| Type: | NCAA Division III |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Regular Season: | August 31 – November 11, 2017 |
| Playoffs: | November 18 – December 15, 2017 |
| Nc Date: | December 15, 2017 |
| Championship: | Salem Football Stadium Salem, VA |
| Champion: | Mount Union |
| Gagliardi: | Brett Kasper (QB), Wisconsin–Oshkosh |
The 2017 NCAA Division III football season was the portion of the 2017 college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States. Under Division III rules, teams were eligible to begin play on August 31, 2017.[1] The season ended with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, on December 15, 2017, at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. Mount Union earned their 13th national title, defeating defending national champions Mary Hardin–Baylor.
The 2017 season saw several significant changes to the landscape of Division III football:
| School | 2016 conference | 2017 conference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECFC[6] | |||
| SAA[7] | |||
| CCC Football[8] | |||
| SAC (D-II) | USA South[9] | ||
| NEWMAC[10] | |||
| MWC[11] | |||
| NEWMAC[12] | |||
| CCC Football | |||
| ECFC | |||
| CCC Football | |||
| NEWMAC | |||
| Dropped program | |||
| NEWMAC | |||
| NEWMAC | |||
| CCC Football | |||
| NEWMAC | |||
| CCC Football | |||
| NEWMAC | |||
| ASC[13] | |||
| ASC | |||
| SAA | |||
| UAA only[14] | |||
| CCC Football | |||
| NEWMAC |
A full list of Division III teams can be viewed on the D3football website.[15]
Because Division III football teams do not award scholarships, they are permitted by NCAA rules to occasionally travel outside the United States to tour and play exhibition matches. Several teams took off-season trips in late spring 2017 and played primarily non-college club teams, with the exception of Illinois Wesleyan, who played a Japanese college team.[16] All of the games were won by the Division III schools, which are displayed in bold.
| Date | Location | NCAA DIII Team | Hosting Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 2017 | Milngavie, Scotland, UK | CMS | East Kilbride Pirates (BAFA Premier) | 73–6 |
| May 21, 2017 | Ferrara, Italy | Southwestern | Ferrara Aquile (IFL) | 94–0 |
| May 21, 2017 | Shanghai, China | Puget Sound | Shanghai Titans (AFCL) | 84–6 |
| May 27, 2017 | Barcelona, Spain | John Carroll | Senior Spanish League All-Stars (LNFA) | 91–7 |
| May 27, 2017 | Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK | Centre | Belfast Trojans (IAFL) | 47–0 |
| June 3, 2017 | Landsberg, Germany | Rose-Hulman | Landsberg X-Press (Regionalliga South) | 82–0 |
| June 4, 2017 | Tokyo, Japan | Illinois Wesleyan | Waseda (KCFA) | 33–6 |
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 second year of the two-year waiting period, having attained seven members in 2016; the NEWMAC, having just begun football sponsorship, was in the first year of the waiting period. Despite losing three members, the Liberty League retained its Pool A bid, but entered the grace period.
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 215 schools, an average of 8.6 teams per conference. Eighteen schools were in Pool B, enough for two bids.
The remaining five playoff spots were at-large ("Pool C") teams.
See also: NCAA Division III Football Championship. * Home team † Overtime Winner
| Date | Bowl | Location | Home team | Away team | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 17, 2017 | ECAC Chapman Bowl | Delaware Stadium Newark, DE | Merchant Marine | Buffalo State | 35–20 | |
| Nov. 18, 2017 | Centennial-MAC Bowl Series | Shadek Stadium Lancaster, PA | Franklin & Marshall | Widener | 21–7 | |
| Centennial-MAC Bowl Series | Shirk Stadium Reading, PA | Albright | Susquehanna | 28–9 | ||
| ECAC Bushnell Bowl | Delaware Stadium Newark, DE | Muhlenberg | Carnegie Mellon | 36–6 | ||
| ECAC Whitelaw Bowl | Delaware Stadium Newark, DE | Salisbury | Ithaca | 27–17 | ||
| New England Bowl Series | Bowditch Field Framingham, MA | Framingham State | Curry | 48–14 | ||
| New England Bowl Series | Alumni Stadium Worcester, MA | WPI | SUNY Maritime | 17–3 | ||
| New York Bowl | Frank Bailey Field Schenectady, NY | Union (NY) | SUNY Cortland | 35–28 | ||
| Nov. 19, 2017 | ECAC Lynah Bowl | Delaware Stadium Newark, DE | Stevenson | Alfred | 29–16 |