[Photo: Jeff Dalton Photography @jeffd2u]
TRB started tracking College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) competitions via rankings last week (read more) and will continue to do so throughout the spring. DI Elite was idle, DI Spring saw some movement in the Top 10, and DII Spring has two conferences currently playing league games.
DI ELITE
No change. All teams idle.
- (1) Lindenwood Univ.
- (2) Life Univ.
- (3) Penn State.
- (4) Central Washington.
DI SPRING
A little rearranging to reflect recent games. UCF is a perennial top-four program, and we’ll have a better gauge after its game against Life JV this weekend. Grand Canyon has more games than anyone right now, and especially this season, field time goes a long way. UC Davis banked its second win against a physical, poachy Fresno State, per Aggies coach Gary Gordon.
- (1) BYU (3-0). Pacific Desert. Idle. Arizona double-header this Fri-Sat.
- (2) UVA (2-0). Blue Ridge. A & B side friendlies: 41-5 L v Navy, 38-10 W James Madison.
- (4) Grand Canyon (4-1). Pacific Desert. Defeated UC San Diego 51-7.
- (5) UC Davis (2-0). Pacific Mountain West. Defeated Fresno State 34-10.
- (3) UCF (1-0). Florida. Idle. Game vs. Florida State was canceled.
- (6) Virginia Tech (1-0). Blue Ridge. Idle.
- (7) UCLA (2-1). Pacific Desert. Idle.
- (8) Univ. Washington (1-0). Pacific Mountain North. Oregon State canceled.
- (10) Univ. Oregon (1-1). Pacific Mountain North. Defeated Western Washington 50-0.
- (9) Fresno State (1-1) Pacific Mountain West. Lost to UC Davis 34-10.
NOTES: Stanford vs. Chico State game canceled due to Covid. UCSB beat Arizona 26-19.
DII SPRING
There still isn’t enough activity to build a productive ranking, but we’ll list active, potential post-season candidates as they start playing league games. The West Coast leaders are reflected in the list below, and we could see Cal Poly building momentum throughout the spring. UCSC also picked up a 26-10 win vs. UN Reno.
[2.16 Update: TRB has just learned that while the West Coast conference is operational and playing games, the league isn’t a member of CRAA and is using this season to rebuild as an entire competition. The conference will hold a semifinal/championship weekend on April 9-10.]
Pacific Desert opened up and saw Claremont College and San Diego State bank big wins. CSU Long Beach take the pitch this Saturday against Claremont.
Some clarity on Capital: the fall was all friendlies and matrix games will be played in the spring. No news on the Carolinas yet. On Sunday, Eckerd College will play its first game vs. Life JV, which is playing DI UCF on Saturday.
San Jose State. West Coast. (4-0). Defeated Cal Poly 50-17 Saturday.
Santa Clara Univ. West Coast. (3-0). Beat Cal Poly 40-17 on Feb. 5.
Claremont. Pacific Desert. (1-0). Defeated UC Irvine 72-5.
San Diego State. Pacific Desert. (1-0). Beat UNLV 42-0.
All Comments
CSUMB: no home matches this season, an issue with hiring a trainer, and also Covid protocols need to be met, so no matches until March/April, and all will be away games.
It’s Santa Clara University, not state! I know mistakes are made sometimes. The state school is in San Jose State, the Spartans, a fierce rival between both schools for decades and decades, in any sport. And this season San Jose State and Santa Clara look like potential winners of D2 in Northern California. When they play each other it will likely be for the championship.