North Central, Aurora face tough road, Wheaton left out, as Division III playoff bracket released

These two statements about the Division III football playoffs are probably both true:

1) Plenty of teams have legitimate gripes, and 2) the NCAA is trying its best to make it fair for all schools.

The Division III bracket expanded from 32 to 40 teams this season, but that didn't help Wheaton College (8-2), which was the first team left out despite ranking No. 20 in the latest D3football.com poll.

Meanwhile, North Central has been ranked No. 1 all season and is looking to advance to its fifth straight Division III title game. But when the NCAA lined up the teams based on power rating and strength of schedule, the Cardinals are the No. 5 overall seed.

So barring upsets, North Central would have to travel to SUNY-Cortland for a rematch of last year's championship game in the third round, then potentially make a trip to St. John's (Minn.) in the semifinals. The Cardinals won road playoff games last year at Wisconsin-LaCrosse and Wartburg to reach the title game before suffering a 1-point loss.

With the expanded bracket, North Central and 23 other teams will get first-round byes and a week off, which is something new. North Central will host the winner of a couple west coast teams, Whitworth (Wash.) vs. Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) on Nov. 30.

No. 15 Aurora (9-1) will have to go on the road for its opening game at Hope College in Holland, Mich. The winner of the Aurora-Hope game would likely move on to face North Central in the third round. The Cardinals beat Aurora in their season opener.

Lake Forest (10-0) is back in the Division III playoffs as a conference champ and will await the winner of Coe (Iowa) vs. Bethel (Minn.). The Forresters are matched up in the bracket next to a heavyweight second-round matchup of Wartburg (Iowa) vs. Wisconsin-Platteville.

Platteville is in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 with a heavy contingent of suburban contributors, including starting QB Michael Priami (St. Charles North).

Wheaton had been in the Division III playoffs the past four years, with four victories during that stretch. The Thunder's two losses this season were to North Central and a nonconference game at Wisconsin-Oshkosh early in the season. A controversial fourth-down pass interference penalty kept Oshkosh's winning drive alive late in the fourth quarter of that game.