The 2022 NCAA Division III football season was the component of the 2022

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

season organized by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

at the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

level in the United States. The regular season began on September 3 and ended on November 12. This was the 49th season that the NCAA has sponsored a Division III championship. Mary Hardin–Baylor, the defending national champions, were the top-ranked team to begin the season. The season's playoffs were played between November 19 and December 16, culminating in the national championship—also known as the Stagg Bowl—at the

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse team ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes

In addition to the above, the USA South amicably split into two conferences at the end of the 2021–22 school year. In addition to Averett, which left for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, 10 of the previous 19 full members remained in the USA South, and eight left to form the new

Collegiate Conference of the South The Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) is an athletic conference which competes in the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Member schools are located in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and K ...

(CCS). Belhaven, which had previously been announced as a new USA South all-sports member for 2021–22, instead joined CCS. Since CCS does not sponsor football, the separation agreement called for all football-sponsoring CCS members to become USA South affiliates. This meant the only changes to USA South football were the arrival of Belhaven and departure of Averett.

Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes

Conference standings

Postseason

Teams

Automatic bids (27)

At-large bids (5)

Bracket

See also

References