announced the following 16 regional sites:
Belton, Texas – Hardin-Simmons vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor
Mount Berry, Georgia – Maryville (Tennessee) vs. Berry
Collegeville, Minnesota – Martin Luther vs. Saint John’s (Minnesota)
Spokane, Washington – Claremont-McKenna-Scripps vs. Whitworth
Whitewater, Wisconsin – Eureka vs. Wisconsin-Whitewater
Angola, Indiana – St. Norbert vs. Trine
Naperville, Illinois – Hanover vs. North Central
St. Paul, Minnesota – Wartburg vs. Bethel (Minnesota)
Alliance, Ohio – Denison vs. Mount Union
Danville, Kentucky – Washington and Jefferson vs. Centre
Doylestown Township, Pennsylvania – Muhlenberg vs. Delaware Valley
University Heights, Ohio – Randolph-Macon vs. John Carroll
Brockport, New York – Framingham State vs. College at Brockport
Troy, New York – Husson vs. Rensselaer
Frostburg, Maryland – Western New England vs. Frostburg State
Baltimore, Maryland – MIT vs. Johns Hopkins
All games start at noon local time.
In the 2017 championship, Mount Union defeated Mary Hardin-Baylor 12-0.