BREAKDOWN--Storylines for the NCAA Division III and NAIA Playoffs

As the first round of both the NCAA Division III and NAIA playoffs approach, here are five storylines to ponder:

5. The South Region seems to be the toughest of all four brackets of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Of the eight teams that make up this aforementioned bracket, seven have had just one loss during regular season. However, the eighth team, Millsaps, comes in unbeaten at 10-0. The Majors face an upstart LaGrange (Ga.) team that had back-to-back winless seasons its first two years. Also, Wesley has had a pair of national semifinals appearances in a five-year span. That's not to mention Mary Hardin-Baylor reached the Stagg Bowl in 2004. It all adds up to being the toughest bracket in the entire NCAA Division III championships.

4. Higher seeds playing each other in the D-III first round.

Because of the desire to reduce travel costs, a few higher seeded teams are playing against each other in the first round of the D-III playoffs. Case in point, the first round of the West Region, where No. 1 seed Willamette (10-0) hosts No. 2 seed Occidental (9-0). Similarly, in the South Region, No. 2 seed Mary Hardin-Baylor (9-1) faces off against No. 3 seed and fellow American Southwest Conference archrival Hardin-Simmons (9-1) in a re-match of a regular season contest where UMHB eventually came out on top 20-18.

3. Potential early round upsets from upstarts.

Just as North Carolina Wesleyan shocked Washington & Jefferson in the first round of last year's D-III playoffs, upstart LaGrange (Ga.) could do the same thing this year against Millsaps. What do both NCWC and LaGrange have in common? Both small Southern institutions started their programs within the last 5-10 years.

2. What's in the (White)water?

After falling short in back-to-back Stagg Bowls in 2005 and '06, respectively, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks finally climbed the "little big" mountain that is Mount Union, and won the D-III national title in 2007. Now the big challenge for Whitewtater is this: can they repeat as national champions? First, the Warhawks must knock St. John's (Minn.), then likely defeat the winner of the Willamette-Occidental contest to get to the quarterfinals. There, they could possibly face Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) rival Wisconsin-Stevens Point in a regular season re-match where the Pointers handed the Warhawks their lone defeat.

1. Can Mount Union and Carroll continue their respective runs of excellence?

Last season, UW-Whitewater ended Mount Union's quest to win its 10th national championship in the last 15 years. Now the Purple Raiders and head coach Larry Kehres hope to return to the top in 2008. All of this from a program that has lost only 11 games since 1990. On the other hand, the Saints of Carroll College (Mont.) hope to win an unprecedented sixth NAIA national title in eight years.