The first year of an expanded playoff system is bound to bring some seismic changes to the college football landscape.

Of course, we’re talking about the biggest playoff-related news going into the 2024 season — the eight additional bids up for grabs in the NCAA Division III football playoffs.

With the number of automatic bids awarded to conference champions steadily increasing in D-III football in recent years, the number of at-large bids on offer were getting smaller and smaller by the season. 

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That’s all changed for 2024 as the D-III playoffs has expanded from 32 teams to 40, granting more opportunities for strong programs who don’t otherwise win their league to make the postseason and compete for a trip to the Stagg Bowl.

This new-look D-III season is going to be a lot of fun, but finding out who will be favored to step up and make the field can be a hassle. That’s what this handy guide is for, and with multiple D-III leagues being shown live and exclusively on FloFootball throughout the fall, you’ll be able to get your fill of football all season long.

Here’s a look at FloFootball’s projections for the 40 teams that will make the reworked D-III playoff field:

NCAA Division 3 Predictions: Automatic Bids (28)

Here are the teams projected to make the D3 football playoffs vis automatic bid. 

American Rivers: Wartburg

Following back-to-back playoff semifinal appearances, the Knights — who return last year’s national interceptions leader, Parker Rochford — are without a doubt among D-III’s elite and are knocking on the door of what could be their first-ever Stagg Bowl appearance this season.

American Southwest: Hardin-Simmons

It’s a new-look American Southwest Conference as only four teams remain for 2024 after four other schools dipped. What won’t change is that it should still be a two-horse race between Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor, with the Cowboys getting the preseason edge.

Centennial: Johns Hopkins

Well-known outside of football for its elite medical school, turns out that Johns Hopkins is pretty good on the gridiron, too. The Blue Jays are coming off a playoff quarterfinal appearance, and even with former player Dan Wodicka entering his first year as head coach, they’ll be back in.

CCIW: North Central

With Gagliardi Trophy-winning quarterback Luke Lehnen back under center, the Cardinals — ranked No. 1 in D3football.com’s preseason top 25 — are probably D-III’s most surefire playoff lock in the preseason and should be in the hunt for a fifth straight Stagg Bowl trip.

ECFC: Anna Maria

The ECFC, generally considered one of D-III’s weakest leagues, will be playing its final season this fall as all four teams remaining are slated to depart in 2025. With no obvious favorite, the Amcats get the slight nod ahead of time following a run of three straight winning seasons.

Empire 8: Cortland

No surprise here that the Red Dragons, who are coming off their first national championship in program history last season, should be the huge favorites to repeat in the Empire 8. Check out star quarterback Zac Boyes on FloFootball when Cortland visits Susquehanna on Sept. 21.

Heartland: Mount St. Joseph

The unanimous HCAC favorite Lions will be aiming to repeat and follow up on their playoff trip from a season ago, when they gave Wheaton a scare in the first round. Only North Central scored more points per game in D-III last season than Mount St. Joseph (55.4).

Landmark: Susquehanna

The only team to defeat national champion Cortland a year ago, last season’s inaugural Landmark Conference champion will be heavily favored to take the league title a second time. But can the River Hawks burst through and become a member of D-III’s elite?

Liberty: Ithaca

Since joining the Liberty League in 2017, the Bombers have won at least a share of the conference title four times, including when they put up back-to-back unblemished marks in league play over the past two seasons. Another perfect slate is on the table.

MASCAC: Western Connecticut State

The MASCAC title could go several different ways as WestConn, UMass-Dartmouth and Bridgewater State were all locked in a dogfight for the championship in 2023. The Wolves prevailed, however, and they’ll look to make it two in a row after their first playoff trip since 2001.

Michigan: Alma

The Scots shocked D-III last fall when they went on the road to Mount Union and upset the Purple Raiders in the second round of the playoffs. Now with three D3football.com Preseason All-Americans returning and the country on alert, Alma is ready to show its run wasn’t a fluke.

