BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Gulf South Conference announced the adoption of an automatic qualifier (AQ) policy related to the NCAA Division II Football Championship.
The need for a policy follows the NCAA's adoption of automatic qualifier for each football-playing conference and an expanded bracket from 28 to 32 teams for the Division II Football Championship starting this season.
Following thorough discussions among the league's football-playing institutions, including input from head coaches and athletic directors, the GSC Board of Directors approved a policy designating the conference's regular-season champion as the recipient of the league's automatic bid to the NCAA postseason.
In the event of a tie for the regular-season title, the following tie-breaking procedures will be applied sequentially until the tie is resolved:
- Head-to-head competition results.
- Highest final NCAA Division II KPI (Key Performance Indicator) rating.
- If two teams remain tied in KPI, head-to-head results between those teams.
- If three teams remain tied in KPI, the GSC Executive Committee will select a representative.
The KPI is a results-based metric that evaluates team performance on a game-by-game basis. It is widely used across the NCAA at various levels and is administered by a third-party provider. For the 2025 season, the GSC will utilize faktorsports.com as its official source for KPI rankings.
The title of GSC champion will continue to be determined by league winning percentage, as agreed upon by conference's football-playing members.
The 2025 GSC football season will officially begin during Week 0, with all four teams in action. The opening game features Delta State hosting Central Missouri on Thursday, Aug. 28. The full GSC football is available here.