The fall produced collegiate champions – both national (NIRA, NSCRO) and seasonal (USA Rugby DI and DII fall) – and now it’s time for the spring teams. USA Rugby will award three titles in May: DI Elite (national), Division I spring and Division II spring. The following is a review of DI Elite and DI, and DII will follow in a separate update.
DI ELITE
BYU, Life, Lindenwood and Penn State have been members of the DI Elite since the competition launched in spring 2016. Initially, this competition was self contained, with eight members comprising the quarterfinals, but 2017 saw the field reduced to four. So USA Rugby folded the remaining DI Elite teams into the DI spring post-season, which then expanded to a Round of 16. A caveat accompanied the quarterfinal round: Winners advanced to the DI Elite national championship semifinals, and quarterfinal losers advanced to the DI spring semifinals.
Presumably, the DI Elite and DI spring post-seasons will follow the same set-up once again in 2018.
The fall is a building season for these teams (even though Penn State competes in the DI Big 10 in the fall), and the squads got plenty of field time for their big rosters. Lindenwood did beat Penn State 51-24, and the March 22 game between the Nittany Lions and Life is one to watch.
BYU had a lighter schedule and is staying in Utah for most of the winter. The Cougars will travel to New Mexico and then host Central Washington in advance of playoffs.
The Rugby Breakdown intends to cover the DI Elite like a league, with weekend round-ups and stats, even though all of the games are technically friendlies. Stay tuned.
Grand Canyon joins DI. / Photo: Jackie Finlan
DI SPRING
There are four conferences: Florida, Gold Coast, Mason-Dixon and Pacific Mountain. Mason Dixon is the only league that plays a split season, and all four conferences will be in motion shortly.
FLORIDA includes four teams with Central Florida expected to lead. The team impressed during the 2017 spring semifinals, but will need to reload after graduating some very influential players. Games begin Jan. 27; see the schedule.
The GOLD COAST is now seven teams large with the addition of Grand Canyon, which finished third among DII spring teams last year. The Lopes went undefeated in the fall and bagged a Scrum by the Sea title with wins over UC Davis, UCLA, Arizona and UC San Diego. Games begin Jan. 13; see the schedule.
The PACIFIC MOUNTAIN has grown as well. The North pool has added Boise State and Western Washington, building out to six teams. Games begin the first weekend in February, and each team plays each other once. The West pool returns all five members, and UC Davis, the two-time reigning DI spring champion, is the leader. The first games will occur January 20.
The MASON-DIXON dissolved its two-pool arrangement and now all nine teams must play each other during the split season. Read the original release. UVA (4-0) has been fulfilling expectations thus far and again got a good contest out of Virginia Tech (49-32). UNC is still undefeated as well. See the full standings and schedule.
The top teams from the aforementioned four conferences will join the DI Elite teams on April 20-22 for the DI Elite/DI Spring Round of 16. The national and spring semifinal weekend will occur May 4-6 at a TBA site.
Click here for a breakdown of college conferences and their members.