Update: The original version of this article stated that Winona State was competing in DI, when in fact it’s competing in a DI/DII hybrid but rerouting to the DII playoffs.
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The Division II Fall College Ranking also serves as a countrywide recap for the week. Readers understand what areas of the country are active and which teams are excelling in their respective competitions. The following ranking will expand and update once all of the leagues activate and teams contest at least one game.
RELATED: Women’s Rugby Scores: Sept. 14-15 • Sept. 21-22 Fixtures
WHO’S MISSING
Conferences like Great Waters and Illinois (which added Southern Indiana this year) haven’t contested league games yet and thus aren’t represented on the rankings. That will change after this weekend.
New England Wide more widely activates this weekend but the U.S. Coast Guard Academy won’t play its first league match until Sept. 28. The Bears did scrimmage DI UCONN in early September but the runout didn’t provide the insight that, say, the University of Maine’s 12-12 contest against NCAA varsity University of New England provided. Either way, the rankings expect to see the Coast Guard debut after next weekend.
Similarly, Great Lakes opened up last weekend, but Calvin forfeited to Bowling Green State. The reigning conference champion is expected to join the rankings once it plays a league game. Runner-up Grand Valley State, however, got its game in – a 20-point win over Saginaw Valley – and represents the league in the rankings.
Keep in mind that the fall rankings do not consider those teams or leagues (e.g., Capital, Mid-America) that are building toward the USA Rugby DII SPRING College Championship, although they might be playing league games in the fall as well.
STARTING FROM THE TOP …
Current DII Fall Championship titleholder Vassar College kicked off the Tri-State season with a shutout win over New Paltz. Conference runner-up Fairfield is also present, having defeated Hofstra by 38 points. Marist and Albany are on the watch list – they beat RPI and Siena, respectively – and play each other this weekend. Stony Brook beat Monroe 33-29, so TRB will also be watching these two squads.
Winona State is competing in the DI Midwest and then will reroute to the DII fall playoffs. That uptick in competition should help prepare the Black Katts for the rigors of the post-season. UM Duluth finished second last year and endured a heart-breaking overtime loss to Illinois State in the Fall Round of 32. This weekend, the Minnesota side plays its first league game against North Dakota, which beat North Dakota State last Saturday.
Cincinnati is the heavy favorite to win Ohio Valley again and delayed its season one week with a forfeit win. Last weekend, the team that finished fourth overall last fall shut out Eastern Kentucky 89-0.
Colorado Mesa is highly ranked not only for its solid performance against Winona State last year (the team lost 37-33 in the fall quarterfinals) but also for its two commanding wins over Colorado College and DI Colorado, a non-league match, this fall. It might be early, but the Mavericks are looking like strong contenders for that fall final four berth out of the West.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) stood up well during last year’s playoffs and opened up the Allegheny season with a 47-5 win over Youngstown State.
Bryant fielded a special team last year, one that capped a successful 15s season with a DII College 7s National Championship. However, coach Rosanna Downey did express some anxiety about numbers going forward. The team currently has 15 players rostered but still beat Roger Williams 33-5 to start the Rugby Northeast season. 2018 runner-up Colby, too, did well in its opener – 46-12 win over Bentley. St. Michael’s and Stonehill play their first games this weekend, and the duo is always worth tracking.
Bloomsburg played a double-header in its first active weekend, shutting out St. Joseph’s for its league match before turning around to play NCAA varsity West Chester University. The latter was a lopsided defeat but those games are necessary for teams that have playoff goals. The sooner that work-ons are identified, the quicker they can be addressed for future competition. Kutztown plays its first league game this weekend, and teams like Temple are also on the watch list.
Upstate New York is interesting. There are 12 teams in the hybrid competition – 7 DII teams, 5 NSCRO – and there is parity thus far across the differently sized schools. Of the four 2-0 teams, two are DII (Syracuse and RIT) and two are NSCRO (St. Bonaventure and Colgate). Both of the DII teams are on the list, and mostly notably, RIT beat Geneseo, which beat reigning conference champ Buffalo State by 20 points.
