UCF vs. Life /// Photo: Meredith Nelson, MEAN Photography
The top five teams in the Women’s College DI Spring Ranking retain their respective spots and reflect part of the story that is the DI Elite/DI Spring combined playoffs. The top-three teams – Penn State, Lindenwood, Life – outscored opponents 608-25 across six games last weekend. No. 4 BYU faced more resistance in its spring quarterfinal against UC Davis but still ended the weekend 2-0, 111-33. These four teams competed in last year’s stand-alone DI Elite competition.
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UC Davis is arguably the only team that saw some benefit from this combined post-season. As the reigning DI Spring champion, the NorCal team was interested in how it compared to the next tier. The Aggies played BYU to within six points before the Cougars tacked on three tries in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame College could be considered in this group as well, but since the Falcons were playing in their first two games of the year, a DI spring title seemed more appropriate a placement (more to come).
The best game of the Spring Round of 16 occurred between Central Florida and UVA. It was 17-15 to UCF until minute 50, and then the Florida champ dotted down three tries in seven minutes for a comfortable cushion. UCF won 48-20 and ended UVA’s hopes for a return appearance to the DI spring championship.
The only other competitive game occurred between Washington State (Pacific Mountain #4) and Arizona (Gold Coast #1) in Sunday’s consolation round. The Cougars scored two tries in the fourth quarter to overcome the Wildcats 34-24. Erica Chandler accounted for the final score, chipping over the line inside Arizona’s 22 meter and beating the defender to the dot-down.
In terms of the organization of the teams: We placed more value on UCF’s win over UVA, although Stanford looked really sharp against Arizona on Saturday. Notre Dame College and UVA posted similar results against common opponent Virginia Tech, so we kept those two teams close to each other. Even though Oregon was idle, the Dirty Ducks got a bump for having played Chico State to a one-point loss in the Pacific Mountain playoffs (where Washington State followed with a one-point loss to Chico the following day). Oregon’s move is more a statement on the relative strength of the Pacific Mountain over the Gold Coast.
The last phase of women’s collegiate 15s for the 2016-17 season occurs Friday-Saturday, May 5-6 in Marietta, Ga. BYU and Penn State, and Life and Lindenwood will contest the DI Elite semifinals, while UC Davis and Central Florida, and Stanford and Notre Dame College will contest the DI Spring semifinals. Both finals and third-place matches will be held on May 6.
