Photo: Kayla Rudman of Notre Dame College, courtesy of Paul Rudman, KLC fotos
There was a lot of movement outside of the top seven. Some of that had to do with the addition of two teams; some of the rearrangement considered the amount of games played and the improvement that comes with more field time; and some movement was just results-based.
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Arizona State and Notre Dame College join the rankings. The former defeated Arizona 45-26 on home turf, and now the DI Gold Coast has three teams at 4-1. The conference playoff set-up is still in debate. Original plans indicated that the higher-seeded team would host its respective semifinal, and then the championship would be contested the following day at a neutral location in Los Angeles. There are new scenarios being debated – hopefully resolved soon!
Although it will have no effect on the conference standings, Arizona State and Arizona play each other this weekend in Tucson.
The Falcons are a late add. Notre Dame College had competed in the fall NIRA season, was ruled ineligible for the post-season, and then declared intentions for the DI spring championship. But after an abrupt coaching change, the Falcons’ schedule is light, and 7s-focused. The Ohio school finished second to UBC at the LVI 7s tournament and is hosting a USA Rugby 7s qualifier this weekend. The team has been penciled into the DI spring Round of 16 – joining Penn State and two other Mason Dixon teams – in State College, Pa., but hasn’t played any 15s this spring. Notre Dame College proved it was good in the fall – they beat Life, Army, Norwich – but they enter the rankings at No. 9 until they show themselves on the 15s pitch this season.
Number of games is becoming a factor, and it’s one reason* why Central Florida moved past Virginia Tech. UCF is 8-0 and has sent players to the Florida HPP team that impressed in Las Vegas. Tech did go play at the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day tournament last weekend, and Mason Dixon quarterfinals begin this weekend.
* Update: UCF was at the Savannah tournament, too, and met Virginia Tech in the final. UCF won 56-7.
Lindenwood vs. BYU in Las Vegas /// Photo: Jackie Finlan
Teams 1-7 did not move – not to say they weren’t active. Three teams are or were recently on tour. Penn State went 3-0 in the U.K.; Lindenwood plays Old Belvedere (Ireland) tonight; and Washington State lost 47-21 to England’s Blackheath Women. The Lions are coming off an LVI trip, where they beat BYU 39-5. The Cougars rebounded the next day with a 29-17 win over the senior SoCal All-Stars, but the result against Lindenwood reiterated the team’s position at number four.
Life University shut out the SIRC All-Stars last weekend freshman Alex Sedrick accounted for 35 points on seven tries. UC Davis capped an undefeated regular season with a 55-5 win over Stanford, and the teams will face each other for a third time this spring in the Pacific Mountain conference playoffs. The West #1 and #2 teams will vie for the top seeds out of the conference … although it’s a bit perfunctory since Davis and Stanford are also hosting sites for the spring Round of 16.
And remember: If a team finishes in the top eight of the DI spring playoffs, then it’s a trip to Marietta, Ga., on May 5-7 for the DI Elite national championship or DI spring championship.
