SIRC’s Tulane is the reigning DII spring champion. •
The South Independent Rugby Conference (SIRC) will begin its matrix season in January 2017. The DII college conference includes 16 teams across six states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee) and has been reorganized into four pools:
• Central: Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, North Georgia, UT Knoxville
• East: Clemson, Emory, Georgia, Georgia Southern
• North: Arkansas State, Lee, Middle Tennessee State, UT Chattanooga
• West: Alabama, Louisiana State, Spring Hill College, Tulane
Lee University is actually an NSCRO program and has already clinched the South berth to the small-school regional championships next weekend in Maryland. Like last year, the Cleveland, Tenn., team will play spring matches against the DII SIRC teams to help fill out the competition but will not be vying for the DII post-season.
League play begins January 28. Teams play every team in their respective pools once (three matches), and then SIRC quarterfinals begin March 4, 2017. The final four convene March 18 to name the conference champion and any additional representatives to the DII spring Round of 16. Also slated is the SIRC 7s championship on April 1, 2017.
The DII spring championship has been scheduled for April 22, 2017. SIRC is one of eight DII college conferences that competes toward the spring championship. Capital, Carolinas, Cascade, Florida, Gold Coast, Mid-America and West Coast also compete toward the spring title. The remaining 13 conferences are currently competing toward the fall title.
