Selection Sunday usually goes something like this: Wait, see bracket, gripe endlessly about what the committee did wrong.

In a year when one-loss Rowan, Pacific Lutheran and Redlands are staying home and nine teams with multiple losses won their automatic bids or got in via Pool B, including four teams with at least three losses, the committee was placed in a tough situation.

But frankly, they rocked it.

The bracket we end up with is all hype (as in things to be excited by) and few gripes.

Here’s what we have (click for the bracket):
1) A bracket where the defending champion and consensus No. 1 team in the nation, UW-Whitewater, went 10-0 and did not earn a No. 1 seed. If there’s any gripe, that’s it. Yet, the Warhawks will play home games until a potential showdown with North Central, which got the fourth No. 1 seed, and is placed across the bracket from five-time Stagg Bowl opponent Mount Union.

2) Even if we are headed for a sixth straight matchup of the same teams in Salem, for the first time, the purple powers would have to earn it on the road in the semifinals. The committee released the order of its No. 1 seeds, which is how the brackets are then paired. The order is Wesley, St. Thomas, Mount Union and North Central. That means if the No. 1s held and UW-Whitewater won its bracket, the Warhawks’ road to Salem would go through Dover, Del. and the Purple Raiders’ would go through St. Paul, Minn. For those who complain the purple powers have it easy, road semifinals would change the look, if not the result.

3) The return of seeds. After a one-year hiatus, they were provided to D3football.com and are on our version of the bracket. No reason to tick off the fans unnecessarily. Wise move.

4) A bracket which heavily rewards strength of schedule. The selection committee basically said, sure, 10-0 will get you in the field, but if it comes with a very low SoS figure, like Wittenberg (.440), SUNY-Maritime (.433) or Trine (.408), you’re going on the road in Round 1. (although SUNY-Maritime, like Cal Lutheran, earned a higher seed but was not able to host for off-the-field reasons). The SoS figures are also behind the placement of Wesley (.608) and St. Thomas (.548) as the top two No. 1 seeds, as well as North Central (.523) getting one over UW-Whitewater (.487). It’s why DePauw (.549) and Ohio Northern (.512) host Trine and Wittenberg in Round 1 despite the latter’s 10-0 records.

5) Common sense prevailed with regard to Montclair State and Rowan. The numbers and the last set of regional rankings might have slightly favored the Profs, but the Red Hawks won head-to-head, 26-7.

6) It produced compelling Round 1 matchups — granted, travel circumstances made this easy this year — and only one rematch, Cal Lutheran vs. Linfield. Montclair State at Hampden-Sydney and Bethel at Wartburg look like first-round games that could go either way.

I’ll write more about who didn’t get in — Rowan (9-1), Pacific Lutheran (8-1) and Redlands (8-1) by record; Rowan, Louisiana College (7-2 vs. D-III teams), Wabash (8-2) and PLU/Redlands by region; in the comments section.

On Twitter, use hashtag #d3fb32 on tweets about the selection process and playoffs. We also have a thread going on Post Patterns that’s open for comments.

By Thursday, you’ll be ready to look forward, and in our usual Around the Nation slot, our analysts will look at potential surprises, disappointments and winners in all four parts of the bracket, plus we’ll run our regular free pick ‘em and the last columns from all of our Around the Region writers.

Floor’s yours.

Bethel · Cal Lutheran · Coe · DePauw · Hampden-Sydney · Linfield · Louisiana College · Mary Hardin-Baylor · Montclair State · Mount Union · North Central · Ohio Northern · Pacific Lutheran · Redlands · Rowan · St. Thomas · SUNY-Maritime · Trine · UW-Whitewater · Wabash · Wartburg · Washington and Lee · Wesley · Wittenberg

The NCAA released its third 2010 regional rankings today.

Teams are listed with their regional record first, followed by their overall record. For more information about the playoff format and how participants are determined, check out our FAQ.

This is the last ranking we will get to see before the playoff selections are made and the bracket is released on Sunday. Teams which have clinched automatic bids are in bold.

