2016 NCAA Division III football season

The 2016 NCAA Division III football season, part of the college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States, began on September 5, 2016 and ended with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, on December 16, 2016 at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. However, UMHB's championship was later vacated by the NCAA.

2016 NCAA Division III football season
Regular season	September 3 – November 12, 2016
Playoffs	November 19 – December 16, 2016
National championship	Salem Football Stadium Salem, VA
Champion	Mary Hardin–Baylor (vacated via NCAA violation)
Gagliardi Trophy	Carter Hanson, Saint John's (MN)
NCAA Division III football seasons

Conference changes and new programs

Three programs changed conference affiliations.

School	2015 conference	2016 conference
Carroll	MWC	CCIW
McMurry	Independent	ASC
Nebraska Wesleyan	Great Plains (NAIA)	IIAC

A full list of Division III teams can be viewed on the D3football website.

This was also the final season of competition for two Division III conferences. The New England Football Conference will be absorbed by the Commonwealth Coast Conference, and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, which had lost most of its membership in 2012 when seven schools left to form the Southern Athletic Association, will end its sponsorship of football and continue as a non-football conference.

Conference standings

2016 American Southwest Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Mary Hardin–Baylor $^   6 – 0     15 – 0   No. 13 Hardin–Simmons ^   5 – 1     9 – 2   Sul Ross   4 – 2     6 – 4   East Texas Baptist   3 – 3     7 – 3   McMurry #   2 – 4     4 – 5   Louisiana College   1 – 5     4 – 6   Howard Payne   0 – 6     0 – 10   Belhaven *   –     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant # – Provisional NCAA Division III member * – Provisional NCAA Division III member; games not counted in standings Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Centennial Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 11 Johns Hopkins $^   9 – 0     11 – 1   Muhlenberg   8 – 1     9 – 2   Franklin & Marshall   6 – 3     7 – 4   Susquehanna   6 – 3     6 – 4   Moravian   4 – 5     5 – 5   Juniata   3 – 6     4 – 6   Gettysburg   3 – 6     3 – 7   McDaniel   3 – 6     3 – 7   Ursinus   2 – 7     2 – 8   Dickinson   1 – 8     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 10 North Central (IL) $^   8 – 0     11 – 1   No. 8 Wheaton (IL) ^   7 – 1     11 – 2   Illinois Wesleyan   6 – 2     7 – 2   Carthage   5 – 3     7 – 3   Elmhurst   4 – 4     5 – 5   Millikin   3 – 5     4 – 6   Augustana (IL)   2 – 6     3 – 7   Carroll (WI)   1 – 7     1 – 9   North Park   0 – 8     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com
2016 Eastern Collegiate Football Conference standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Husson $^   7 – 0     9 – 2   Norwich   5 – 2     5 – 5   Maritime   4 – 3     6 – 5   Castleton   4 – 3     4 – 6   Mount Ida   4 – 3     4 – 6   Becker   2 – 5     3 – 7   Gallaudet   1 – 6     2 – 8   Anna Maria   1 – 6     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant	2016 Empire 8 Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 12 Alfred $^   8 – 0     12 – 1   No. 25 St. John Fisher   6 – 2     8 – 3   Brockport   6 – 2     7 – 4   Utica   5 – 3     7 – 4   Ithaca   4 – 4     5 – 5   Buffalo State   3 – 5     5 – 5   Cortland   3 – 5     5 – 6   Hartwick   1 – 7     2 – 8   Morrisville State   0 – 8     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Franklin (IN) +   7 – 1     8 – 2   Rose–Hulman +^   7 – 1     8 – 3   Mount St. Joseph   6 – 2     6 – 4   Bluffton   5 – 3     7 – 3   Defiance   4 – 4     5 – 5   Hanover   4 – 4     4 – 6   Manchester   2 – 6     2 – 8   Anderson (IN)   1 – 7     1 – 9   Earlham   0 – 8     0 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
