Football 11/16/2025 8:20:00 PM

Centennial Earns Three NCAA Bids for First Time Ever

CC champion F&M secures automatic bid; Hopkins, Muhlenberg receive at-large berths

The Centennial Conference will have three teams compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in conference history as Franklin & Marshall, Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg received bids to the field of 40 teams, as announced by the NCAA on Sunday evening. This marks the sixth time in conference history that the Centennial has earned multiple bids into the postseason field (also in 1999-2014-2018-2021-24), but the first time the CC has three teams in the field.

The tournament will feature a 40-team field for the second time, expanding from the previous 32-team bracket that was used prior to the 2024 season. Twenty-eight teams earned automatic qualification, while the remaining teams were selected at large using the NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings.

All three CC teams were selected as host sites, with F&M and Johns Hopkins receiving opening-round byes.

F&M (9-1) is making its first-ever appearance in the national tournament. The Diplomats received a first round bye and will host Eastern (9-1), the Middle Atlantic Conference champions. The Eagles have made a rapid ascent up the conference standings and are in just their third season as a varsity program. F&M captured the Centennial Conference's automatic bid with a thrilling 29-28 overtime win against third-ranked Johns Hopkins on Saturday in what the first time in conference history (43 years) that two undefeated teams in conference play met on the final weekend of the regular season.

Johns Hopkins (9-1) earned an at-large bid as the presumptive number two seeded in its quarter of the bracket. The Blue Jays were also awarded a bye in the first round of the tournament and will host the winner of a first-round game between Springfield (8-2) and Cortland (8-2) in the second round on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 12 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the round of 16 with that game scheduled to be played on Saturday, December 6 (12 pm). The winner of the Johns Hopkins-Springfield/Cortland game will play the winner of a second-round game between Salisbury (9-1) and Endicott (9-1).

Johns Hopkins is making its 14th appearance in the NCAA Playoffs, all of which have come since 2005. The Blue Jays are 15-13 all-time in the NCAA Playoffs with a run to the 2018 and 2024 NCAA Semifinals and trips to the 2009 and 2023 NCAA Quarterfinals highlighting their tournament history. Hopkins also advanced to the second round in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2021.

This year's appearance in the playoffs is the fourth in five years for Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays are one of just two teams in the nation (North Central) that has advanced to at least the NCAA Quarterfinals in each of the last two years and Johns Hopkins has won at least one playoff game in seven of its last eight trips to the playoffs dating back to 2014.

After earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, the Muhlenberg football team was selected to play its first-round game at Scotty Wood Stadium.

Muhlenberg (8-2) will host Union (8-2) on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Scotty Wood Stadium. The winner will advance to the second round to face 13-time national champion Mount Union the following Saturday.

The bid to the NCAA Tournament is the 11th for Muhlenberg, all since 2002. The Mules are 9-10 all-time (6-3 at home) in their NCAA appearances, including a 7-3 record between 2018 and 2021, when they advanced to at least the quarterfinals in three straight seasons. The 2019 team made it all the way to the "Final Four."

Including bowl games, the Mules have earned 21 postseason berths in the last 25 seasons. Prior to 2000, they had not played in a postseason game since 1946. Muhlenberg has won at least one postseason game in each of the last seven seasons.