Photo courtesy Queens University of Charlotte Athletics
It was a pretty quiet weekend with only two conference matches occurring among ranked teams, and thus there was no movement in round eight of the DI College Spring Ranking. With that said, the playoffs are coming at month’s end, and that always encourages a refresh. This week’s round-up includes rest-of-season outlooks for teams vying for the spring title.
This time of year dips in activity as colleges go on spring break and conferences build in some bye weeks for potential make-up games before playoffs. Chico State played its make-up game against Cal and shut out the Bears 80-0. The Wildcats won’t have time to play the previously cancelled game against Humboldt, and we’re waiting to see how that will affect seeding into the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference playoffs.
Chico State will join UC Davis and Stanford from PMRC West, as well as a PMRC North team at the conference semifinals and final in Palo Alto (March 30-31). Since Washington State is ineligible for the post-season, the second-best team from the North will advance, and it’s likely to be Oregon State, although not yet guaranteed. There is one more league game in the North – Washington State vs. Washington – and if the Huskies win this weekend, then they advance to playoffs over Oregon State. All of the Huskies’ games have been decided by four points or fewer.
Queens University of Charlotte rounded out its first DI Mason-Dixon regular season with a 41-12 win over Clemson. There are still matrix matches to be played, and you’ll see a bunch of these teams at the Queens Cup 7s (a national qualifier) this weekend. Then it’s quarterfinal crossovers between the North and South pools on March 30. The four victors will then advance to the semifinal/final weekend on April 6-7.
There is one more league game in the Pacific Desert but it won’t affect the semifinal match-ups. Arizona State needed to beat Arizona last weekend in order to challenge CSU Northridge for the fourth berth to conference playoffs (April 6-7 at UCSB), but the Wildcats pulled out the 15-12 victory. So the outcome of the March 30 match between ASU (1-4, 6 pts.) and CSU Northridge (2-3, 14 pts.) won’t affect the post-season. So UCSB will face CSU Northridge, and Grand Canyon will play UCLA in the conference semifinals.
That leaves BYU and Central Florida … they’ve both secured their regional playoff berths. BYU will host two DI Utah teams in the run-up to the post-season, and UCF has two more league games in April and will add some local women’s club competition to the lineup.
