The Post-Thanksgiving, Post-Season Feast

Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror, and it's now time for a feast, not leftovers. A feast of postseason games, that is. Let's briefly this four-course meal of playoff games.

FCS: The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-AA) begins its run to the 2008 national championship this weekend. Three-time defending champion Appalachian State hopes to join select company, and win a fourth straight title. Should that happen, the Mountaineers would join the likes of Augustana (Ill.), who won four straight NCAA Division III national championships from 1983-1986, and Carroll (Mont.), winners of four NAIA titles in a row from 2002-2005. Standing in the way, though, is James Madison, who was the last program other than Appalachian State to win an FCS national championship (2004).

FCS Playoff Bracket

NCAA Division II: If there was ever a excellent group of "Elite Eight" teams at any level of college football, this Saturday's quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II playoffs has to be just that. All four games involve the No. 1 seeds playing host to the No. 2 seeds in each of the respective "Super Regionals". Also, three of those four games involve re-matches of regular season contests, with hosts Delta State (vs. North Alabama), Abilene Christian (vs. Northwest Missouri State), and Bloomsburg (vs. California [Pa.]), all winning those aforementioned games. Th fourth contest, Grand Valley State (11-0) vs. Minnesota-Duluth (12-0), is the only game involving teams that are still undefeated.

NCAA Division II Playoff Bracket

NCAA Division III: Mount Union (11-0) has been steamrolling opponents as usual, and last weekend was no different, as the Purple Raiders stomped Randolph-Macon 56-0 to advance to round two this weekend. Meanwhile, defending champion Wisconsin-Whitewater (10-1) also moved on to the second round after routing St. John's 37-7. The Warhawks will now draw top-seeded Willamette (11-0) in the West bracket, which is a game that's sure to be intense. The most telling storyline of the D-III playoffs, however, has to be the fact that all four No. 7 seeds pulled off upsets in the first round, as Curry, Wheaton, Wesley, and Wartburg all advanced in shocking fashion. Could it happen again this weekend? After all, the games are played on the field for a good reason, and this quartet proved it last weekend.

NCAA Division III Playoff Bracket

NAIA: The road to the NAIA title got a little bit easier for defending champion Carroll (Mont.), as Northwestern Oklahoma State was forced to forfeit its upset win over Friends (Kan.) in the first round, as well as relinquish its participation in the remainder of the postseason, because of the use of an ineligible player. That leaves just three quarterfinal playoff games set for Saturday, Langston at Sioux Falls; Cumberlands (Ky.) at St. Francis (Ind.), and Lindenwood at Morningside.

Bayou Classic: Although not a playoff game in the truest sense, the annual showdown between Grambling State and Southern Saturday (2 p.m. EST--NBC) will impact who will represent the Western Division in next month's SWAC title game. A win by Grambling would pit the Tigers against Eastern Division champion Jackson State in that contest, while a victory by Southern would force a three-way tie for the West crown.