The regular season came to a close, sort of with a whimper. There were no surprises whatsoever in games affecting the playoff field. Every single team that had reasonable hopes of getting into the playoffs as an at-large won last week, and in all five games where a conference’s autobid was still contested, the favorites won, keeping locks out of the at-large pool. As a result, only nine of the 32 teams in the field have more than one loss — but surprisingly, two of those teams got in via Pool C. Of the teams in the field, only two lost last week, but they’d already secured autobids.
Conference champions (bold indicates Pool A (automatic) bid):
American Southwest Conference: Mary Hardin-Baylor
Centennial Conference: Johns Hopkins
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin: North Central
Eastern Collegiate Football Conference: Norwich
Empire Eight: Salisbury
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference: Franklin
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Dubuque
Liberty League: Hobart, Union (NY)
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Albion
Middle Atlantic Conference: Delaware Valley
Midwest Conference: Monmouth (IL)
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Saint Thomas (MN)
New England Football Conference: Western New England
New England Small College Athletic Conference: Amherst
New Jersey Athletic Conference: Kean
North Coast Athletic Conference: Wabash
Northern Athletic Conference: Benedictine (IL), Concordia (IL)
Northwest Conference: Linfield
Ohio Athletic Conference: Mount Union
Old Dominion Athletic Conference: Hampden-Sydney, Washington & Lee
Presidents’ Athletic Conference: Thomas More
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference: Trinity (TX)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Cal Lutheran
University Athletic Association: Case Western
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Saint Scholastica
USA South Athletic Conference: Christopher Newport
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Wisconsin-Whitewater
Pool B bid:
Wesley (DE) (independent)
Pool C bids:
Centre (9-1)
Illinois College (9-1)
Illinois Wesleyan (9-1)
McMurry (8-2)
Redlands (9-1)
Saint John Fisher (8-2)
The initial bracket I got for the playoffs… is not the same as the current one. I do not know how this happened, or what the deal is, but some things are now different: including one of the #1 seeds. The panels will not reflect the corrected seeds on this entry, but they’ll be correct going forward.
As with the D-II conference panels, the standings still reflect the team’s ranking in the top 25, but in the upcoming game section that’s been replaced with their regional seed (which is completely unofficial yet completely obvious since the 1-2 seeds are known). Since the regions aren’t actually named, I’ve just assigned a color to each region, and the seed is displayed in that color.
And no, before you ask, I could not simply deduce which region was which; they’ve been mishmashed all to hell and back. What we could assume is the West region has four west and four south teams (including the #1 seed), while the two #1 seeds that are actually IN the west region are in regions with hardly any other west teams. There are South and East teams scattered all over the bracket, and it’s just too confusing to sort out. So, you get red (Whitewater), blue (Delaware Valley), green (Mount Union), and plum (Mary Hardin-Baylor).
Lastly, I have refrained from applying common tiebreakers to the actual standings all season, but with the conference seasons concluded they are in place now. No conference applies these tiebreakers officially except for determination of the conference autobid, so this is merely my own method of sorting the teams out now that the season is over; the tiebreakers are straight-forward head-to-head, with the usual “record vs. the group” tiebreaker for three- or more-way ties, followed by record against other teams in descending order, followed by overall record, followed by alphabetical order since I’m not going to flip a coin (that would be silly).
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Mary Hardin-Baylor
UMHB sealed the outright title by whipping Texas Lutheran, while McMurry decided to leave D-III in style, stomping Mississippi College and earning a date with unbeaten Trinity (TX) next week. (Although McMurry was 8-2, one of those losses was to a Division I FCS team; it still “counts”, but they were treated more like a 9-1 team by the selection committee.) UMHB earned a #1 seed and will host Redlands. UMHB should handle this test, and I expect McMurry to pull off the slight 5-4 upset over Trinity.
CENTENNIAL:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Johns Hopkins
The week’s big story was that Juniata broke their losing streak, picking up their first win of the year with a surprising one-point win over Susquehanna. Johns Hopkins survived a date with McDaniel to extend D-III’s second-longest winning streak and finish an unbeaten regular season; they’ll host Saint John Fisher as a #4 seed on Saturday, but despite their seed they may be in trouble.
CCIW:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: North Central
North Park has now lost 82 straight conference games, as they were blanked as part of North Central’s CCIW outright title celebration. Illinois Wesleyan stuffed Augustana, securing their spot in the playoffs. North Central, a #3 seed, should manage to outscore Dubuque, while Illinois Wesleyan faces an extremely tough draw as they host Monmouth (IL) in a 3-6 game. My prediction on that game can accurately be classified as “falling within the margin of error”.
EASTERN:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Norwich
Norwich was already done, and they’re in the playoffs as a #8 seed. They’ll travel to Delaware Valley, where they’re probably going to get waxed. Mount Ida stomped Castleton State, and were rewarded with a trip to the ECAC North Atlantic Bowl at Endicott. They’re probably going to lose, but it’s a nice way to end the season. (I can only presume that New York Maritime, who ended with a win at Gallaudet, declined a post-season invitation.)
