Winning the conference title is the goal for nearly every team at the outset of the season.

And before the onset of the automatic qualifiers it was just about the only way to earn a trip to the postseason. Now because of the growth of Division III football, it seems that winning a league title is again the only way for the teams in one of the 17 conferences with automatic berths to make sure they will still be playing after the regular season ends.

The NCAA has reduced the number of bids for second-place teams to three. This includes teams that are independents or play in conferences that do not have an automatic qualifiers.

All roughly 213 playoff eligible D-III teams are working toward Nov. 12, the committee's selection show and press conference.

The road to the Stagg Bowl begins with first-round games Nov. 18 at noon local time. The championship game will be played in Salem, Va., Dec. 16 at noon.

The champions of these leagues earn an automatic bid: American Southwest, Centennial, Freedom Football, Heartland, Illini-Badger, Iowa, Middle Atlantic, Midwest, Minnesota, New England, New Jersey, North Coast, Ohio, Old Dominion, Southern Collegiate, Wisconsin and the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

It is, though, the one-loss teams that finish as the runners-up in these leagues that have to worry.

It may be nowhere near March but here are some teams that are definitely on the bubble:

• Freedom Football Conference members Norwich (7-1, 3-1 FFC) and Western Connecticut (6-1, 2-1) trail leader Springfield (6-0, 5-0).
• American Southwest leaders Hardin-Simmons (7-0, 6-0 ASC) and Mary Hardin-Baylor (7-0, 6-0).
• Since both Centennial Conference leaders already have a loss, the second-place team might not see the postseason. Western Maryland (6-1, 5-0 CC) leads the league while Ursinus (6-1, 4-1) is one game behind. The Green Terror beat Ursinus 35-32 Sept. 23.
• In the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Emory and Henry (6-0, 4-0 ODAC) has a 1 1/2 game lead on Bridgewater (6-1, 2-1) and Catholic (4-3, 2-1). Catholic needs a miracle to see the postseason, but Bridgewater still has a chance. The Wasps beat Bridgewater 37-35 early in the season and face Catholic this Saturday.
• Centre College threw the Southern Collegiate Conference into a spin with its upset of one of the nation's best programs over the last four years. The Colonels knocked off Trinity, 21-2, last Saturday and put the Tigers (6-1, 2-1) a half game behind conference leading Sewanee (5-3, 3-1). Trinity, though, will get a chance to take control of the league with regular-season finale against Sewanee.
• As it did last season, the Iowa Conference title will come down to Central (7-0) and Wartburg (7-0). The loser, last year it was Central with a 40-23 win, could be done, but last year both the conference champion and runner-up got in.
• The Midwest Conference has three possibilities, but just one guaranteed berth. St. Norbert (7-0, 6-0) leads the league. Both Illinois College and Ripon have 6-1, 5-1 records. The Green Knights have beaten Ripon and will face Illinois College in the season finale.
• Saint John's and Bethel both lead the Minnesota Conference with perfect 7-0, 6-0 slates. The two teams meet this weekend to figure out who is going to get the automatic bid.
• And just to make things interesting, defending national champion Pacific Lutheran (5-1, 2-1 Northwest Conference) is in the same position it was last year. The Lutes failed to win their conference championship, losing to Willamette in the regular season, but got a bid as conference runner-up. Linfield (6-0, 2-0) leads the conference. Linfield has clinched its 45th consecutive winning season to set a new NCAA record.

Key games of the week

St. John's (7-0, 6-0) at Bethel (7-0, 6-0)

Bethel quarterback Scott Kirchoff, just a sophomore, passed for 356 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for another last week, leading Bethel to 46-8 victory over Carleton. Bethel posted 17 points on its first three possessions. Bethel won last year's game, 24-20, for its first victory in the series. The Johnnies lead the all-time series, 20-1. St. John's is seventh in the nation in scoring, averaging 42.1 points per game and is fourth in the nation, allowing just 7.1 ppg. Bethel, though, leads the nation in turnover ratio with 32 takeaways and 11 turnovers.