East Region
1. Delaware Valley 8-1 8-1
2. Rowan 8-1 8-1
3. Montclair State 8-1 8-1
4. Cortland State 8-1 8-1
5. SUNY-Maritime 9-0 10-0
6. Maine Maritime 8-1 8-1
7. Alfred 6-2 7-2
8. Springfield 7-2 7-2
9. St. John Fisher 7-2 8-2
10. Endicott 8-2 8-2

Also clinched bids, but unranked: St. Lawrence

North Region
1. Mount Union 8-0 9-0
2. North Central (Ill.) 9-0 9-0
3. Wheaton (Ill.) 8-1 8-1
4. Ohio Northern 7-1 8-1
5. Wittenberg 7-0 9-0
6. Trine 8-0 9-0
7. Franklin 7-1 8-1
8. Illinois Wesleyan 7-2 7-2
9. Baldwin-Wallace 7-2 7-2
10. Wabash 7-1 7-2

Also clinched bids, but unranked: Benedictine

South Region
1. Wesley 5-0 8-0
2. Mary Hardin-Baylor 8-0 9-0
3. DePauw 9-0 9-0
4. Thomas More 9-0 9-0
5. Hardin-Simmons 8-1 8-1
6. Washington and Lee 7-2 7-2
7. Hampden-Sydney 8-1 8-1
8. Salisbury 4-2 6-2
9. Muhlenberg 7-2 7-2
10. Ursinus 7-2 7-2

Also clinched bids, but unranked: None.

West Region
1. St. Thomas 10-0 10-0
2. UW-Whitewater 6-0 9-0
3. Wartburg 9-0 9-0
4. Cal Lutheran 7-1 7-1
5. Coe 6-1 8-1
6. Bethel 8-1 8-1
7. Linfield 6-1 7-1
8. Pacific Lutheran 6-1 7-1
9. Redlands 7-1 7-1
10. Central 8-2 8-2

Also clinched bids, but unranked: St. Norbert

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The NCAA released its second 2010 regional rankings today.

Teams are listed with their regional 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
1. Delaware Valley 7-1 7-1
2. Rowan 7-1 7-1
3. St. John Fisher 7-1 8-1
4. Cortland State 7-1 7-1
5. Montclair State 7-1 7-1
6. SUNY-Maritime 9-0 9-0
7. Maine Maritime 7-1 7-1
8. Ithaca 6-2 6-2
9. Alfred 5-2 6-2
10. Endicott 7-2 7-2

North Region
1. Wheaton (Ill.) 8-0 8-0
2. North Central (Ill.) 8-0 8-0
3. Mount Union 7-0 8-0
4. Ohio Northern 6-1 7-1
5. Trine 7-0 8-0
6. Baldwin-Wallace 7-1 7-1
7. Franklin 6-1 7-1
8. Case Western Reserve 6-1 7-1
9. Wittenberg 6-0 8-0
10. Wabash 7-0 7-1

South Region
1. Wesley 5-0 8-0
2. Mary Hardin-Baylor 7-0 8-0
3. Hampden-Sydney 8-0 8-0
4. DePauw 8-0 8-0
5. Thomas More 8-0 8-0
6. Hardin-Simmons 8-1 8-1
7. Ursinus 7-1 7-1
8. Salisbury 4-2 6-2
9. Randolph-Macon 7-1 7-1
10. Washington and Lee 6-2 6-2

West Region
1. St. Thomas 9-0 9-0
2. UW-Whitewater 5-0 8-0
3. Wartburg 8-0 8-0
4. Coe 5-1 7-1
5. Cal Lutheran 6-1 6-1
6. Bethel 7-1 7-1
7. Linfield 5-1 6-1
8. Pacific Lutheran 5-1 6-1
9. Redlands 6-1 6-1
10. Central 8-1 8-1

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The NCAA released its first 2010 regional rankings today.

Teams are listed with their regional record first, followed by their overall record. For more information about the playoff format and how participants are determined, check out our FAQ.

We will pass along any needed corrections in regional records to the NCAA. Traditionally the football committee has been pretty much on, however.

