The first round of post-conference playoffs occurs for several women’s rugby collegiate competitions this weekend. Check out this doc for a bracket overview.
NIRA – NCAA RUGBY
NCAA varsity rugby at its finest. All three divisions contest semifinals at the higher seed this weekend, and then the national championships are held Saturday, Nov. 19 at Dartmouth. In Division 2, the Harvard vs. Army semifinal takes top billing in terms of rematch intrigue, as the sides played to a two-point decision a couple of weeks ago. But don’t look past Quinnipiac in its match against Dartmouth. It’s an ‘everything to gain’ situation for the Bobcats, while the pressure to defend its title sits with the Big Green.
In Division 2, really looking forward to Davenport’s debut, and while it’s their first NIRA post-season, the Panthers know about title runs. They host West Chester, which also knows about national titles. AIC and Queens represent the northernmost and southernmost D2 teams playing 15s, and it’s the Yellow Jackets making the trip. We suspect this will be the game of the weekend, as AIC fell 2 points shy of Davenport but has had plenty of time to close that gap. Queens has played a lot of ball against a variety of opponents, and we’re eager to see how that translates against the reigning national champion.
In Division 3, the expectation is that Bowdoin and Univ. New England will win their semifinals and once again face each other in the national championship. All four semifinalists are located in Vermont and Maine, so here’s hoping the rest of the D3 teams (5) can break out of 7s.
Personally, I love watching the new and young talent run out – whether they were high school standouts with USA Pathway pedigrees, or 7s players transitioning to 15s for the first time, or complete finds. Just so impressed when they can stand up to the pressure of playoff ball and thrive.
NCR NATIONALS
The member org is hosting three national 15s championships this fall, and playoffs begin for all three on Saturday.
In Division I, there are two sets of Wild Card games on Saturday. Iowa State vs. Michigan State will determine the final quarterfinalist in the west, and Clemson vs. Kent State will name the final quarterfinalist in the east. The intrigue here is gauging. Division I is a new animal this year, not only because the competition narrowed with the addition of Division II but also for the new conferences and teams that joined NCR. The Wild Cards will be a first step to understanding this new competition.
In Division II, its quarterfinal weekend. Teams will play one game and victors advance to the national championship weekend in Texas. We’re loving on small-college-eligible Wayne State College and Roger Williams having a go in DII (and we think they’ll do just fine). And kudos to Waters on producing two quality additions to the quarterfinals: UW Eau Claire and Marquette. They didn’t have a big regular season but the playoffs have been very useful in sharpening. Not all the post-season teams can say that, and we think that will be influential come Saturday.
The Small College Division hosts its national Round of 16/8, so it accounts for more than half of NCR playoff rugby this weekend. On Saturday, it’s mostly excitement to see teams from different conferences cross over. Pittsburg State out of Mid-America is new to this stage and counted Wayne State College as regular-season tune-ups. Calvin College is also new to regionals and comes out of an all-DII conference. Baldwin Wallace is young as a program, but especially in 15s.
Saturday games of interest? Eager to see how Endicott College and Colby College line up. The former is hosting regionals and will have all the wind behind them. The latter has switched over from CRAA/ACRA, where it has competed at regionals before, so it’s another interesting gauge. And we think St. Bonaventure and Lee Univ. will be a tough game in the south. The Bonnies banked important lessons against rankings-leader SUNY Cortland, while SARC champ Lee hasn’t been pushed too hard this fall. And then Sunday should be all kinds of fun.
CRAA FALL RUGBY
It’s the Wild Card round for both fall 15s competitions, and oof, are they tasty.
In Division I, Virginia Tech travels to UCONN. Both teams have featured in multiple 15s championships in their histories, but since the fall-spring schism that occurred about eight years ago, Tech has played toward the spring, and UCONN toward the fall. Sure, fall-based and spring-based teams play each other, but it’s always in friendlies. Saturday, the two-time spring 15s finalist will travel to the Huskies, a perennial contender with a 2015 fall title to its credit.
The other Wild Card is equally engrossing! It’s an academy showdown that has been long in the making. Navy, the defending champ, travels to Air Force. The Midshipmen are the reigning champs (and heading to NIRA next fall), and Air Force won fall titles in 2016, 2018 and 2019. Navy hosts the subsequent round of playoffs, so on top of all the natural motivation to win this weekend, there’s the desire to actually play at home next weekend.
Following Division II has shortened my lifespan. We have confirmation that the bracket has changed but have not seen the official graphic yet. So! Let’s talk about the games that are definitely happening on Saturday: Wild cards, which is the Round of Runners-Up. Vermont heads to UMass Lowell, and Kutztown travels to Fairfield Univ in Connecticut. Those match-ups featured on the Oct. 12 version of the brackets, but there’s no clarity on where those two victors will slot into the playoff scheme. To be continued … UPDATE: Read more for the interesting take on how the Wild Card winner will be named.
With that said, we like Vermont and Fairfield. The former beat Coast Guard twice before dropping the third match-up (32-24) for the New England Wide title. The Catamounts are good. Similarly, Fairfield beat reigning DII fall 15s champion Vassar during the regular season, but couldn’t repeat the victory in the Tri-State final. Still, it was a good game, and we’re looking forward to seeing a fresh Fairfield back at it.