The 2005 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 33rd annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college football. The championship Stagg Bowl game was held at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia, for the 13th time. The bracket for this field expanded from 28 to 32 teams, where it has remained.[2]
Twenty-one conferences met the requirements for an automatic ("Pool A") bid to the playoffs. Besides the NESCAC, which does not participate in the playoffs, five conferences had no Pool A bid. The PAC was in the first year of the two-year waiting period, while the ACFC, NWC, UAA, and UMAC failed to meet the seven-member requirement.
Schools not in Pool A conferences were eligible for Pool B. The number of Pool B bids was determined by calculating the ratio of Pool A conferences to schools in those conferences and applying that ratio to the number of Pool B schools. The 21 Pool A conferences contained 179 schools, an average of 8.5 teams per conference. Thirty-seven schools were in Pool B, enough for four bids.
The remaining seven playoff spots were at-large ("Pool C") teams.