Middle Atlantic: Delaware Valley

The six-time defending MAC champion will have to win its seventh straight conference title with a new coach after Duke Greco left to take a D-II job. Mike Isgro will be the coach trying to keep the Aggies’ mojo going, and it helps that they haven’t lost in league play since Oct. 22, 2016.

Midwest: Illinois College

The Blueboys came out of nowhere to take the MWC crown last season, anchored by a monster 2,200-yard, 31-touchdown season from All-American wideout Collin Brunstein. Monmouth will be on their heels, but IC’s record-setting passing attack is just too good to ignore.

Minnesota: Saint John’s

The Johnnies are a household name in D-III football, but 2023 was a rare miss for SJU as it not only missed out on the playoffs, but it didn’t even win its division. Still, as they’re rarely down for long, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Johnnies storm back to the MIAC title this year.

New England: Endicott

Amid their most successful stretch in program history as they’ve won three straight conference championships and made three straight playoff appearances as a result, the Gulls will be pushing to make it four in a row each way and finally get past the first round while they’re at it.

NEWMAC: Springfield

Are the Pride doomed for a fall in 2024? It’s unlikely, as Springfield hasn’t lost a NEWMAC game since 2019 and has won nine games two years running. Defensive NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Year Arsen Shtefan (1,272 rushing yards) should tear it up on FloFootball all season.

New Jersey: Christopher Newport

Three different programs got first-place votes in the NJAC’s preseason poll (and Rowan even got an official “dark horse” designation), but we’ll roll with the hot hand in the Captains to repeat. QB Matt Dzierski and RB Gunner White are both ex-NJAC Offensive Players of the Year.

North Coast: DePauw

The NCAC’s addition of John Carroll in the 2025 season will threaten to shake up the league’s title fight, but for now, the Tigers are still the team to beat. They’ve been cooking recently under fifth-year coach Brett Dietz, who has taken them to three consecutive playoff berths.

NACC: Aurora

Like offense? The Spartans do, too. AU scored a blistering 62.6 points per game — including dropping 91 on Concordia University Chicago — in league play last season as it upped its conference winning streak to 38 games in 2023. It’ll roll through the NACC again.

Northwest: Linfield

The D-III football landscape is often lonely out west, but Linfield — with 67 consecutive winning seasons, the longest such streak in all of college football — has done just fine in making a name for itself. The Wildcats will narrowly get back at Whitworth for the NWC championship in 2024.

Ohio: Mount Union

Death, taxes, and the Purple Raiders winning the OAC title. The most successful program in D-III football history has only lost its league once since 1992. That won’t change in 2024, though their always-tough rival, John Carroll, will benefit from the expanded playoff field.

Old Dominion: Randolph-Macon

With a 36-3 ODAC record over the past six seasons, Randolph-Macon has dominated its league and looks better than ever after a school-record 13 wins and a national semifinals run last season. The Yellow Jackets will be favored to three-peat and continue their reign atop the ODAC.

Presidents’: Grove City

One of the most remarkable stories in all of college football, Grove City less than a decade ago had a period in which it lost 33 straight games. Last year, it won the PAC and a playoff game before falling to national champion Cortland by one point. The Wolverines are good.

SAA: Trinity (Texas)

Berry could easily be the team that earns the SAA’s automatic bid, and the league’s coaches think so as the Vikings were picked to win the conference in the preseason poll. The three-time defending outright champion Tigers might have something to say about that, though.

SCIAC: Chapman

The winner of the first-ever SCIAC Championship Game last season, Chapman made its fourth playoff appearance since 2014 as one of the strongest D-III programs west of the Rocky Mountains. Getting back to beyond the first round, however, should be the Panthers’ next goal.

Upper Midwest: Minnesota Morris

The Cougars broke the longest drought between appearances of any team in last season’s playoff field as they earned the UMAC’s auto-bid to make it back for the first time since 1981. Going back-to-back in the UMAC would show that they don’t plan on waiting that long again.

