BREAKDOWN--Playoff Preview

Well, the final month of the 2008 football season, December, has arrived, and the road to a national championship in each of the four divisions RFC covers (FCS, NCAA Division II, Division III, and NAIA) is nearing the end. Here's a quick preview of each division going into this weekend.

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Quarterfinals

The "Elite Eight" of the subdivision formerly known as "NCAA Division I-AA" features several re-matches, including Montana hoping to avenge its lone loss to Weber State, Richmond looking to derail Appalachian State's hopes of a "four-peat", not to mention Villanova trying to put their memory of a last-second loss to James Madison out of their minds, with a win. Oh, and there's a mouth-watering fourth match-up between a team in the Colonial Athletic Association (New Hampshire) and the Missouri Valley Conference (Northern Iowa) too.

Updated bracket

NCAA Division II Semifinals

The "Final Four" of the D-II dance might as well be dubbed the "Two-fer" round. That's because all four national semifinalists are No. 2 seeds, and both games are interesting to boot. Northwest Missouri State plays host to North Alabama in one semifinal, while 13-0 upstart travels to Pennsylvania to face the Vulcans of California University, who fell to eventual national champion Valdosta State in last year's semis.

Updated bracket

NCAA Division III Quarterfinals

Only one No. 1 seed remains in Mount Union, whose Purple Raiders play host to No. 3 Cortland State in the East Regional final. On the other hand, No. 5 Franklin hosts No. 7 Wabash in the North, No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor takes on No. 5 Washington & Jefferson at home in the South, and defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater hosts Wartburg in another No. 5 vs. No. 7 match-up in the West region.

Updated bracket

NAIA Semifinals

After an unexpected bye week due to Northwestern Oklahoma State's forfeiture of its playoff win, defending champion Carroll (Mont.) hopes to move one step closer towards a sixth title by facing Lindenwood (Mo.), while St. Francis (Ind.) travels to South Dakota to face Sioux Falls in a battle of 12-0 teams.