East Region
1. Montclair State 7-0 7-0
2. Delaware Valley 6-0 6-1
3. Rowan 6-1 6-1
4. Alfred 5-1 6-1
5. St. John Fisher 7-1 7-1
6. SUNY-Maritime 8-0 8-0
7. Cortland State 6-1 6-1
8. Norwich 7-1 7-1
9. Western New England 7-1 7-1
10. Maine Maritime 6-1 6-1

North Region
1. Wheaton (Ill.) 7-0 7-0
2. North Central (Ill.) 7-0 7-0
3. Mount Union 6-0 7-0
4. Ohio Northern 5-1 6-1
5. Case Western Reserve 6-0 7-0
6. Trine 6-0 7-0
7. Baldwin-Wallace 6-1 6-1
8. Franklin 5-1 6-1
9. Wittenberg 6-0 8-0
10. Wabash 6-0 6-1

South Region
1. Hampden-Sydney 7-0 7-0
2. Mary Hardin-Baylor 6-0 7-0
3. Wesley 4-0 7-0
4. DePauw 7-0 7-0
5. Thomas More 7-0 7-0
6. Ursinus 7-0 7-0
7. Salisbury 4-1 6-1
8. Hardin-Simmons 7-1 7-1
9. Randolph-Macon 7-1 7-1
10. Washington and Jefferson 5-2 5-2

West Region
1. St. Thomas 8-0 8-0
2. UW-Whitewater 4-0 7-0
3. Wartburg 7-0 7-0
4. Coe 4-1 6-1
5. Bethel 6-1 6-1
6. Cal Lutheran 5-1 5-1
7. Redlands 5-1 5-1
8. Linfield 5-1 5-1
9. Pacific Lutheran 4-1 5-1
10. Central 7-1 7-1

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From now until the end of the regular season you may well see a lot of Division III buzzwords floating about on our front page, here in the Daily Dose and on our message boards. Pool A, Pool B, Pool C, OWP, OOWP … what do those all mean?

Pool A, Pool B and Pool C are the labels given to groups (also known as Pools) of bids awarded to the playoffs. The field is 32 teams, who meet in five rounds of playoffs culminating in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 18, in Salem, Va.

Understanding Pool A is fairly simple — let’s just pretend that ‘A’ stands for automatic. Those are the 23 automatic bids that are awarded. If there’s a tie at the top of a conference’s standings at the end of the season, the conference itself is responsible for determining who gets the automatic bid. (Most, if not all, conferences separate two-way ties with the head-to-head result.)

If you are not in one of those 23 conferences, there are three bids set aside for you, which are referred to as Pool B bids. The best three teams out of that group, which encompasses all independents, the Atlantic Central Football Conference, the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and University Athletic Association, get bids.

Every eligible team not already selected is dropped into Pool C, which consists of six truly at-large bids. At-large bids are determined using the NCAA’s criteria, which includes regional winning percentage, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, results against common opponents and results against regionally ranked teams.

If your conference has an automatic bid and your team doesn’t win it, then you are only eligible for Pool C bids. If your conference doesn’t have an automatic bid, you are eligible for Pool B or Pool C.

Q: How can my team guarantee it will get into the playoffs?
A: Win your conference’s automatic bid. There’s no guarantees otherwise. If you’re a Pool B team, running the table is all you can do. No team has ever been left out of the playoffs in this system after running the table, regardless of strength of schedule. But one-loss teams with a weak schedule have not been as lucky.

Q: When will we find out which brackets meet in the national semifinals?
A: On Selection Sunday. They are not predetermined and do not rotate. The NCAA committee determines who it thinks the two best No. 1 seeds are in the bracket and makes sure they are set on opposite ends, to meet in Salem.

Q: If the two best teams are in the same region, will they be placed in separate brackets?
A: This is at least possible, but highly unlikely. They don’t seed this tournament like a D-I tournament, unfortunately. Teams are placed in groups according to geography and seeded, though keeping teams from having to travel 500 miles in the first round is more important to the NCAA than maintaining proper matchups.

Q: There are a lot of criteria to go through. How can I tell where my team stands?
A: The NCAA releases regional rankings after Week 8, 9 and 10. They use the same criteria that they’ll use to select at-large teams, so they’re a good indication of where teams in the same region are relative to each other. However, being No. 6 in one region doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ahead of a team that’s No. 7 in one of the other three.

Q: So if I’m ranked eighth in these rankings, I’m in the playoffs?
A: No. There are still the 23 automatic bids. They’ll all get in first. Take the 23 automatic bids out of the rankings (and keep in mind some conferences don’t have anyone in these rankings) and three Pool B teams, then the remaining six get in.

Q: Why doesn’t the NESCAC get an automatic bid?
A: It doesn’t want one. The league doesn’t want to participate in the NCAA playoffs in football.

Q: I have a question you haven’t answered. What do I do?
A: E-mail info@d3sports.com and/or post below in the comments section.

automatic bid · NCAA · playoffs · Pool A · Pool B · Pool C