The 1998 NCAA Division III football season, part of the college football 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, began in August 1998, and concluded with the

NCAA Division III Football Championship The NCAA Division III Football Championship began in 1973. The Division III playoffs begin with 32 teams selected to participate in the Division III playoffs. The Division III championship game, known as the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl or Stagg Bowl ...

, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 1998 at

Salem Football Stadium Salem Stadium is a stadium in Salem, Virginia, United States. It is primarily used for football and hosts the home football games of the Salem High School Spartans. It was built in 1985 and seats 7,157 people. The stadium is part of the James E. ...

in Salem, Virginia. The Mount Union Purple Raiders won their fourth, and third consecutive, Division III championship by defeating the Rowan Profs, 44−24. The Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding player in Division III football, was awarded to Scott Hvistendahl, wide receiver and punter from

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

Conference standings

Conference champions

Postseason

The 1998 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 26th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

college football. The championship Stagg Bowl game was held at

in Salem, Virginia for the second time. As of 2014, Salem has remained the yearly host of the Stagg Bowl. This was the final bracket to feature sixteen teams before expanding to 28 teams in 1999.

Playoff bracket

Final NCAA Regional Poll

East Region

Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Hartwick, Hobart, Rensselaer Polytechnic, and Salve Regina.

South Region

Others receiving votes: McMurry, Pomona-Pitzer, Westminster, and Widener.

North Region

Others receiving votes: Allegheny, Hanover, John Carroll, and MacMurray.

West Region

Others receiving votes: Grinnell, Linfield, Wartburg, and Wisconsin-Whitewater. *This was the final time the NCAA conducted a regional poll for Division III, starting with the 1999 season,

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

conducted a top 25 coaches poll.

Awards

Gagliardi Trophy: Scott Hvistendahl, Augsburg AFCA Coach of the Year:

Larry Kehres Larry Kehres (born September 7, 1949) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mount Union—formerly known as Mount Union College—in Alliance, Ohio for 27 ...

, Mount Union AFCA Regional Coach of the Year: Region 1: Mike DeLong, Springfield Region 2: Frank Girardi, Lycoming Region 3: Steve Mohr, Trinity(TX) Region 4:

Joe Fincham Joe Fincham (born October 6, 1964) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio from 1996 to 2021, compiling a record of 224–51. Fincham played football at Ohio Universit ...

, Wittenberg Region 5: Rich Kacmarynski, Central(IA)

References

{{NCAA football season navbox