Photo: Colleen McCloskey •
The DII club rankings haven’t been updated since early October, and as one can imagine, much has evolved in a month. For more explanation on why the rankings are weighted with Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest teams at this time of year, read the previous rankings’ intro. Now, with the season wrapping up for many of these teams, the big consideration is whether results point toward improvement and consistency.
The top-two Mid-Atlantic teams have continued to do well this fall, with Harrisburg and Brandywine posting similar scores against shared opponents. They both play Severn River (pictured) in the spring, so we’ll have to wait until 2017 to know how the Maryland side compares to its Pennsylvania counterparts. Keep in mind that the MAC’s DI, DII and DIII competitions include crossover matches during the season, so the teams have played a few more games than their league records indicate.
The Midwest’s four leagues are also coming to a close. Milwaukee Scylla has not wavered from its position atop its division (nor has Buffalo or County Will Morrigans in the east pools), while Palmer College, Twin Cities 2 and Minnesota Menagerie continue to trade decisions. The biggest upset might have been Palmer’s 41-32 win over the Amazons, a result that pushed the team out of the top 15. Again, consistency is valued in the rankings, but good competition is helping the entire league.
We see the same thing in DII New England. Worcester is 6-0 and has won three league games by single-digit margins. The Shamrocks’ most recent win was a 47-12 victory over Hartford, a team whose first three wins were also by single digits (as well as a tie against Amoskeag). In the end, Portland got the league’s nod for second-best. The Maine team does have two losses – 17-12 to Hartford (Sept. 17) and 17-14 to Worcester (Oct. 1) – but ended the season with a 96-3 win over Springfield and 22-11 victory over previously ranked Amoskeag.
But there’s also NERFU’s Providence. Without getting into the minutia, the Rhode Island team (and Burlington) is classified as DII but playing a Tier A schedule against other DI teams. Per the league commissioner, Providence and Burlington will receive automatic berths to the New England spring playoffs along with the top-two teams from Tier B (the all-DII competition that includes Worcester and Portland). Providence has done well for itself this fall and defeated DI Boston to end its fall campaign.
New to this edition of the rankings is Scioto Valley, which leapt over Cincinnati after the most recent 17-12 win. The Kelts won the first meeting and they’re good competition for each other. Louisville also mixes it up.
The Tulsa Tawandas showed that its win over DI Little Rock wasn’t a fluke and followed with a 67-15 victory over Red River’s Oklahoma, a team that was initially slated to play DI this season.
The Kansas City Jazz have banked two games this fall, and the 38-12 win over Boulder (last year’s league finalist) put the team on the rankings. St. Louis lost 17-12 to the Jazz and also made the list. Both the Frontier and Red River leagues have some new teams filling out the schedule, and we’ll take a closer look at what’s happening there.
Charlotte has been getting in games this fall but didn’t play its first matrix match until last weekend, a 64-7 win over Eno River. The North Carolina team did play Nashville in a friendly on Oct. 1 and won 64-0. Yes, that’s early season for these two teams, and it was a friendly road match for the Stone Lions, but we’re not going to ignore it.
Nashville did go 2-0 at the True South tournament, as did Knoxville. The Tennessee teams played an early-fall game that the Stone Lions won by six points. The Minx are also on the watch list.
There are a few more weekends of play before the DII leagues go dark this year, so we’ll do one more update before the New Year. In January, the warm-weather competitions begin, and their activity will further expand the rankings.
DII CLUB RANKINGS
Rank (Previous Rank) Team (League Record). Results.
1 (1) Milwaukee Scylla (4-0). Defeated Palmer College 50-27
2 (2) Harrisburg (3-0-1). Defeated Phoenixville 43-17
3 (3) Brandywine (4-0-1). Defeated Norfolk 43-23
4 (4) Providence (4-1). Defeated DI Boston 20-0
5 (7) County Will Morrigans (5-0). Defeated Fox Valley 96-0
6 (6) Emerald City (4-0). Idle
7 (9) Worcester (6-0). Defeated Hartford 47-12
8 (8) Severn River (3-0). Defeated James River 44-10
9 (unr) Scioto Valley (5-1). Defeated Cincinnati 17-12, Louisville 29-7
10 (10) Cincinnati (5-1). Lost 17-12 to Scioto Valley, defeated Indianapolis 78-0
11 (unr) Portland (Maine) (4-2). Defeated Amoskeag 22-11
12 (12) Buffalo (5-0). Defeated South Buffalo 55-5
13 (unr) Charlotte (1-0). Defeated Eno River 64-7
14 (13) Nashville (3-0). Defeated Memphis 45-10, Lagniappe 29-15
15 (unr) Tulsa (3-0). Defeated Oklahoma Roses 67-15
16 (unr) KC Jazz (2-0). Defeated Boulder 38-12
17 (unr) St. Louis (3-1). Lost 17-12 to KC Jazz