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NOVEMBER 17, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH
No publication covers NCAA Division III better. #whyD3

☀️ What. A. Weekend. And next weekend should be even better.

🗞️ In Today’s Playbook. Mount Union Top Seed in Football Bracket. Field Hockey Final Four Set. Soccer Sweet 16. Cross Country Qualifiers.

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1. Mount Union Top Seed in Football Bracket

The 40-team NCAA Division III football championship field was unveiled on Sunday evening. Mount Union is the overall No. 1 seed. Sixteen teams will compete in first-round contests to advance to the second round where 24 teams await after receiving opening-round byes.

» Football Bowl Game Lineup. Wilkes at Shenandoah (Cape Henry Bowl); Washington and Lee at Lycoming (Cape Charles Bowl); Illinois College vs. Aurora (Lakefront Bowl); UW-Stout vs. Washington U. (Isthmus Bowl); Ohio Northern vs. Wabash (ForeverLawn Bowl); Mount St. Joseph vs. Westminster PA (Extra Points Bowl); Misericordia at Carnegie Mellon (Centennial-MAC Bowl Series); Dickinson at Delaware Valley (Centennial-MAC Bowl Series); Lebanon Valley at Ursinus (Centennial-MAC Bowl Series); Merchant Marine at Curry (Fusion Bowl).

2. Field Hockey Final Four Set

Three of the top four seeds advanced to the national semifinals of the 2025 DIII Field Hockey championship.

No. 1 seed Christopher Newport got the game-winning goal by 4:38 into the final period from Riley Iasiello to down Salisbury, 1-0. The undefeated Captains (19-0) will take on Tufts (17-3) in one semifinal. The Jumbos struck twice in the first 5:39 to down No. 4 seeded Bates, 3-1.

Johns Hopkins (21-1) ensured that there would be a new national champion, eliminating seven-time champ Middlebury, 3-0. Babson (22-1) awaits the Blue Jays, after ousting Wesleyan, 1-0, on a second-quarter tally from Laney Reed.

» Updated Bracket

3. Soccer Sweet 16

The top four seeds in both the DIII men’s and women’s soccer championships advanced through the initial two rounds and into the Sweet 16.

The top-seeded Tufts men needed a golden goal from Henry Brown in the 101’ to turn back Brandeis, 1-0. The Washington U. women, seeded No. 1 in the field, got five goals from five different players in a 5-1 triumph against North Central (Ill.)

Sweet 16 Matchups (M). #1 Tufts vs. Messiah; #7 Connecticut College vs. #9 Bowdoin; #3 St. Olaf vs. #17 Williams; #6 Macalester vs. #21 Wheaton MA; #2 Augsburg vs. #18 Cortland; #10 WashU vs. #12 Trinity TX; #4 Lynchburg vs. #22 Dickinson; #5 Emory vs. Rowan.

Sweet 16 Matches (W). #1 WashU vs. #18 MIT; #8 Messiah vs. #23 Calvin; #4 Chicago vs. #13 Cal Lutheran; #20 Swarthmore vs. #16 Carleton; #3 Tufts vs. #14 Middlebury; Mary Washington vs. Penn State Harrisburg; #2 Emory vs. #15 Johns Hopkins; #6 Washington and Lee vs. #9 Pomona-Pitzer.

4. Volleyball Bracket Unveiling Today

It was one of the best weekends of DIII women’s volleyball conference championships in recent memory, as seven league titles and AQs to the NCAA tournament were decided by two points in the fifth and final set.

Greenville held off Westminster, 18-16, in the final set to win the SLIAC, while Saint Benedict finished off a reverse sweep of St. Olaf with a 17-15 fifth set triumph. Claremont-M-S also pulled off a reverse sweep on La Verne, taking the last three sets including a 16-14 decision in the decisive fifth set. Three other conference finals saw their championship decided by 15-13 counts in set No. 5 - the MAC Freedom, Liberty League and WIAC.

The 2025 DIII women’s volleyball 64-team bracket will be unveiled this afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.

» Conference AQ Title Matches. Marymount (AEC); Penn State Behrend (AMCC); East Texas Baptist (ASC); Coe (ARC); Christopher Newport (C2C); Johns Hopkins (CC); Illinois Wesleyan (CCIW); Asbury (CCS); Brooklyn vs. John Jay (CUNYAC); Wentworth (CNE); St. John Fisher (E8); Lasell (GNAC); Hanover (HCAC); Juniata (LAND); Plymouth State (LEC); Ithaca (LL); Stevenson (MACC); Stevens (MACF); Bridgewater State (MASCAC); Calvin (MIAA); Saint Benedict (MIAC); Cornell (MWC); Maine Maritime (NAC): Edgewood (NACC); Wittenberg (NCAC); Tufts (NESCAC); MIT (NEWMAC); Kean (NJAC); Pacific Lutheran (NWC); Otterbein (OAC); Washington and Lee (ODAC); Grove City (PAC); Berry (SAA); Colorado College (SCAC); Claremont-M-S (SCIAC); Manhattanville (SKY); Greenville (SLIAC); Cortland (SUNYAC); Carnegie Mellon (UAA); St. Mary’s, Md. (UEC); Northwestern (UMAC): Southern Virginia (USA South); Oshkosh (WIAC).

» Who’s In As At-Larges. Colby, UW-Eau Claire, Virginia Wesleyan, La Verne, Wesleyan, Trinity TX, Hope, Salisbury, Lynchburg, Dubuque, UW-Whitewater, Babson, Williams, Washington U., Emory, Franklin & Marshall, St. Olaf, Gustavus Adolphus, Springfield, William Smith, NYU.

» At-Large NPI Cut Line. 41

5. Cross Country

“The NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee has announced the participants for the 2025 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships.

Thirty-two teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top seven-person team automatically qualified from each of the 10 regions. Twenty-two additional teams were selected at-large.

Seventy individuals, the first seven student-athletes from each region who are not a part of a qualifying team, were selected to participate in each championship. The list of advancing teams and individuals is outlined below.

Converse University and OneSpartanburg, Inc. are hosting the championships Nov. 22 at Roger Milliken Cross Country course at the Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg, S.C. The men’s race will begin at 10 a.m. ET, followed by the women’s race at 11 a.m. ET.

6. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Financial Aid. “Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday that it’s eliminating tuition, fees and living expenses for its Homewood campus undergraduates whose families make less than $100,000 a year; students whose families earn up to $200,000 will pay no tuition. It joins a wave of other institutions—especially private, selective ones—that have announced tuition guarantees.”

» Probation. “Wittenberg University in Springfield’s accreditation status has been changed to “accredited on probation” due to ongoing financial concerns. “Probation is a public sanction that allows the institution a period of time to resolve the areas of concern,” the accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission, said in a statement to the public dated Nov. 6.”

» Basketball (W). Scranton defeated Division I Pitt, 69-63, on Sunday.

7. Comings and Goings 

EASTERN CONNECTICUT - Announced addition of women’s flag football as a varsity sport beginning in spring 2027. Named Andy Crane head coach

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