A few interesting results as well as teams’ season-openers see lots of movement in the third round of the DII Fall College Rankings.
RELATED: DI Fall College Rankings #3 • Women’s Rugby Scores: Sept 28-29
The biggest jump goes to Colorado School of Mines, which defeated reigning Rocky Mountain champion Colorado Mesa 54-5. (Stay tuned for interview with Mines head coach Dan Roder). The team is cautiously optimistic about this year and will test its progress in the Mesa rematch at the end of the month.
Most of the movement is due to new additions to the rankings. Coast Guard played its first game and beat New Hampshire 40-14. The Bears only led 26-14 at the break and spoke highly of their opponent; thus, UNH remains on the watch list. CGA finished third overall the last two years and after a little more field time – especially if Cincinnati’s Ohio Valley opponents continue to forfeit – the Bears could move up a spot.
Also in New England Wide, Vermont traveled to Maine for a 33-5 win and took the previously ranked team’s spot on the list.
Post-season regular Kutztown played its first match after and took a 27-point win onto the rankings. And Marquette beat reigning Great Water champion UW Oshkosh 39-22 to move from the watch list to the Top 20. The rest of the moves were minor adjustments to account for the addition and removal of teams, although Bryant dropped after a review of its roster, which currently has 15 players CIPPed to play. The Bulldogs can do a lot with a little, as the team has already proven, but it’s already had to win a match with 13 players and that’s a little unnerving. That said, Bryant’s still top 10.
Finally, RIT drops after tying unranked Fredonia 27-27, and the Blackhorse join the watch list. The next weeks pit Fredonia against Geneseo and RIT against St. Bonaventure, and those results will sort any necessary additions and/or omissions.
