Dartmouth and AIC won their respective matches last weekend. /// Photo courtesy Dartmouth Athletics •
Round three of the Women’s DI College Fall Top 20 saw some more organization after an exciting weekend of games. In the top third of the rankings, which intertwine DI Elite and NIRA teams, three important results affected the reorganization:
- Central Washington 63-17 Army: The Black Knights traveled from New York to Washington (and missed the influential Sydney Hawkins), but the 46-point differential is significant. Even though the Wildcats’ league record is 1-0, the team has played four friendlies against Canadian counterparts.
- Quinnipiac 30-5 Notre Dame College: Heading into the fourth quarter, the Falcons only trailed the Bobcats 10-5. In the final 20 minutes, however, Quinnipiac ran in four tries. The decision to slot Central Washington above Quinnipiac considers their results against shared opponent Army (Quinnipiac beat Army 32-19 in the first game of the fall).
- Lindenwood 111-0 New Mexico: The Lobos are very early in their season, but that scoreline pairs with a 42-0 victory from its developmental side against Oklahoma the day prior. The depth is impressive, and the Lions moved past Life and BYU, both of which were idle last weekend. Like Central Washington, Lindenwood’s record is 1-0, but the team has played additional friendlies this fall.
We were tempted to hold off the rankings until this evening (Thursday), as Life is squaring up against Notre Dame College, but will use the results toward next week’s Top 20. Yesterday’s match against Ohio State turned out to be a joint training session and controlled scrimmage, due to the Buckeyes’ light numbers. Arguably the most important game of this weekend sees Life play Penn State in State College. It’s a rematch of last season’s thrilling DI Elite semifinal, one that the Nittany Lions won 13-7. Games against any national champion go a long way.
There were two other important matches in NIRA that forced some reorganization: AIC got its first win with a 44-21 victory over Norwich, and Harvard outperformed Brown 45-15. DI fall champion UCONN, meanwhile, defeated Boston University 60-17 for a jump. DI fall runner-up Air Force beat Colorado State 59-7 last weekend and we’re looking forward to the match against New Mexico in two weeks.
In the Big 10, Notre Dame rallied from a 26-7 halftime deficit to beat traditional victor Indiana 40-33. It was the game we were hoping for: READ MORE. Dartmouth and Princeton won Ivy league matches against Columbia and Penn, respectively, two teams that had been Tier 2 teams when the league was subdivided as such. Finally, Minnesota beat Iowa State 67-5 and swapped spots with New Mexico.
Influential matches this weekend:
Life University vs. Penn State
Princeton vs. Brown
Army vs. Notre Dame College
Central Washington vs. AIC & Norwich
Harvard vs. Dartmouth
DI COLLEGE FALL TOP 20
Rank (Old Rank) Team (League record). Notes
1 (1) Penn State (2-0). Defeated Rutgers 98-5
2 (4) Central Washington (1-0). Defeated Army 63-17
3 (2) Quinnipiac (4-0). Defeated Notre Dame College 30-5
4 (7) Lindenwood (1-0). Defeated New Mexico 110-0
5 (5) BYU (1-0). Idle
6 (6) Life (1-0). Idle
7 (3) Army (2-2). Lost 63-17 to Central Washington
8 (8) Notre Dame College (1-1). Lost 30-5 to Quinnipiac
9 (9) Dartmouth (3-1). Defeated Columbia 110-0
10 (11) AIC (1-3). Defeated Norwich 44-21
11 (13) Harvard (1-0). Defeated Brown 45-15
12 (10) Norwich (1-3). Lost 44-21 to AIC
13 (14) UConn (1-0). Defeated Boston Univ. 60-17
14 (12) Brown (0-2). Lost 45-15 to Harvard
15 (15) Air Force (2-0). Defeated Colorado State 59-7
16 (16) Notre Dame (3-0). Defeated Indiana 40-33
17 (17) Princeton (1-0). Defeated Penn 60-0
18 (18) Indiana (0-1). Lost 40-33 to Notre Dame
19 (20) Minnesota (2-0). Defeated Iowa State 67-5
20 (19) New Mexico (0-1). Lost 110-0 to Lindenwood
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