2024 Division III football playoffs

January 5, 2025 2024 Division III playoff bracket The final results -- the first time the Division III football playoffs consisted of 39 games, and the third time that North Central came away with the trophy.

January 11, 2025 North Central no longer dreaming North Central won the national title in a dream season in 2019. But now, three championships in five seasons is dynasty-level stuff — a feat only accomplished by three previous programs whose names you should all know. Greg Thomas has more on the national champs.

January 5, 2025 North Central wins third title The Cardinals of North Central put up 20 points in the fourth quarter and ran out the clock on Mount Union, defeating the Purple Raiders 41-25 in Stagg Bowl LI to win their third title in five seasons.

January 7, 2025 D3football.com Top 25, 2024 final The final D3football.com Top 25: Who played their way in and who played their way up the poll during the playoffs?

January 6, 2025 Houston, we have a champion Stagg Bowl LI was another example of the ongoing red shift in Division III football, as North Central won its third title in its five consecutive trips to the Stagg Bowl and ensured that the Walnut and Bronze would have a red tint to it for the third year in a row. Patrick, Greg and Keith break it all down, hand out game balls and more in the season's final podcast.

January 4, 2025 Underdog Purple Raiders clicking at right time Two weeks ago, Mount Union coach Geoff Dartt referred to his team as the underdogs in Stagg Bowl LI. But even if so, the Purple Raiders are loose and as dangerous as ever. Plus, they're playing their best ball of the year. Patrick Coleman has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

January 2, 2025 North Central's seniors all have a job to do Even though not all of North Central's 38 seniors might see playing time in Stagg Bowl LI, and perhaps some might not even make the 58-person roster, they have all had a role in getting the team to this point. Greg Thomas digs into their job in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

January 4, 2025 Taking you up to kickoff North Central and Mount Union are back, and how healthy are they? What new wrinkles might we see offensively? How many snaps will Noah Beaudrie get? How many passes will Luke Lehnen end up throwing? Here's a taste of what we hear from players from both sides of the ball, whether it's Luke and the Linemen, or Rossy Moore on his favorite way to add productive weight.

December 21, 2024 North Central absolutely rolls into Stagg Susquehanna's postseason run came to a shuddering halt as North Central, the No. 1 team in the country executed in all phases of the game en route to a big win in the national semifinals.

December 21, 2024 Mount Union runs out clock on JHU Tyler Echeverry had 183 yards on the ground as Mount Union had enough offense to hold off Johns Hopkins in a 45-37 win in the national semifinals.

December 19, 2024 North Central receivers inherit big legacy No, DeAngelo Hardy and Andrew Kamienski have graduated and moved on, but the current corps of North Central receivers is making its own path to success for the Cardinals. Greg Thomas has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 18, 2024 Johns Hopkins rides with its defense As Johns Hopkins returns to the site of Jim Margraff's last game as head coach, they come with a defense that has closed out every game in the Blue Jays' playoff run. Joe Sager has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 17, 2024 Echeverry's dynamic play drives Mount Union offense Whether he's breaking off a touchdown run of 50-plus yards or just chipping away on the ground and making his contributions through the air, Tyler Echeverry leads a talented running back room at Mount Union. Patrick Coleman has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 17, 2024 Why not us? Susquehanna watched Cortland play in the Stagg Bowl and had reason to dream big: As the only team to beat Cortland all season, the River Hawks could envision themselves playing on bigger stages. And so far in this playoff, that has come true. Brian Lester has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 12, 2024 Springfield defense also has options The famed triple-option offense gets a lot of publicity at Springfield, but without the Pride defense shutting Cortland out over the last 25 minutes on Saturday, we'd be looking at a different quarterfinal altogether. Greg Thomas visits with the Pride D in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 12, 2024 Stop the run, party in the backfield The Mary Hardin-Baylor run has been fueled by the defense, especially the folks up front, as the Cru has recorded 17 sacks in their three playoff wins. Riley Zayas has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 11, 2024 Howes, Susquehanna doing just fine Kyle Howes once had eyes on playing quarterback at Susquehanna, then briefly thought about leaving. No surprise that everyone's glad he stayed. The senior standout wide receiver is a big part of why Susquehanna is in the quarterfinals. Logan Moyer has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 10, 2024 Gulls fly while remaining grounded Salisbury's return to the national quarterfinals is, as always, primarily driven by its ground attack, and SyRus McGowan, who took over the starting quarterback job midway through the season, has definitely settled in. Joe Sager has more on the Sea Gulls in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 7, 2024 Springfield, Susquehanna shockers Springfield delivered the biggest win in program history as it knocked off the defending national champions in No. 2 Cortland, 40-28 in the third round of the NCAA playoffs, on a day in which road teams won five of the eight games played.

