UCF’s Cortney Kuehl / Photo: Meredith Nelson (see more)
It’s been a couple of weeks since the DI Spring College Ranking has been updated, as conferences wound down and teams entered spring break. The gap has seen some reorganization in the ranking, and this weekend will further sort after the relative strength of leagues become apparent.
Both pools within the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference (PMRC) have been idle in terms of 15s, but the Stanford 7s saw Oregon State mix in with the majority of PMRC West. Chico State reasserted its dominance, but 7s results have little effect on 15s rankings. UC Davis finished second in the tournament, but the Aggies ended the 15s regular season 3-5, playing two close games to Stanford (3rd at its own 7s tournament). This weekend, the PMRC hosts its seeding tournament (Chico State has already secured the automatic berth) at Stanford and will name its final three reps to the spring championship.
UCF finished its undefeated season with a 77-5 win over Florida. Amanda Loughlin scored four second-half tries, while No. 8 Donneisha Smith (3), wings Agnes Fuerst (2) and Jessica Warner, centers Madeleine Ross and Cortney Kuehl, and fullback Jamie Spataro also dotted down. Spataro added five conversions and Ross one. UCF finished third at last year’s DI Spring Championship, defeating UVA and Stanford along the way and falling 10 points short of eventual champion UC Davis.
UVA / Richard Dizon Photography (see more)
UVA finished its undefeated matrix season with an 11-point win over James Madison, which is likely to take the conference’s fifth seed to spring playoffs. The only way JMU doesn’t advance is if South Carolina posts a massive victory over Virginia Tech. The Hokies settled into second place after a 55-22 win over North Carolina and then spent last weekend winning the Queens Cup 7s. weekend. UNC sits in third and Pittsburgh in fourth. Pitt finished its regular season with a double-header, defeating NC State 48-5 on day one and USC 24-7 on day two.
Grand Canyon also finished its regular season undefeated, winning the Gold Conference with a 46-14 win over Arizona State in the semifinals and 67-17 win over UC Santa Barbara in the Sunday final. The Gauchos defeated CSU Northridge 67-52 in the semifinals before dropping the title bout. These back-to-back results are important because they mimic the playoff set-up.
By Sunday, April 8, the DI Spring Championship’s Round of 16 will be finalized; i.e., all of the conferences will have concluded their seasons, and USA Rugby will know all of the playoff candidates. The Rugby Breakdown will be on site for the PMRC finals day (Saturday we’ll be attending the DII West Coast championship).
Stay tuned.
