Since 2024-2025, NCAA Division III has utilized NPI (NCAA Power Index) as the sole method by which teams are ranked, selected and seeded for national tournaments.
Fall Sports
Football
Winter Sports
Men’s Basketball
Women’s Basketball
From the beginning, The D3 Datacast has independently calculated and published NPI rankings for Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball. Our ability to replicate NPI allows the Division III community to see where NPI rankings stand before and in between official NPI releases from the NCAA.
This page has been set up to serve as a central hub for accessing everything we have available for NPI in Division III. This includes links to our sport-specific NPI numbers and educational resources for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of NPI.
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NPI Resources from The D3 Datacast
Calculating, discussing and projecting data has always been a big part of what we do. With NPI coming for the 2024-2025 season, we dug in to understand for ourselves what this system is and and how it works. In July 2024, we were able to bring a comprehensive explanation and review of NPI to the general public for the first time.
Unpacking NPI – New Tournament Selection Metric for Division III – Episode 83
As Fall sports moved into their first season under NPI, we we provided the D3 Football community with an NPI primer more tailored to what they could expect as NPI played out in that sport for the first time. We gave the D3 Basketball community a similar primer with Winter sports underway.
What D3 Football Fans Should Know About NPI – Episode 89
What Every D3 Basketball Fan Needs To Know About NPI – Episode 101
Certain details like the number of automatic qualifiers and at-large bids can change from year to year but both primers remain highly relevant for understanding core concepts and to set some basic expectations for how NPI plays out in those sports.
Following the first year under NPI, we spent the basketball offseason examining what took place, lessons learned and challenging some misconceptions. That “NPI Summer Series” was primarily through the lens of the previous basketball season but also hit on some foundational topics and core insights that apply more broadly.
Did NPI Pick the Right Teams? – Episode 114
Non-D3 Games in the NPI Era – Episode 115
Does NPI Give Everyone an At-Large Chance? – Episode 116
NPI Fact or Fiction? – Episode 117
While our YouTube channel contains hours of general NPI content, some coaches may want to dive deeper for program-specific guidance. Men’s and women’s basketball programs have that option through D3 Datacast Concierge, a service developed with the help of an unbiased men’s basketball coach who piloted it with us.