After a thrilling weekend of women’s rugby games, the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) regional 15s championship brackets are nearly set. Division I knows seven of its eight post-season teams that will convene in two locations for Nov. 15 and Nov. 17 matches. Division II had a wild weekend, with unranked or lower-ranked teams shaking up expectations. The Division III conference finals that occurred were decided by larger margins, except in Upstate New York, where a second-half comeback led to a thrilling title run and rankings reversal. DII and DIII contest their regional playoffs on Nov. 16-17 in four locations, and still have a couple of at-large placeholders to be named. The following reviews the playoff matches that occurred last weekend, as well as the activity from already-qualified teams. As for the regional brackets and matchups themselves, watch NCR for that official info.

RELATED: Nov. 1-3 Rugby Scores • Apply for a post-season grant [Deadline: Nov. 8]

DIVISION I

 

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Seven of eight regional competitors are known. The DI regional championships are the equivalent of national quarterfinals (Friday, Nov. 15) and national semifinals (Sunday, Nov. 17), and will occur in two locations:

• Columbus, Ohio
– Rugby Northeast: Northeastern Univ. beat UCONN 39-15 in the final at Foley Field in Worcester, Mass. Watch the Veo replay on Keith Cattanach’s YouTube.
– South Atlantic: Four teams reported to Raleigh for the conference championships. During Saturday’s semifinals, Virginia beat Florida State 78-0, and North Carolina State topped Central Florida 45-24. In Sunday’s finals, UCF bested FSU 34-14 for 3rd, and Virginia beat NC State 29-7 for the championship.
– Big 10: Michigan clinched the conference title with its 49-0 win against Indiana, ending the regular season undefeated.
– Upstate New York: TBD between Wheeling Univ. and St. Bonaventure Univ. Both teams won their Saturday matches; Wheeling shut out Walsh 33-0, and the Bonnies beat Pitt 97-0. The two will face each other this weekend to name the champion and rep to regionals.

• Kansas City, Mo.
– High Peaks: On Sunday, Univ. Colorado hosted Montana State in Boulder and beat the Bobcats 41-14 for the championship.
– Big 10 #2: Purdue beat Adrian 46-3 Sunday to finish 4-1 on the season and sealed #2 (behind Michigan) in the conference.
– Lone Star: Already-qualified Southern Nazarene Univ. beat DII Louisiana St. 130-0 on Saturday in a regular-season match.
– Midwest: Already-qualified Univ. Northern Iowa secured secured the berth with a 5-0 conference record.

DIVISION II

A new DII national champion will be named after last weekend’s playoffs [Nov. 8 Update: UW Eau Claire has been awarded an at-large berth, so the defending champs are not out of it yet] , and that’s not the only upset that occurred across the space. Regional championships occur Saturday, Nov. 16 (aka, national Round of 16) and Sunday, Nov. 17 (aka, national quarterfinals) in four locations:

• Canton, Mass. (East)
– Tri-State: In the Sunday semifinals, Vassar beat Marist 39-33, and Fairfield beat RPI 68-0. With those victories, both teams advance to regionals, and the Nov. 10 conference championship will determine which team heads to Massachusetts and which teams goes to Virginia for the national Rounds of 16/8.
– Rugby Northeast: Already-qualified Roger Williams played a non-league match against DI Northeastern’s B side, losing 22-12.
– North Atlantic: The championship will be held Sunday, Nov. 10 (3 p.m. ET) between Coast Guard and New Hampshire in Worcester, Mass. There will be a Veo live-stream.
– At-large: This bracket has room for an at-large team.

• Columbus, Ohio (Midwest)
– Great Waters #2: Unranked Marquette took down two-time reigning national champion Univ. Wisconsin Eau Claire 12-10 in Saturday’s semifinals, and then fell 7-0 to Illinois in Sunday’s championship. [Check out Badger Kings’ coverage of the entire DII & DIII playoff weekend in Oshkosh, Wis.]
– Upstate New York: Already-qualified Syracuse University went undefeated, 5-0, to repeat as the conference champion.
– Great Lakes: Already-qualified Bowling Green State Univ. went undefeated in the regular season to secure the berth to regionals.
– Allegheny: Already-qualified Univ. Cincinnati was idle last weekend but will end the regular season against DI Kent State on Nov. 9.

