NCR Creates New Division I

National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) has restructured its women’s Division I competition ahead of the fall 15s season, and the adjustment accounts for new, top-tier members this 2025-26 school year. The new Division I includes seven programs, and the former DI teams will now compete in the new DI-AA. Both leagues will culminate in national championships this Dec. 6-7 in Houston and complement a weekend that also names women’s DII and DIII 15s champions.

Women’s Director, Alycia Washington said of the expansion, “Restructuring the women’s DI league is an exciting step toward raising the level of competition and creating a true premier division,” said NCR Women’s Director Alycia Washington, who stepped into the full-time role on Aug. 1. “It brings greater alignment across college rugby and sets us up to keep pushing the women’s game forward.”

The new Division I involves seven teams that enjoy varsity or varsity-like support within their respective athletic departments — an important distinction from its former DI opponents now competing in DI-AA. The league includes five existing NCR members and — thanks to the hard work of former NCR Women’s Director Angela Smarto — adds two programs that are new to NCR 15s competitions:

Aquinas College – Grand Rapids, Mich.
Brigham Young Univ – Orem, Utah
Pennsylvania State Univ – State College, Pa.
Southern Nazarene Univ – Bethany, Okla.
St. Bonaventure Univ – Bonaventure, N.Y.
Walsh Univ – North Canton, Ohio
Wheeling Univ – Wheeling, W.V.

Penn State is a founding member of the CRC 7s and thus has been an NCR member for years — but only for the 7s season. It’s been in a complicated space for 15s, though. Also a founding member of the DI Elite (aka, DIA), the Nittany Lions couldn’t keep up with the competitive gains that Lindenwood, Life and Central Washington were making, and hadn’t been post-season viable for years. Had CRAA retained its fall-based membership, then Penn State could have looked at a shift to DI, but the majority of those teams moved to NCR. So in fall 2024, Penn State played a Bowl game against DI Air Force.

RELATED: Life University Solves its own competition issues

After the spring 2025 season, CRAA’s DI Elite / DIA dissolved. Lindenwood University took its NCAA varsity status to NIRA, and Central Washington University Athletics eliminated its men’s and women’s rugby programs. BYU, also a DI Elite / DIA founding member, was in a similar situation that Penn State was in — no competition. The Cougars join the NCR DI as, arguably, the leading title contender, but will also supplement its year-long schedule with CRAA’s spring 15s competition. Penn State and Wheeling University have announced similar intentions, as CRAA has now agreed to accept programs from NCR into its spring postseasons. Tiff Lopez is now the CRAA Director of Women’s Rugby.

Wheeling University is NCR’s reigning DI national champion (and had actually attempted to join CRAA’s spring postseason in 2025, but to no avail). 2024 runner-up Southern Nazarene University represents Oklahoma, while Michigan’s Aquinas College is the Midwest flag bearer. Relatively nearby Walsh University in Ohio is back for its second-ever rugby season, and New York’s St. Bonaventure University is pushing itself for a second-straight year in DI. It was not that long ago that the Bonnies were hoisting the DIII trophy.

To account for this new tier of competition, a Division I-AA (DI-AA) has formed and includes more than 40 teams that had previously competed at the former DI level. The shift means, for example, that Ohio State University will rejoin the Big 10. And there’s interest around how DI-AA Allegheny teams like Kent State and Pittsburgh will fill their falls now that last year’s competition (Ohio State, St. Bonaventure, Walsh and Wheeling) are in DI-AA. Schedules and conferences should be populating NCR’s website soon.

The DI postseason will begin at the national semifinal stage, pitting the top-two East programs against the top-two West programs. The trophy match will be part of the championship 15s weekend (Dec. 6-7) in Houston alongside semifinals/finals for DI-AA, DII and DIII.
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