December 5, 2024 DePauw achieving higher goals Recent playoff seasons and results led DePauw to believe, truly believe, that it had a chance to set its goals a little higher. And so far, the Tigers have come through. Greg Thomas has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

December 4, 2024 No panic for Yellow Jackets When Randolph-Macon went down 14-0 vs. Washington & Jefferson on Saturday, there was no panic. They just found a way to get it done. Brian Lester has more.

December 3, 2024 Pounce on any loose ball Creating opportunities with takeaways is a must for a successful defense, and that's a key part of the Wartburg defensive philosophy. Plus, getting All-Region linebacker Nate Link back came just at the right time as well. Joe Sager has more.

November 27, 2024 UMHB answers the call When the situation required a scoring drive, Mary Hardin-Baylor came up with one, and knocked off Trinity (Texas) on the road to advance into the second round of the playoffs. Now the Cru are looking to repeat history at Hardin-Simmons -- the 2004 history, not the 2024. Riley Zayas has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

November 27, 2024 JHU has new look, same mentality The Blue Jays' offense isn't as explosive as it has been in the past, but Johns Hopkins is still confident as it enters the playoffs under first-year head coach Dan Wodicka. Brian Lester has more in a road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

November 27, 2024 Salisbury powered by last year's reset The 2023 season, in which an injury-riddled team finished 6-4, left a sour taste in Salisbury's mouth. But the week after that season's disappointing finish, the players got together and recommitted, turning the offseason into a turning point. Greg Thomas has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

November 26, 2024 How many turkeys do you need to order? At UMass-Dartmouth, they're talking turkey for the first time as the Corsairs work toward their Saturday second round game against Springfield. There's been rest, game planning, and perhaps a pie-eating contest in the offing as well. Joe Sager has more in a Road to Houston feature.

November 25, 2024 River Hawks ready to regain rhythm With two byes in three weeks, Susquehanna has been walking the delicate line between getting rest for their key guys and not letting them get rusty. Joe Sager has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

November 23, 2024 First-round winners get it done late Whitworth got a pick with seconds to play, King's scored with under a minute left, Mary Hardin-Baylor scored with under two minutes left, Bethel got the last of its 10 sacks with two minutes left and Maryville got a sack and a defensive stop with just over two minutes left as the five teams were among the eight who advanced.

November 21, 2024 Our picks to surprise, disappoint in playoffs Who will surprise in this year's playoff bracket? Who will disappoint? Who will advance to the semifinals? It's our team's annual take on the postseason, in Around the Nation.

November 22, 2024 Quick Hits: Our predictions for the first round Which games will be close? Which will be high scoring? Which games will be toss-ups? The first round of the Division III playoffs has that and more. Check out Quick Hits, where our panelists predict the scores of each game.

November 21, 2024 Great Scots lead Maryville to playoffs From the COVID year, to a 4-6 finish, to 5-5, 8-2, and 8-1 and a playoff spot, Maryville is ending is run in the USA South with a trip to the playoffs. Brian Lester has more in a Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

November 19, 2024 La Crosse looking back on track UW-La Crosse needed to do some 'tightening of the screws' and shook off a two-game losing streak to get past the rest of its WIAC opponents and get to the playoffs. Joe Sager has more in Road to the Stagg Bowl feature.

November 20, 2024 2024 Cortland bracket previews

November 20, 2024 2024 Hardin-Simmons bracket previews

November 20, 2024 Previewing the Salisbury bracket The second of our series of bracket previews starts in the bottom right-hand corner and previews the Salisbury bracket, which starts in Maryland and then points west through Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky.

November 20, 2024 Previewing the St. John's bracket The first of our series of bracket previews starts with the top seed in the upper left-hand corner and previews the St. John's bracket, from the Johnnies down to the Eagles, and the Eagles.

November 18, 2024 NCAA flips home team It's a whole new world, with seedings and rankings of teams available for all to see, and so when the world noticed that Bethel was seeded higher than Coe and should be hosting its first-round game, the NCAA made a change.

November 17, 2024 The NCAA playoff bracket is out! This is how teams will line up headed to Stagg Bowl LI, as the algorithm chose them and the committee bracketed them. Who got unexpected first-round byes?

November 16, 2024 Our projected playoff bracket Before this year, projecting a playoff bracket also meant projecting all the teams. But like we said in our recap of Saturday's games, all that work was already done by the algorithm, so Patrick and Greg skipped ahead straight to bracketing. And it wasn't easy. Here's what we came up with.