USA South: Huntingdon

From 2015-23, the Hawks only missed out on at least a share of the USA South title once, which made it all the more surprising last year that Belhaven secured the league’s auto-bid and made the playoffs for the first time. Undeterred, Huntingdon will get the Blazers back in 2024.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin-La Crosse

Almost always a brutally tough league to call, we’ll roll with the two-time defending champion Eagles to three-peat in the WIAC for the first time since 2002-04. However, don’t be stunned if blue-blood Wisconsin-Whitewater or even upstart Wisconsin-River Falls is in this spot, either.

NCAA Division 3 Predictions: At-Large Bids (12)

Here are the teams projected to make the D3 football playoffs vis at-large bid.

Wisconsin-Whitewater (Wisconsin)

Yes, we didn’t pick the Warhawks to win the WIAC, but we’re not picking them to miss the playoffs outright, either. The six-time national champions are still a top-tier D-III program, and after a playoff quarterfinal run last season are gunning for their first national crown since 2014.

Wheaton (CCIW)

In a similar spot to UW-Whitewater in which they would dominate other D-III leagues but is stuck with brutal conference competition, the Thunder have a tall task in surpassing North Central for the CCIW’s auto-bid, but they’ll be a favorite for what would be a fourth at-large bid in a row.

Mary Hardin-Baylor (American Southwest)

The Crusaders missed out on the playoffs last season for the first time since 2003, and the shrinking of the ASC doesn’t help in their hopes to get back. They’ll probably need to beat Hardin-Simmons at least once and maybe UW-Whitewater in September, too, but there’s a path.

John Carroll (Ohio)

After decades of mainly playing second fiddle to Mount Union in the OAC, the Blue Streaks are moving to the North Coast Athletic Conference in 2025. Their final season in the league this fall, however, will see them earn an at-large bid and make the OAC a two-bid conference.

Muhlenberg (Centennial)

It wasn’t long ago that the Mules were flirting with a Stagg Bowl spot, making at least the national quarterfinals (and the semifinals in 2019) in every season held from 2018-21. Consecutive seasons without the playoffs have made them hungry, especially after 10 wins in 2023. 

Whitworth (Northwest)

West Coast representation in the D-III playoffs can get a little sparse, but it’s definitely possible that the Northwest Conference sends two teams to the postseason. Whitworth and Linfield don’t meet until the regular-season finale, but both may have wrapped up playoff berths by then.

Berry (SAA)

Even if the Vikings don’t pry the SAA title away from Trinity, they should have a good enough season with a playoff-worthy resume if all goes to plan. All-American running back Brandon Cade (2,872 rushing yards, 43 touchdowns in three years) will be swinging the hammer.

Carnegie Mellon (Presidents’)

The Tartans are amid a surge, reaching double-digit wins in consecutive years for the first time in program history last season after a 10-win campaign. Grove City beat them to the PAC title in 2023, but they should be right on the Wolverines’ heels once again and in at-large contention.

Wisconsin-River Falls (Wisconsin)

The three-bid league in D-III is rare, especially after at-large bids became condensed in recent years. But the WIAC — long considered D-III’s best conference — is good enough to send three schools to the playoffs, with the Falcons’ first potential trip since 1996 up for grabs.

Bethel (Minnesota)

First-year head coach Mike McElroy (who was also the Royals’ defensive coordinator from 2017-23) will try and live up to a legend in Steve Johnson, who retired last year after 34 seasons. His first objective: Get Bethel to the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

Union (Liberty)

No stranger to having to earn a potential at-large bid as the Garnet Chargers did just that in 2023, there should be another war this year between Union and Ithaca for the Liberty League’s automatic bid. And if Union doesn’t get it, they know how to get in the playoffs, anyway.

Belhaven (USA South)

The Blazers had a landmark year in 2023 by snatching the USA South title away from Huntingdon and making the playoffs for the first time in program history. With the extra playoff spots now up for grabs, they’ll do just enough to sneak in as an at-large pick in 2024.

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