There’s still no public bracket for the USA Rugby DI College Fall Championship, but we’re picking up scraps of info from coaches and team leaders for an update on how they’re qualifying.
IMPORTANT DATES:
- Nov. 16: Wild Card round, aka, “play-ins” [held at higher seed]
- Nov. 23-24: Quarterfinals and semifinals, aka, “regional championships” [West bracket @ Columbia, Mo., and East bracket @ Poughkeepsie, N.Y.]
- Dec. 8: Fall championship [@ Matthews, N.C.]
ALLEGHENY … Pittsburgh and Kent State play their final games on Nov. 2, which will set the standings and name the conference champ. Pitt currently has a four-point lead in the standings. The winner will play Michigan State during the Nov. 16 wild card round.
AT-LARGE … Davenport and Midwest runner-up Northern Iowa will contest a play-in match on Nov. 16 (2:30 p.m. kickoff @ Davenport). The U.S. Naval Academy also has a play-in match and likely against Northeast #2 (determined Nov. 9)
BIG 10 … Indiana clinched the top seed and gets the automatic berth to the DI fall quarterfinals; Michigan State is taking the second seed and will play Allegheny #1 (determined Nov. 2) in the Nov. 16 wild card round.
MIDWEST … Minnesota is the champion and gets the automatic berth; runner-up Northern Iowa is heading to the Nov. 16 wild card round.
NORTHEAST … Semifinals are this weekend, followed by finals on Nov. 9:
#4 UMASS @ #1 Northeastern
#3 Boston University @ #2 UCONN
ROCKY MOUNTAIN … The U.S. Air Force Academy and Wyoming won their respective semifinals last weekend and will meet in Colorado Springs for the conference championship on Sunday, Nov. 3. Winner gets the automatic berth to the fall quarterfinals.
TEXAS … still a desert of information. There’s supposed to be a conference championship this weekend in Austin and it was to involve eight teams, but at least one program (Oklahoma) has pulled out due to numbers/injuries. These are the season-ending standings and here’s the FB event. Will update ASAP.