• Culpeper, Va. (South)
– Mid-Atlantic: William & Mary beat Univ. Delaware 21-10 in the conference championship, which was held at the naval academy. Watch the Bill Burch film on Bill Lucas’ YouTube channel.
– South Atlantic: Unranked Kennesaw State showed up. The playoffs were restructured last minute when Georgia Tech withdrew. Kennesaw and Coastal Carolina contested a final’s play-in match Saturday, while UNC Charlotte took the bye to Sunday’s title game. Kennesaw beat Coastal 19-14, and then the Owls took on the Mean Green Sunday and battled to a 34-29 victory. Impressive.
– Tri-State #2: See Canton, Mass. Vassar is 2-0 against Fairfield this fall.
– At-large: This pool has room for an at-large team.

• Kansas City, Mo. (West)
– Lone Star: Already-qualified Univ. Texas San Antonio played DI Univ. Texas to a 46-31 loss.
– Great Waters: Univ. Illinois Urbana-Champaign beat Univ. Illinois Chicago 43-22 in the Saturday semifinals in Oshkosh, Wis., and then held off Marquette in a 7-0 title showdown.
– At-large: There are two at-large seeds in this bracket, and they’ve been filled. Stay tuned for NCR to announce.

DIVISION III

 

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Division III will hold its regional championships (aka, National Rounds of 16/8) on Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 16-17 in four locations:

• Canton, Mass.(East)
– Tri-State: Siena College repeated as conference champion after a 64-5 win against SUNY New Paltz Sunday.
– North Atlantic: The Sunday, Nov. 10 championship (Worcester, Mass., 1 p.m. ET) will be held between Endicott and Yale. The DII final (3 p.m. ET) follows and there will be a live-stream from Foley Field.
– Rugby Northeast: Already-qualified Colby College was idle last weekend but earned the conference title with an undefeated record against DIII competition.
– At-large: There’s room for one at-large team in this bracket.

• Columbus, Ohio (Midwest)
– Great Waters: Univ. Wisconsin Platteville dominated the double-header weekend, beating Michigan Tech 99-5 in Saturday’s semifinal and then Northern Michigan 51-10 in Sunday’s final.
– Upstate New York #2: Niagara Univ. finished runner-up to SUNY Geneseo in a 29-26 Sunday championship.
– At-large: There’s room for two at-large teams here. Great Lakes indicated that Calvin University (Grand Rapids, Mich.) was offered and accepted an at-large berth, and it’s likely they’ll feature at this location. Calvin beat Oakland 108-11 last weekend. NCR will announce all at-large teams shortly.

• Culpeper, Va. (South)
– Eastern Pennsylvania: East Stroudsburg Univ. earned a bye through Saturday’s semifinals, as Shippensburg forfeited the contest. Meanwhile, Loyola beat Millersville 51-17 on Saturday and then traveled to Pennsylvania  for the Sunday final. ESU prevailed 73-0 for the conference title.
– Upstate New York: SUNY Geneseo overcame a halftime deficit to beat Niagara 29-26 and win the conference title on Sunday.
– South Atlantic: Already-qualified Lee University got the automatic berth to regionals, as its lone DIII opponent, Citadel, was not seeking the 15s post-season.
– Mid-Atlantic: Already-qualified Christopher Newport Univ. has been idle and is competing in its first regionals in its first 15s season.

• Kansas City, Mo. (West)
– Great Waters #2: Northern Michigan beat UW Stout 54-22 in Saturday’s semifinals, then fell 51-10 to UW Platteville in Sunday’s championship. It was a big weekend, with both the DII and DIII competitions holding semis and final placing matches in Oshkosh, Wis. Check out Badger Kings for more coverage.
– Prairie States: Already-qualified Wayne State College was idle last weekend, its match with the Prairie All-Stars having been canceled.
– High Peaks: Already-qualified Colorado School of Mines was idle last weekend but went undefeated against DIII opposition and played DI Mesa to a single-digit loss.
– Northern Lights: The Univ. North Dakota beat Gustavus Adolphus 17-0 for the title. The majority of the conference competed in a developmental 10s league and Carleton College beat Bemidji State 17-12 in the final for the trophy.