The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- October 25, 1999

Division III Football

Field: The field increases this year from 16 to 28 teams Fifteen conferences have been grant

ed automatic qualification and nine berths are for independents and teams that are members of non-automatic-qualifying conferences. Four berths will be provided for those teams remaining from automatic-qualifying conferences that do not win their automatic berth.

Dates and sites: First-round (November 20), second-round (November 27), quarterfinal (December 4) and semifinal (December 11) games will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The championship will be December 18 at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/563-1133 (pin code 1915); request numbers are 1358 for dates/sites and 5091 for championship-game results. First-round and quarterfinal results will appear in the December 6 issue of The NCAA News, semifinal results will appear in the December 20 issue, and championship-game results will be published in the January 3 issue.

Championship notes: Mount Union ran its championship winning streak to three in 1998 with a 44-24 victory over Rowan. The Purple Raiders also won the 1993 title to tie Augustana (Illinois) for the most championships with four. All but four of the top 25 teams ranked in the American Football Coaches Association poll of October 5 are undefeated. Mount Union, which defeated No. 15 John Carroll in triple overtime October 2, holds the top spot.