The USA Rugby DII College Spring Championship begins at the Round of 16/8 (April 19-21), but the western portion of the competition hasn’t been able to field its eight teams since the seasonal split a few years ago. Last year that meant a couple of teams received byes to the spring quarterfinals. We’ll have a better idea of the overall picture once USA Rugby releases the bracket.
For now, here’s an update on the conferences that funnel toward the spring championship. Remember: There’s a completely separate DII college championship that evolves in the fall (Vassar beat Winona State), and the fall and spring titleholders do not meet each other for a “national championship” game. The same goes for Division I (Air Force beat Davenport).
AT-LARGE
The Cascade conference in the Pacific Northwest has one DII team – Eastern Washington – and indicated that it would place an at-large bid to regionals. There was no Cascade representative at last year’s regionals.
CAPITAL
This league is contested in the fall, and so champion Salisbury sealed its berth to the spring Round of 16 back on Nov. 4. George Washington finished second should the league receive two berth. Three? Then it’s William & Mary. Fall results are found here.
CAROLINAS
The best resource for this conference is the Southeast Rugby Referees match assignment page, and it’s a life-saver. All we really know is that College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina are leading a league that has struggled with weather cancellations.
FLORIDA
The hybrid league decides its champion on standings, and Eckerd has clinched the berth once again. The Sirens are heading to spring regionals. Here are the hybrid standings.
MID-AMERICA
The conference has schedule a semifinal/championship weekend on April 6-7, and league games run until the weekend prior. Here are the current standings.
PACIFIC DESERT (formerly Gold Coast)
USC dropped out of the league and so to get teams to their required minimum for games against DII opponents, the conference will host one post-season round on March 9:
#4 UC Riverside @ #1 Claremont
#3 UC Irvine @ #2 Long Beach State
Although it hasn’t been publicly confirmed, the conference is preparing for two seeds to spring regionals. So should Claremont win its game, then it’ll take the top seed, and the winner of the #2 vs. #3 match would take the second seed.
SOUTH INDEPENDENT
The conference playoffs will be held March 23-24 in New Orleans. The top two teams from western and eastern conferences will contest crossover semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday:
Tulane (#1 West) vs. Georgia Tech (#2 East)
Georgia (#1 East) vs. UT Chattanooga (#2 West)
WEST COAST
The league will contest games until March 30, and then the top four will contest a semifinal/championship weekend on April 6-7 at a TBD location. Current standings.