Catholic (4-3, 2-1) at Emory & Henry (6-1, 4-0)

Catholic University scored 13 unanswered fourth-quarter points to rally to beat Hampden-Sydney, 34-23. The Cardinals are the defending Old Dominion Conference champions, but Emory & Henry is making a run for the title. Sophomore quarterback Shannon Johnson passed for a career-high 378 yards and a touchdown and ran for two scores as Emory & Henry downed Guilford 41-32 last Saturday.

Western Maryland (6-1) at Widener (7-0)

Widener averages 462.7 yards per game, led by wide receiver Michael Coleman, who averages 130.6 yards receiving per game. The Pioneer's Jim Jones also averages 103 yards receiving. The Green Terror has allowed 12.4 points per game. Western Maryland won last year's meeting, 57-20, but Widener leads the all-time series, 18-12.

Sizzlin'

• In addition to stopping the country's leading college rusher, R.J. Bowers, the Westminster defense did not allow a point for the third consecutive game in a 23-0 win over Grove City. The last points given up by the Titan defense was a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Washington & Jefferson on Sept. 30.
• John Carroll's Tom Arth had a career-day during the Blue Streaks' 38-35 loss to Ohio Northern. He set school records with 42 completions on 62 attempts for 453 yards. He totaled a school-record 466 yards of total offense and accounted for four TDs on the afternoon. Larry Holmes hauled in a school record-tying 13 passes for 98 yards and two TDs and Jeff Lerner caught 12 passes for a career-best 213 yards for JCU.
• St. Norbert posted its third consecutive shutout and the fourth in five games, blanking Grinnell 34-0.
• The Simpson defense led the Storm with five sacks and five interceptions in a 26-7 win over Loras.

Fizzlin'

• A stingy Westminster defense, which has yielded just 44 yards per game rushing, held Grove City's R.J. Bowers to 61 yards on 23 carries, stopping him in his bid for the NCAA all-division career rushing record -- falling 88 yards short -- and ending his NCAA all-division record streak of 32 consecutive 100-yard rushing games.
• Central intercepted six passes and returned two for touchdowns in the Dutch's 73-7 win over William Penn. William Penn also fumbled twice.
• Centre upset the Trinity Tigers 25-21. The Tigers had won 35 straight regular-season contests, dating back to November 1996.

Noteworthy

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Amherst beat Wesleyan, 9-7, scoring all of its points on special teams with a 68-yard punt return for a touchdown from Derrell Wright with 5:04 to play in the second quarter and a blocked punt by David Frankel which traveled out of the end zone with 31 seconds to go in the half for a safety.

Wesleyan punter Mark Olschefskie boomed a 47-yard punt to the Amherst 32, where Wright turned in what would prove to be the play of the game.

Wright fielded the punt on one hop, evaded the first Wesleyan man before hurdling the second Cardinal tackler to break free down the left sideline for a 68-yard TD. After Wright's first career punt return for a touchdown, the two teams traded turnovers on their next two possessions, before Wesleyan went three-and-out from their own 15, sending Olschefskie out to punt again.

This time, Wright would never be a factor, as Frankel came untouched through the middle, getting a hand on the Wesleyan punt and knocking it backwards, where it rolled through the back of the Wesleyan end zone for a safety.

Amherst's first safety since 1998 gave the Jeffs a 9-0 lead heading into the locker room, despite managing only 97 yards of total offense in the first half. It was the first time since 1994 that a punt was returned for a touchdown against Wesleyan.

It was only the second time in the last three seasons that Wesleyan has had a punt blocked, spanning 110 kicks by Olschefskie.

• Bluffton's 27-0 win over Manchester was the Beavers third of the season, all in league play. It marks the fifth time in the history of BC football that the Beavers have posted three or more shutouts in a single season and the first since 1958 when Bluffton posted six shutouts and finished 8-1 and won the Mid-Ohio Conference.
• Brockport State, which needs one more win to set a school record for victories in a season, is allowing only 4.9 points per game.
• Washington & Jefferson clinched a tie for its 14th Presidents Athletic Conference title in the last 15 years with its win over Waynesburg.