2016 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 17 Coe $^   8 – 0     11 – 1   Central (IA)   6 – 2     8 – 2   Dubuque   6 – 2     8 – 2   Wartburg   5 – 3     6 – 4   Nebraska Wesleyan   3 – 5     4 – 6   Buena Vista   3 – 5     3 – 7   Luther   2 – 6     3 – 7   Simpson (IA)   2 – 6     3 – 7   Loras   1 – 7     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Liberty League football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 24 St. Lawrence +   6 – 1     9 – 1   No. 19 Hobart +^   6 – 1     9 – 2   Merchant Marine   4 – 3     5 – 4   Springfield   4 – 3     5 – 5   WPI   3 – 4     6 – 4   RPI   3 – 4     6 – 5   Union (NY)   2 – 5     3 – 7   Rochester (NY)   0 – 7     1 – 8   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Bridgewater State $^   8 – 0     8 – 3   Framingham State   6 – 2     8 – 3   Plymouth State   4 – 4     6 – 4   UMass Dartmouth   4 – 4     5 – 5   Western Connecticut   4 – 4     5 – 5   Fitchburg State   3 – 5     5 – 5   Massachusetts Maritime   3 – 5     4 – 6   Worcester State   3 – 5     3 – 7   Westfield State   1 – 7     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
2016 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Olivet $^   6 – 0     9 – 2   Hope   5 – 1     7 – 3   Alma   4 – 2     7 – 3   Trine   3 – 3     6 – 4   Adrian   2 – 4     4 – 6   Kalamazoo   1 – 5     3 – 7   Albion   0 – 6     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant	2016 Middle Atlantic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 20 Stevenson $^   8 – 1     9 – 2   Delaware Valley   7 – 2     9 – 2   Albright   7 – 2     8 – 3   Widener   6 – 3     6 – 4   King's   5 – 4     5 – 5   Lebanon Valley   4 – 5     4 – 6   Wilkes   3 – 6     3 – 7   Lycoming   2 – 7     3 – 7   FDU Florham   2 – 7     2 – 8   Misericordia   1 – 8     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Midwest Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 21 Monmouth (IL) $^   8 – 0     10 – 1   St. Norbert   7 – 1     7 – 3   Lake Forest   6 – 2     8 – 2   Macalester   6 – 2     7 – 3   Illinois College   5 – 3     6 – 4   Cornell (IA)   4 – 4     5 – 5   Beloit   2 – 6     3 – 7   Lawrence   2 – 6     3 – 7   Knox   2 – 6     2 – 8   Ripon   2 – 6     2 – 8   Grinnell   0 – 8     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com
2016 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 6 St. Thomas (MN) $^   8 – 0     12 – 1   No. 9 Saint John's (MN) ^   7 – 1     10 – 2   Concordia–Moorhead   6 – 2     7 – 3   Bethel (MN)   5 – 3     5 – 5   Gustavus Adolphus   3 – 5     5 – 5   Hamline   3 – 5     5 – 5   Augsburg   2 – 6     2 – 8   St. Olaf   1 – 7     2 – 8   Carleton   1 – 7     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 New England Football Conference standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 22 Western New England $^   7 – 0     11 – 1   Salve Regina   6 – 1     8 – 2   Endicott   5 – 2     5 – 5   Nichols   4 – 3     6 – 4   MIT   3 – 4     3 – 7   Coast Guard   2 – 5     3 – 7   Curry   1 – 6     3 – 6   Maine Maritime   0 – 7     1 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 New England Small College Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Trinity (CT) $   8 – 0     8 – 0   Tufts   7 – 1     7 – 1   Middlebury   6 – 2     6 – 2   Wesleyan   6 – 2     6 – 2   Amherst   4 – 4     4 – 4   Bates   3 – 5     3 – 5   Colby   3 – 5     3 – 5   Hamilton   3 – 5     3 – 5   Bowdoin   0 – 8     0 – 8   Williams   0 – 8     0 – 8   $ – Conference champion
2016 New Jersey Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 23 Frostburg State +   8 – 1     10 – 1   No. 15 Wesley +^   8 – 1     9 – 3   Salisbury   6 – 3     8 – 3   Christopher Newport   6 – 3     7 – 3   Kean   5 – 4     7 – 4   Rowan   5 – 4     6 – 4   Montclair State   3 – 6     4 – 6   TCNJ   2 – 7     2 – 8   Southern Virginia   1 – 8     2 – 8   William Paterson   1 – 8     2 – 8   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 North Coast Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 16 Wittenberg $^   8 – 1     10 – 2   Denison   7 – 2     8 – 2   DePauw   7 – 2     8 – 2   Wabash   7 – 2     8 – 2   Ohio Wesleyan   6 – 3     6 – 4   Wooster   4 – 5     4 – 6   Hiram   3 – 6     3 – 7   Kenyon   2 – 7     3 – 7   Allegheny   1 – 8     1 – 9   Oberlin   0 – 9     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Lakeland +^   5 – 1     7 – 4   Aurora +   5 – 1     6 – 4   Benedictine (IL)   4 – 2     6 – 4   Wisconsin Lutheran   4 – 2     5 – 5   Concordia (IL)   2 – 4     4 – 6   Concordia (WI)   1 – 5     3 – 7   Rockford   0 – 6     1 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
