Sixteen teams enter the Men’s Division III playoffs this weekend with national championship hopes, but just four will punch their tickets to the semifinals in Houston. Saturday’s opening round and Sunday’s quarterfinals are being played at four sites across the country, with the champions of each region advancing to the penultimate round Dec. 13 at Sabercats Stadium. ‘
The top seed in the Midwest Region at Forest Park in St. Louis is third-ranked Wayne State College, who draws No. 17 St. Thomas in the opening round. St. Thomas went undefeated in their Northern Lights championship campaign, besting rival St. John’s to steal their playoff berth from last fall.
Wayne State has finished second in the country each of the last two years, falling to Cal Poly Humboldt by just five in the 2022 national championship game and to Babson by only four in the 2023 final. The Wildcats officially began their playoff run already, beating Xavier 61-3 in the play-in round last week.
Awaiting either the Wildcats or Tommies in Sunday’s quarterfinals will be the winner between second-ranked Slippery Rock or No. 12 Wisconsin – Eau Claire. The Rock is undefeated against DIII competition this fall, their lone loss coming to defending DII national champion IUP. They secured Allegheny Conference supremacy with a pair of wins over conference rival Franciscan.
2022 national champion and top-ranked Cal Poly Humboldt takes the top seed in the West Region at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR, facing No. 13 Colorado School of Mines in the Round of 16. The Orediggers eliminated Mira Costa in the play-in round last week, 36-10. Drawing either the Lumberjacks or CSOM in the semifinals will be host Western Oregon or No. 7 New Mexico Tech.
At the East Region at Pine Banks Park in Malden, MA, defending champion and sixth ranked Babson had to earn its way into the Round of 16, blanking the United States Merchant Marine Academy 50-0 last week in the play-in round. The Beavers draw No. 10 Endicott, with the winner playing either fifth-ranked Holy Cross or unranked Roger Williams Sunday. The Crusaders upset defending champion Babson to claim the New England crown, 19-12.
No. 4 Catholic is the top-ranked team at the South Region in Culpepper, VA, and they’ll face unranked Charleston in the opening round. The other quarterfinalist in Culpepper will be either ninth ranked Susquehanna or unranked Duke.