EMPIRE 8:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Salisbury
Salisbury steamrolled Frostburg to secure the outright title, and Saint John Fisher beat Hartwick up pretty convincingly. Salisbury claimed a #2 seed, hosting Western New England; they should have no problem there. As already mentioned above, Fisher is a #5 seed, traveling to Johns Hopkins in a very tight game. Fisher was one of two 8-2 teams to earn bids; McMurry’s excuse was explained above, but in Fisher’s case it was all about schedule. Their losses were both to conference champions (Salisbury and Hobart), and they added a strong win over Buffalo State which pushed them over the top. Alfred, big winners over Utica, will travel to Bridgewater State this week for the ECAC Northeast Bowl. They should come out on top there.
HEARTLAND:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Franklin
Franklin crushed Hanover, and thus ended up winning the conference title by three whole games. They earned a #4 seed, and will host Thomas More; they’re slight favorites there.
IOWA:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Dubuque
Idle Dubuque merely had to wait and see what pairing they were going to receive. They’re probably not happy about it, drawing a #6 seed and having to travel to North Central. A win would be a significant upset.
LIBERTY:
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: Hobart, Union (NY)
Hobart took care of Rochester, and in doing so claimed a share of the conference title; more importantly, they earned the autobid thanks to their win over Union. Unfortunately, they pulled a #7 seed and a trip to Delaware to face Wesley; it won’t be close.
MICHIGAN:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Albion
Albion whipped Trine, claiming sole possession of the conference title. They enter the playoffs as the worst team in the field by win-loss record, and you know what that means: a trip to #1 Wisconsin-Whitewater, where they’re going to get blasted.
MIDDLE ATLANTIC:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Delaware Valley
Delaware Valley left no doubt as to whose conference this is, crushing Widener to win the league by two games. They’re the MAC’s only entrant into the playoff field, hosting Norwich as a #1 seed. They’ll easily survive to round two. Widener still gets another game, though; they’ll host Waynesburg in the ECAC South Atlantic Bowl, and they should win that one. Lebanon Valley hosts Saint Vincent in the ECAC Southwest Bowl, and they should also win; Albright will travel to Cortland State for the ECAC Southeast Bowl, and they probably won’t. There’s a fifth game on the MAC schedule this week: King’s (PA) will travel to Bethany (WV) to make up the game they literally couldn’t get to back in September due to the Susquehanna flood.
MIDWEST:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Monmouth (IL)
The entire conference was idle last week, of course, meaning Monmouth was waiting to see who they were going to play this week. What was unexpected (although not out of the realm of possibility) was that they’d be joined in the playoffs by Illinois College, who earned a #7 seed and a trip to Wabash. As mentioned, Monmouth’s visit to Illinois Wesleyan is too close to call; Wabash will be favored over IC, but an upset isn’t far-fetched here. Two MWC teams in the second round? That would be crazy, but it could happen.
Like the MAC, there is one “regular-season” game being played this week; or, rather, about half of one. The season-opening non-conference contest between Lake Forest and Concordia (IL) was suspended due to weather back on September 3 with Lake Forest leading 28-26, and they’re going to settle that business on Saturday.
MINNESOTA:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Saint Thomas (MN)
Bethel and Saint Olaf both won, but it wasn’t enough to extend their seasons. Saint Thomas earned a #2 seed rather than the #1 seed as expected, and will host unbeaten Saint Scholastica. It’s not even going to be close.
NEW ENGLAND:
BOGAN DIVISION CHAMPION: Framingham State
BOYD DIVISION CHAMPION: Western New England
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Western New England
Western New England was taken to overtime by Framingham State before securing the win in the NEFC Championship Game. That means the NEFC avoided drawing a #8 seed, but the close game may have been what pushed WNE down to the #7 spot. That means a trip to Maryland’s Eastern Shore and a likely whipping at the hands of Salisbury. Four other NEFC teams received bowl invites. We’ve already discussed two: Endicott hosts Mount Ida in the ECAC North Atlantic Bowl, and Bridgewater State hosts Alfred in the ECAC Northeast Bowl. The other two teams face each other; Salve Regina hosts Worcester State in the ECAC Northwest Bowl.
NESCAC:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Amherst
Amherst won The Game against Williams with ease, running the table and securing the outright NESCAC title.
NEW JERSEY:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Kean
Kean dispatched Montclair State with relative ease to claim the outright NJAC title, and a ticket to the playoffs. They’re a #3 seed, hosting Christopher Newport; they’ll advance with little difficulty. Cortland State romped over Ithaca to win the Cortaca Jug, and they’ll host Albright in the ECAC Southeast Bowl this week.
NORTH COAST:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Wabash
Wabash didn’t just win the Monon Bell last week, they took the damned thing and beat DePauw bloody with it. The Little Giants earned the #2 seed in Mount Union’s bracket, and they’ll host Illinois College in a game which could be dangerous. They’ll likely win, but they need to tread carefully.