2016 Northwest Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 7 Linfield $^   7 – 0     9 – 2   Whitworth   6 – 1     8 – 2   George Fox   5 – 2     5 – 4   Pacific Lutheran   4 – 3     5 – 4   Pacific (OR)   3 – 4     4 – 6   Willamette   2 – 5     3 – 7   Puget Sound   1 – 6     3 – 6   Lewis & Clark   0 – 7     0 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Ohio Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 John Carroll $^   9 – 0     12 – 2   No. 4 Mount Union ^   8 – 1     12 – 2   Heidelberg   6 – 3     6 – 4   Ohio Northern   5 – 4     5 – 5   Otterbein   5 – 4     5 – 5   Capital   4 – 5     4 – 6   Muskingum   3 – 6     4 – 6   Marietta   3 – 6     3 – 7   Baldwin Wallace   2 – 7     3 – 7   Wilmington (OH)   0 – 9     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Old Dominion Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Randolph–Macon $^   6 – 1     9 – 2   Emory & Henry   5 – 2     6 – 4   Washington and Lee   5 – 2     6 – 4   Shenandoah   4 – 3     6 – 4   Bridgewater   4 – 3     5 – 5   Hampden–Sydney   3 – 4     3 – 7   Guilford   1 – 6     4 – 6   Catholic University   0 – 7     3 – 7   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
2016 Presidents' Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 18 Thomas More $^   8 – 0     9 – 2   Case Western Reserve   7 – 1     9 – 1   Washington & Jefferson   6 – 2     9 – 2   Carnegie Mellon   6 – 2     7 – 4   Westminster (PA)   5 – 3     8 – 3   Saint Vincent   3 – 5     5 – 5   Thiel   3 – 5     4 – 6   Bethany (WV)   2 – 6     3 – 7   Geneva   2 – 6     3 – 7   Waynesburg   2 – 6     2 – 8   Grove City   0 – 8     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 Southern Athletic Association football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Berry +   7 – 1     9 – 1   Washington University +^   7 – 1     8 – 3   Centre   6 – 2     8 – 2   Hendrix   5 – 3     7 – 3   Rhodes   4 – 4     6 – 4   Chicago   4 – 4     4 – 6   Millsaps   2 – 6     3 – 7   Birmingham–Southern   1 – 7     1 – 9   Sewanee   0 – 8     0 – 10   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant	2016 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Redlands $^   7 – 0     8 – 2   Claremont–Mudd–Scripps   5 – 2     7 – 2   Pomona–Pitzer   5 – 2     6 – 3   Chapman   4 – 3     5 – 4   Cal Lutheran   4 – 3     4 – 5   La Verne   2 – 5     2 – 7   Occidental   1 – 6     1 – 8   Whittier   0 – 7     0 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com
2016 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Southwestern (TX) $   6 – 0     7 – 3   Trinity (TX)   3 – 3     5 – 5   Texas Lutheran   2 – 4     2 – 8   Austin   1 – 5     3 – 7   $ – Conference champion	2016 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Northwestern (MN) $^   8 – 1     9 – 2   Eureka   7 – 2     8 – 2   MacMurray   7 – 2     8 – 2   St. Scholastica   7 – 2     7 – 3   Minnesota–Morris   5 – 4     6 – 4   Westminster (MO)   4 – 5     4 – 6   Iowa Wesleyan #   3 – 6     3 – 7   Crown   2 – 7     2 – 8   Greenville   2 – 7     2 – 8   Martin Luther   0 – 9     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant # – Provisional NCAA Division III member	2016 USA South Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Huntingdon +^   6 – 1     9 – 2   Maryville (TN) +   6 – 1     8 – 2   North Carolina Wesleyan   4 – 2     5 – 4   Ferrum   4 – 3     6 – 4   Averett   4 – 3     5 – 5   Methodist   2 – 4     3 – 6   LaGrange   1 – 6     3 – 7   Greensboro   0 – 7     1 – 9   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 5 Wisconsin–Whitewater $^   7 – 0     12 – 1   No. 2 Wisconsin–Oshkosh ^   6 – 1     13 – 2   No. 14 Wisconsin–Platteville ^   5 – 2     8 – 3   Wisconsin–Stevens Point   3 – 4     6 – 4   Wisconsin–River Falls   3 – 4     4 – 6   Wisconsin–La Crosse   2 – 5     5 – 5   Wisconsin–Stout   1 – 6     3 – 7   Wisconsin–Eau Claire   1 – 6     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3football.com	2016 NCAA Division III independents football records Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Dean**   –     1 – 1   Maranatha Baptist   –     2 – 7   Finlandia   –     1 – 7   Alfred State*   –     1 – 9   * – Provisional Division III member ** – Dean was accepted as a Division III football program for the 2016 season and finished with a 6–4 overall record, but only two games were against varsity level teams.

