The NCAA releases its first 2014 Division III football regional rankings this afternoon.
Remember that regional rankings primarily take Division III games into account. Teams are listed with their Division III record first, followed by their overall record. For more information about the playoff format and how participants are determined, check out our FAQ.
| East Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 Delaware
Valley 8-0 8-0 2 Hobart 8-0 8-0 3 Widener 8-0 8-0 4 St. John Fisher 6-1 7-1 5 Framingham State 7-1 7-1 6 St. Lawrence 7-1 7-1 7 MIT 7-0 7-0 8 Montclair State 6-1 7-1 9 Lycoming 6-2 6-2 10 Ithaca 6-2 6-2 |
.532 .471 .479 .572 .528 .538 .425 .542 .534 .527 |
Good news for the Del Val-Widener loser, which will probably still be in good position to get an at-large bid. ... Not great news for MIT, behind three one-loss teams. ... Montclair State pretty distant behind Delaware Valley despite being the only one-loss team in the East whose only loss is to a regionally ranked team. ... Not really clear why Framingham is ahead of Montclair, considering that Montclair beat Rowan and Framingham lost to Rowan. |
| North Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 Mount Union
8-0 8-0 2 John Carroll 8-0 8-0 T3 Wabash 8-0 8-0 T3 Wheaton (Ill.) 8-0 8-0 5 Wittenberg 7-0 7-1 6 North Central (Ill.) 6-2 6-2 7 Heidelberg 6-2 6-2 8 Franklin 6-2 6-2 9 Chicago 6-1 6-1 10 Adrian 6-2 6-2 |
.498 .464 .475 .475 .498 .551 .522 .515 .523 .503 |
No surprise that the Mount Union-John Carroll loser will still be in good shape. ... Good sign for Wittenerg-Wabash loser as well but Wittenberg as lowest "unbeaten" in region bodes poorly for how they might stack up as a potential one-loss team nationally. |
| South Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 Mary
Hardin-Baylor 8-0 8-0 2 Wesley 5-0 9-0 3 Johns Hopkins 8-0 8-0 4 Washington & Jefferson 8-0 8-0 T5 Texas Lutheran 6-1 7-1 T5 Centre 8-0 8-0 7 Muhlenberg 7-1 7-1 8 Thomas More 7-2 7-2 9 Hampden-Sydney 6-2 6-2 10 Hardin-Simmons 3-2 5-2 |
.527 .675 .555 .473 .540 .436 .491 .479 .562 .531 |
Centre has a fairly low strength of schedule that won't get much better the final two weeks, so they may be locked in behind TLU, if both teams win out. ... Muhlenberg being so far down leaves it unlikely the Centennial will get two teams in. |
| West Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 UW-Whitewater
7-0 8-0 2 Wartburg 8-0 8-0 3 Bethel 7-1 7-1 4 Linfield 6-1 6-1 T5 Chapman 6-1 6-1 T5 St. John's 7-1 7-1 7 UW-Platteville 6-2 6-2 8 UW-Oshkosh 4-1 4-4 9 St. Thomas 6-2 6-2 10 Pacific 5-1 5-2 |
.513 .583 .607 .560 .517 .512 .543 .533 .524 .443 |
UW-Oshkosh, seriously, yes. 0-3 vs. scholarship programs but 4-1 vs. D-III. They belong here for now but not if they lose to Platteville. ... Interesting to see if the loser of the Bethel-St. John's game will remain above the two-loss teams next week. |
How to use these regional rankings: If you are an at-large candidate, you want to be sure you are the top at-large candidate in your region. That will ensure you get discussed by the national committee and have a chance to be put in the field.
There are 24 automatic bids, two Pool B bids and six Pool C (true national at-large) bids. Selection Sunday is Nov. 16.
Being listed in these rankings is not a guarantee of selection to the playoffs. There is no guarantee an at-large team will be taken from each region.