The NCAA releases its first 2015 Division III football regional rankings on Nov. 4.
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 Wesley 8-0 8-0 |
.536 .489 .567 .617 .510 .472 .467 .373 .631 .593 |
Just one unbeaten team with a representative schedule. ... Delaware Valley 2-0 vs. regionally ranked teams, trumping St. Lawrence's 1-1. ... Cortland head-to-head advantage on Framingham, plus superior strength of schedule. ... Albright plays at Stevenson this week ... Western New England's SOS will at least get better. |
| North Region | SOS | Notes |
|
1 Mount Union 8-0 8-0 |
.435 .471 .457 .590 .550 .539 .442 .512 .400 .482 |
No unbeatens with an SOS of .500 or better. Mount Union's will rise the final two weeks. Suspect the 'last year's playoff performance' tiebreaker was in play here. ... Albion 1-0 vs. regionally ranked opponents (RRO) and Illinois Wesleyan 1-0 as well, with a lower SOS. ... Not immediately clear why John Carroll (0-0 v. RRO) is ahead of Olivet (0-1). |
| South Region | SOS | Notes |
| 1 Hardin-Simmons 6-0 8-0 2 Johns Hopkins 8-0 8-0 3 Mary Hardin-Baylor 6-1 7-1 4 Thomas More 9-0 9-0 T5 Washington and Lee 7-0 8-0 T5 Moravian 7-1 7-1 7 Guilford 7-1 7-1 8 Huntingdon 6-1 7-1 9 Texas Lutheran 5-2 6-2 10 Maryville 6-1 7-1 |
.561 .540 .476 .462 .518 .518 .447 .393 .564 .487 |
Hardin-Simmons with superior SOS and 2-0 vs. RRO trumps Johns Hopkins, Thomas More and W&L ... Thomas More with no results vs. RRO and won't pick up one this week as Case (7-1, .511 SOS) is unranked. ... South committee sending a message that 0-1 vs. RRO with one overall loss is apparently same as 1-0 vs. RRO with no overall losses? |
| West Region | SOS | Notes |
|
1 St. Thomas 8-0 8-0 |
.528 .552 .494 .538 .569 .541 .594 .564 .499 .485 |
St. Thomas' win vs. the fifth-ranked team apparently judged as better than Linfield's win vs. the other fifth-ranked team. If committee deemed this a tie, then Linfield should be No. 1 based on 'last year's playoff performance' tiebreaker. ... Committee seems to not understand that Finlandia is a D-III opponent as neither UWW nor UWO is given credit for them as a D-III win. ... Platteville and St. John's with head-to-head over Dubuque, who has head-to-head over Wartburg. |
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 25 automatic bids, one Pool B bid and six Pool C (true national at-large) bids. Selection Sunday is Nov. 15.
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.