The 2011 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 in August 2011, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 2011 at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks won their fourth, and third consecutive, Division III championship by defeating the Mount Union Purple Raiders, 13−10. This was the seventh of seven straight championship games between Mount Union (3 wins) and Wisconsin–Whitewater (4 wins).
The Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding player in Division III football, was awarded to Michael Zweifel, wide receiver from Dubuque.
Conference standings
Conference champions Conference championsAmerican Southwest Conference – Mary Hardin–Baylor Centennial Conference – Johns Hopkins College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – North Central (IL) Eastern Collegiate Football Conference – Norwich Empire 8 Conference – Salisbury Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference – Franklin Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Dubuque Liberty League – Hobart and Union (NY) Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Albion Middle Atlantic Conference – Delaware Valley Midwest Conference – Monmouth (IL) Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – St. Thomas (MN) New England Football Conference – Framingham State (Bogan Division), Western New England (Boyd Division) Championship Game: Western New England 20, Framingham State 13 (OT) New England Small College Athletic Conference – Amherst New Jersey Athletic Conference – Kean North Coast Athletic Conference – Wabash Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference – Benedictine (IL) and Concordia Chicago Northwest Conference – Linfield Ohio Athletic Conference – Mount Union Old Dominion Athletic Conference – Hampden–Sydney and Washington & Lee Presidents' Athletic Conference – Thomas More Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Cal Lutheran Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference – Trinity (TX) University Athletic Association – Case Upper Midwest Athletic Conference – St. Scholastica USA South Athletic Conference – Christopher Newport Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wisconsin–Whitewater
Postseason The 2011 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 39th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college football. The championship Stagg Bowl game was held at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia for the 19th time.
Qualification 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, the UAA had no Pool A bid, failing to meet the seven-member requirement. The ECFC and UMAC received Pool A bids for the first time, having passed through the two-year waiting 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 220 schools, an average of 8.8 teams per conference. Nine schools were in Pool B, enough for one bid.
The remaining six playoff spots were at-large ("Pool C") teams.
Playoff bracket
* Overtime
See also 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season 2011 NCAA Division II football season
References