Photo: Diane Ramage
The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), the league for NCAA varsity programs, has confirmed its Tier 1 quarterfinal match-ups for Nov. 10. The four victors will then advance to the national championship final four on Friday, Nov. 16 (semifinals) and Sunday, Nov. 18 (final) in Hanover, N.H.
NIRA TIER 1 QUARTERFINALS
Games held @ higher seed
Brown @ Dartmouth
AIC @ Harvard
Notre Dame College @ Quinnipiac
Norwich @ Army
The Tier 2 championship was also decided, and Sacred Heart University will travel to Mount St. Mary’s (Emmitsburg, Md.) on Nov. 10.
NIRA Commissioner Amy Rusert explained that the PostSeason Seeding Committee, which includes three athletic directors and two coach chairs, first discussed the Nov. 3 match results before settling on playoff seeding. The committee is bound by postseason ranking criteria in the NIRA Bylaws. View the Tier 1 standings and Tier 2 standings.
NIRA Bylaws – Tier 1 Seeding:
- Tier 1 one and two seeds were determined by criteria 2. No further tie-breaker criteria required.
- Tier 1 three, four and five seeds were tied at .500 under criteria 1.
- QU advanced over Norwich to the three-seed based on criteria 3.
- Army advanced over Norwich to the four-seed based on criteria 4.
- Tier 1 6-8 seeds were determined by criteria 1. No further tie-breaker criteria required.
NIRA Bylaws – Primary Postseason Seeding Criteria:
- Win/Loss Percentage Against NIRA Opponents – the committee could not use this as the top criteria because of the overwhelming number of scheduling disparities and would have heavily favored Tier 1 teams with Tier 2 games scheduled during the regular season.
- Win/Loss Percentage Against In-Tier NIRA Opponents
- Head-to-Head Results
- Results Against Common NIRA Opponents
- Results vs. Top-Eight Ranked NIRA Opponents
NIRA Bylaws – Secondary Postseason Seeding Criteria:
In the event the Postseason Seeding Committee is unable to determine a ranking based on the above criteria, the following secondary criteria shall be considered.
- Objective Strength of Schedule i.e.; the number of games scheduled against higher-ranked NIRA opponents
- Results against non-NIRA programs