NORTHERN:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Benedictine (IL), Concordia (IL)
Concordia (IL) walked all over Aurora, which kept them alive for a share of the conference title. An hour after they were done, they got to celebrate when news of Wisconsin Lutheran’s upset of Benedictine came in, leading to a shared title. The autobid, however, already belonged to Benedictine, and they’re heading off to Alliance to get crushed by Mount Union. As mentioned above in the Midwest Conference note, Concordia will complete their suspended game with Lake Forest this week, and while they’d probably rather be getting kicked around by the Purple Raiders, I’m sure they’ll be happy with an eighth win.
NORTHWEST:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Linfield
I guess it’s just as well Lewis & Clark lost last week, because after what Linfield did to them I don’t think they’d have gotten in the playoffs anyway. Linfield inexplicably draws a #3 seed, and hosts Cal Lutheran in a rematch; they won the first game by 10, and should win this one by a touchdown or more.
OHIO:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Mount Union
Nothing untoward occurred on the season’s final week, and therefore Mount Union claimed their customary #1 seed. Baldwin-Wallace was very likely one of the last two teams out of the field, and we’re left with a rare season with only one OAC team still kicking. Mount Union will have no trouble at all with Benedictine.
OLD DOMINION:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Hampden-Sydney, Washington & Lee
Randolph-Macon took out their frustrations on a great season gone awry by taking out the league’s playoff representative, Hampden-Sydney. Idle Washington & Lee, therefore, backed into a share of the conference title. Hampden-Sydney pulled a #5 seed; they’ll travel to Centre, and while a win isn’t out of the question, I wouldn’t expect it.
PRESIDENT’S:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Thomas More
Thomas More recovered from last week’s stumble to dispatch rival Mount Saint Joseph in a non-conference tilt. They ended up still winning the conference by two full games when Washington & Jefferson upended Waynesburg.
More, a #5 seed, will travel to Franklin for one of the better games on the docket. They’re a slight underdog, but a win is in reach. As already mentioned above, Waynesburg and Saint Vincent will be playing in ECAC bowl games, though both will be expected to lose. Also mentioned above is the makeup game between Bethany (WV) and King’s (PA), which Bethany really ought to win, which would be nice insofar as it will get them to .500 on the year.
SOUTHERN CAC:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Trinity (TX)
Trinity already had things under control, but what happened Saturday can’t happen again if they want to keep playing beyond this week. A 7-6 win at winless Austin is not a happy occurrence. It almost certainly played a role in Trinity’s playoff seed being downgraded to a #4, and their draw couldn’t have been worse in that position; they’ll be hosting McMurry, a team capable of beating them by a couple of touchdowns. Centre rolled over Rhodes, and they also earned a #4 seed; they should take care of Hampden-Sydney, but an upset’s not at all impossible.
And with last week’s action comes the effective end of the SCAC as a football conference, as everyone but Trinity and Austin are moving to the new Southern Athletic Conference next year. A pity; this league has been around for almost 50 years.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Cal Lutheran
Cal Lutheran took care of running the table and claiming the outright title by trucking Occidental by 50. They still only caught a #6 seed, and they’re traveling to Linfield, where they already lost by 10 earlier this year. Redlands got screwed even harder; they’re the #8 seed in the same bracket, and they’re off to Texas to get rolled by Mary Hardin-Baylor. (Then again, nobody expected Redlands to beat North Central in the season opener, and look what happened…)
UNIVERSITY:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Case Western
Washington put down Chicago, which set up the possibility of a three-way tie for the conference title, but Case Western took care of business at Carnegie Mellon and dashed those hopes. Alas, the season is over for everyone, as Case was passed over for a Pool C bid; they’re really the only team in the country with a truly legitimate complaint. (Endicott can complain, too, but hey, at least they get to go to a bowl game.)
UPPER MIDWEST:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Saint Scholastica
Saint Scholastica put the cherry on top of the sundae, wrecking Eureka and finishing the year 10-0. It’s a shame their lone non-conference game was against a really bad team, because their reward is a trip to #2 seed Saint Thomas (MN). It’s not going to end well, but they can be proud of being the first UMAC team to reach the post-season.
USA SOUTH:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport finished in style, crushing Maryville in their season finale to finish with an unblemished conference mark. They’re a #6 seed, traveling to New Jersey to take on Kean; their prospects aren’t good.
WISCONSIN:
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Wisconsin-Whitewater
Whitewater turned in another boring, mechanical won over an overmatched opponent, and they’ll enter the post-season as the #1 team in the nation. Obviously, along with that comes a first-round game against the worst team in the playoff field; the question is whether they’ll step up and steamroll Albion, or whether we’ll be treated to some mind-numbing 14-6 dronefest.
Yes, I know, I’m being snarky. But Whitewater’s done a good job of playing down to the opposition’s level at times this year.
INDEPENDENTS:
Wesley put an end to Huntingdon’s last hope, and did so in fairly brutal fashion. The Wolverines earned a #2 seed, and they’ll host Hobart. Should advance without incident.