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National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) has the largest of women’s collegiate membership and will hold four 15s national championships on Dec. 6-7 in Houston, Texas. Conferences are starting to move into their post-seasons, and will receive a mix of automatic berths and at-large opportunities for the regional playoffs on Nov. 14-16. This weekend sees Great Waters, Mid-Atlantic, Minnesota, Tri-State and Upstate New York conferences hold various stages of playoffs. For more info, visit ncr.rugby. [lead photo: UW Platteville @ 2024 nationals / Christine Varga]
TRI-STATE
In DII Tri-State, home to reigning national champion Vassar College, this Sunday’s opening round is a proper quarterfinal setup, with the #1 seed hosting #8, #2 hosting #7, and so on. For all of the playoffs rounds, the higher seeds host their respective matches, which continue on Nov. 2. The championship semifinals occur Nov. 2 and finals are Nov. 8. A Challenge Bracket will also evolve and begins with the quarterfinal losers on Nov. 2, and then final placing matches on Nov. 8
DII QUARTERFINALS
#8 College of New Jersey (South #4) @ Vassar (North #1)
#5 Siena (South #1) @ #4 RPI (North #4)
Winners face each in Nov. 2 Championship semis; losers move to Challenger SFs
#6 Columbia (South #2) @ #3 Marist (North #3)
#7 Rutgers (South #3) @ #2 Fairfield (North #2)
Winners face each in Nov. 2 Championship semis; losers move to Challenger SFs
Championship / Challenger semis
Nov. 2 @ higher seed
Final placing matches, 1st-8th
Nov. 8 @ higher seeds
Meanwhile, a secondary bracket involving six teams will begin this Sunday and then break out into Plate and Bowl games. Top-ranked Fordham and second-ranked Montclair State have byes through the Oct. 26 semifinal play-in rounds but rejoin the knockouts on Nov. 2 to host their respective semifinals:
#6 SUNY New Paltz @ #3 Molloy
(Winner plays #1 Fordham in Plate SF; loser moves to Bowl bracket)
#5 Hofstra @ #4 Stony Brook
(Winner plays #2 Montclair St in Plate SF; loser moves to Bowl bracket)
The Plate and Bowl finals occur Nov. 8 at the higher seed. Molloy, Hofstra and SUNY New Paltz are DIII teams, and the highest-finishing team can apply for an at-large bid to the NCR DIII 15s regional playoffs. Siena, the previous DIII rep at regionals, is DII this year. For the most current results, brackets and info, visit tristaterugby.com.
GREAT WATERS
This conference includes Division II and III teams from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and both competitions have automatic berths into NCR’s regional playoffs. Thank you to @badgerkings10 for alerting TRB to this Saturday’s semifinals and subsequent finals on Sunday. All games occur at Madison United’s rugby complex in Cottage Grove, Wisc.
DII SEMIFINALS
Univ Wisc. Eau Claire vs. Univ Illinois Chicago
Northwestern Univ v Loyola Univ
DIII SEMIFINALS
Univ Wisc Stevens Point v Michigan Tech
Northern Michigan Univ v Unit Wisc Platteville
Winners play for the trophy and that automatic berth to regionals on Sunday.
MID-ATLANTIC
The Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference (MARC) is holding DII semifinals this Saturday:
1 p.m. Univ Delaware @ William & Mary
10 a.m. Towson @ Mary Washington
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Finals are presumably Nov. 1. MARC is also home to DIII teams. The Virginia Rugby Referees currently list a conference tournament at Longwood University on Nov. 1.
MINNESOTA
Minnesota, or the Northern Lights conference, is holding championships for its DIII teams as well as the recreational 7s competition this Saturday in Clearwater, Minn.
The conference also includes Winona, and the lone DII team will be applying for an at-large berth to DII regionals.
DIII 15s Final
12 p.m. North Dakota v Bemidji
Recreational 7s
11 a.m. #1 Mankato v #4 St. Benedict / St Cloud State
11:30 a.m. #2 Macalester v #3 Duluth
1:30 p.m. 3rd Place
2 p.m. Final
UPSTATE NEW YORK
Division III is already underway, and last Sunday saw the first round of playoffs — quarterfinals — elapse. Note that Niagara took a bye through the quarterfinals, as it’s been playing a DI/II hybrid schedule. The team advances directly to this Sunday’s DIII semifinals.
CHAMPIONSHIP QFs
Cortland 76-0 Brockport
Colgate 37-7 Oswego
Geneseo def Clarkson
*Niagara bye
SUNDAY OCT 26 CHAMP SFs
Colgate @ Cortland
Niagara @ Geneseo
The quarterfinal losers, plus 9th-ranked Ithaca, now flow into a consolation (“bowl”) bracket, and will hold their semifinals on Sunday as well:
BOWL SFs
Brockport v Oswego
Clarkson v Ithaca
Final placing matches are Nov. 2. There are also Plate and Shield brackets playing out as well, but they don’t have NCR regional pathways. They do however provide that postseason experience for the large conference membership.