DIII football championship bracket released for 2018 tournament

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.