This year's group includes 11 unbeaten teams and 14 with a single loss. Other top seeds include 2007 champion Wisconsin-Whitewater, 2003 winner Saint John's (Minn.), and Wesley (Del.).

Mount Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater have played for the championship the last four years. First round games begin Saturday, leading to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Va., on Dec. 19.

•Hanover (Ind.) did not advance to postseason but sophomore Daniel Passafiume set an all-division record for single game receptions when he caught 25 passes in a 42-28 loss to Franklin (Ind.) College in the annual Victory Bell game Saturday. Passafiume passed Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley State (1983) and Chas Gessner of Brown (2002), each of whom had 24.

Championship Subdivision:

Holy Cross is heading to the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 1983 after rallying past Lafayette 28-26 Saturday to win the Patriot League title.

After falling behind 19-7 in the second quarter, the 13th-ranked Crusaders (9-1 overall, 5-0 league) came back behind three touchdowns produced by quarterback Dominic Randolph. Rob Curley threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns for No. 20 Lafayette (8-2, 4-1).

•Top-ranked Montana claimed the Big Sky Conference's automatic tournament bid by beating Northern Colorado 38-10. Chase Daniels ran for three touchdowns as the Grizzlies remained the division's lone unbeaten team at 10-0.

•Eighth-ranked Appalachian State won its fifth consecutive Southern Conference title by beating No. 6 Elon 27-10 to extend its conference winning streak to 19 games. Mountaineer quarterback Armanti Edwards produced 354 yards in total offense and three TDs. Elon receiver Terrell Hudgins caught 10 passes for 127 yards to set an all-Division I record for 100-yard reception games with 26.

•Third-ranked Villanova can clinch at least a share of the Colonial Athletic Association title and an automatic NCAA tournament berth by beating Delaware on Saturday, but defending champion Richmond and William & Mary still have a shot at the crown.

All three teams have 6-1 league records but Villanova owns regular season victories over the Spiders and Tribe, who are tied for fourth in the coaches' poll. Richmond could claim the title with a win over William & Mary this weekend and a Villanova loss to Delaware. The Tribe can take the championship if it beats Richmond and Delaware beats 'Nova.

Division II:

Tarleton State (Texas) kicker Garrett Lindholm hit a 64-yard field goal as time expired to force overtime and Scott Grantham scored on a 20-yard run and ran in the ensuing two-point conversion as the Texans edged Texas A&M Kingsville 57-56 in two overtimes in the opening round of the playoffs. Lindholm's kick was the second longest in division history, trailing only Tom Odle's 67-yard boot for Fort Hays State (Kan.) in 1988.

Contributing: wire reports