Postseason

Twenty-five conferences met the requirements for an automatic ("Pool A") bid to the playoffs. Besides the NESCAC, which does not participate in the playoffs, two conferences had no Pool A bid. The American Southwest, which had fallen below the required seven members in 2013 and lost its Pool A bid after the two-year grace period, was in the first year of the two-year waiting period, having now attained seven members; the SCAC had only four members.

Schools not in Pool A conferences were eligible for Pool B. The number of Pool B bids was determined by calculating the ratio of Pool A conferences to schools in those conferences and applying that ratio to the number of Pool B schools. The 25 Pool A conferences contained 222 schools, an average of 8.9 teams per conference. Twelve schools were in Pool B, enough for one bid.

The remaining six playoff spots were at-large ("Pool C") teams.

Playoff bracket

See also: NCAA Division III Football Championship

	First round November 19, 2016				Second round November 26, 2016				Quarterfinals December 3, 2016				Semifinals December 10, 2016				Championship December 16, 2016 Salem Football Stadium Salem, Virginia
	Mary Hardin-Baylor*	50
	Redlands	28			Mary Hardin-Baylor*	27
	Hardin-Simmons*	10			Linfield	10
	Linfield	24							Mary Hardin-Baylor*	38
	Wheaton*	45							Wheaton	16
	Huntingdon	10			Wheaton	31
	North Central*	41			North Central*	14
	Rose-Hulman	7											Mary Hardin-Baylor*	14
	Alfred* †	33											Mount Union	12
	Bridgewater State	27			Alfred*	30
	Western New England*	44			Western New England	24
	Husson	27							Alfred*	45
	Hobart*	21							Mount Union	70
	Mount Union	38			Mount Union	28
	Johns Hopkins*	42			Johns Hopkins*	21
	Randolph-Macon	21															Mary Hardin-Baylor	10
	St. Thomas*	43															UW-Oshkosh	7
	Northwestern (MN)	0			St. Thomas*	55
	Coe*	21			Coe	6
	Monmouth	14							St. Thomas*	31
	St. John's*	32							UW-Oshkosh	34
	UW-Platteville	31			St. John's	14
	UW-Oshkosh*	49			UW-Oshkosh*	31
	Washington U.	13											UW-Oshkosh*	10
	John Carroll*	37											John Carroll	3
	Olivet	12			John Carroll* ††	20
	Wesley*	38			Wesley	17
	Stevenson	17							John Carroll	31
	Thomas More*	30							UW-Whitewater*	14
	Wittenberg †	33			Wittenberg	9
	UW-Whitewater*	45			UW-Whitewater*	37
	Lakeland	27

* Home team   † Overtime    Winner

Bowl games

Winning teams are denoted in bold.

Date	Bowl	Stadium City	Home team	Away team	Score
Nov. 18, 2016	ECAC Chapman Bowl	Franklin Field Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Kean	SUNY-Cortland	30–27
Nov. 18, 2016	ECAC President's Bowl	Franklin Field Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Washington & Jefferson	Brockport	38–31
Nov. 19, 2016	ECAC Lynah Bowl	Franklin Field Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Utica	Westminster (PA)	33–6
Nov. 19, 2016	ECAC Bushnell Bowl	Franklin Field Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	No. 24 Frostburg State	No. 22 St. John Fisher	38–14
Nov. 19, 2016	New England Bowl	Gaudet Field Middletown, Rhode Island	Salve Regina	Framingham State	37–34
Nov. 19, 2016	Centennial-MAC Bowl Series	Scotty Wood Stadium Allentown, Pennsylvania	Muhlenberg	Delaware Valley	30–27
Nov. 19, 2016	Centennial-MAC Bowl Series	Shirk Stadium Reading, Pennsylvania	Albright	Franklin & Marshall	28–23
Nov. 20, 2016	ECAC Legacy Bowl	Franklin Field Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Carnegie Mellon	Salisbury	52–20
Nov. 20, 2016	ECAC Whitelaw Bowl	Franklin Field Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	SUNY-Maritime	RPI	38–6

See also

• 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2016 NCAA Division II football season
• 2016 NAIA football season