National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) released its first Division II Coaching Poll of the 15s season last week, and the fall is already producing interesting results. The following update reviews competitions and teams that are playing regulation 15s games and eligible for the post-season. But there are many more DII members that are active in conferences’ “festival” divisions and absent from this recap. The festival circuit provides new, developing or regrouping programs a place to play non-15s, and it’s important, but ultimately the fall is for NCR 15s and that’s what TRB’s tracking.

RELATED: Women’s Rugby Scores: Sept. 22-24

ALLEGHENY (2)

Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania (IUP), West Virginia

Allegheny has teams in DI, DII and Small College, as well as a developmental 7s circuit. West Virginia Univ. and IUP are supposed to be playing DII 15s this fall, and they’ll face each other this Saturday. IUP’s run out against small college Gannon and Univ. Buffalo already, both losses. WVU has on-boarded Mike Geibel as head coach, and we’re excited to see what he does there.

 

 

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GREAT LAKES (7)

Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Ferris State, Grand Valley, Oakland Univ., Saginaw Valley, Western Michigan

The league is already hurtling toward week four of league play, and Grand Valley State has re-established its team-to-beat status. The Lakers have yet to give up a point to the opposition in its three wins. Saginaw Valley State (3-0) is currently in second place, beating Ferris State and small college Calvin, and edging Western Michigan 22-19 last weekend. The standings leaders face each other this weekend.

GREAT WATERS (9)

North: Marquette, UW Eau Claire, UW LaCrosse, UW Stevens Point; South: DePaul, Univ. Illinois, Univ. Illinois Chicago, Loyola, Northwestern

This conference used to be divided into three pools, but with the movement of several teams into a development league, the remaining nine teams are divided into North and South pools. 2022 DII national champion UW Eau Claire resides in Great Waters North and might have just played its most competitive match of the regular season. Eau Claire beat Northern Michigan Univ., the 3rd-place team at 2022 Small College 15s nationals, 30-7 last weekend. Northstar also beat DII Marquette 48-12.

The South pool is a Chicago-area grouping, and Univ. Illinois Chicago and Univ. Illinois opened the season with wins last weekend. UIC beat DePaul 34-19, and Illinois toped Loyola 26-10. Crossovers will occur at the conference championships (semifinals/finals) on Nov. 4-5.

 

HIGH PEAKS (1)

Colorado School of Mines

The Orediggers are a nice addition to the NCR 15s landscape and represent the region’s strongest DII team of the last few years. Mines opened with a 66-12 win against small college Colorado College and will take on CRAA DI Colorado State this weekend.

LONE STAR (2)

Louisiana State Univ., Univ. Texas San Antonio

LSU shocked with a 31-12 win against DI Texas A&M, and then UTSA followed with a 15-0 win against DI Texas last weekend. DII teams are standing up. LSU and UTSA face each other this weekend, and both will also play DI Southern Nazarene. State championships are Oct. 28 at Baylor.

MID-ATLANTIC (10)

North: Bloomsburg, Delaware, Kutztown, Rowan, Temple; South: American, George Washington, Mary Washington, Maryland, William & Mary

MARC is new to NCR and really beefs up DII. The MARC South got started Sept. 16 and represents the former CRAA Capital conference. That league used to contest its entire season in the fall and then send its champion to the spring 15s championships. So far, American blanked Maryland 55-0, Mary Washington topped George Washington 43-17, and William & Mary dropped a friendly to Navy JV.

Last weekend was the first game-day for the five-team North. Reigning champ – when MARC was a CRAA competition – Temple opened with a 69-5 win against Bloomsburg, and Kutztown and Delaware tied 10-all as terrible weather hammered the east coast. Both groups will cycle through league play then cross over for the Oct. 28 semifinals and Nov. 4 finals.

NEW ENGLAND WIDE (5)

Coast Guard, Maine, New Hampshire, Tufts, Vermont

Another addition from CRAA. Coast Guard and Vermont have enjoyed a nice back-and-forth during the fall, but the Bears continue to go deeper into the post-season. This fall has gotten off to a slow start for the military academy, as its first two games have resulted in cancelations. Vermont, on the other hand, tested itself against Tri-State’s Vassar (45-12 loss) and won its opener 58-12 against Maine. New Hampshire beat Tufts 44-0, and now the USCGA awaits Massachusetts team this weekend. Eastern Connecticut is scheduled alongside the DII teams but is Small College eligible (and will be listed in the Small College round-up).

NORTHERN LIGHTS (1)

North Dakota State

NDSU is the only DII team in Northern Lights and its games are against small colleges St. Scholastica, MSU Moorhead, Macalester and Gustavus Adolphus. The Fighting Snappers opened with a 37-29 win against Moorhead.

 

 

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OHIO VALLEY (3)

Ball State, Cincinnati, Ohio Univ

Ohio Valley is down to three DII teams. Cincinnati is the frontrunner and beat Ball State 87-0 and Ohio Univ 60-0, and pushed DI Kent State in a 22-19 loss. Ohio Valley is a bigger conference, and there are actually more teams in the developmental 7s division (8) than there are DII (3) and Small College (4) teams playing 15s.

RUGBY NORTHEAST (3)

UMass Lowell, Providence College, Roger Williams

The Hawks beat Tri-State’s Fairfield 70-14 in a pre-season game then topped Rugby Northeast Small College Colby 15-7 on Saturday. Roger Williams faces Endicott in a big one this Saturday, and DI UMASS is on Oct. 14. Providence College also got a crossover against Colonial Coast Salve Regina and tied 31-all. UMass Lowell took on DI Boston College and pushed in a 31-17 loss.

SARC (7)

Appalachian St, College of Charleston, Univ Georgia, Georgia Tech, Univ North Carolina Charlotte, Univ South Carolina

The addition of CRAA DII Carolinas has been a nice bump for the Southeast but we’re already seeing some cancelations. Of the games that are occurring, Coastal Carolina is looking strong as expected and beat College of Charleston 61-5 Saturday. Georgia Tech lost to Small College Lee 31-27 but then rallied with a 48-0 win against UGA. UNC Charlotte beat USC 27-8. AHO’s still waiting to take the pitch and hopes Georgia Tech comes through this weekend.

 

TRI-STATE (9)

North: Columbia, Fairfield, Marist, RPI, Vassar; South: College of NJ, Fordham, Montclair, Rutgers 

Vassar is the reigning CRAA DII fall champion and the favorite out of this conference. The Brewers played DI Elite Penn State and New England Wide’s Vermont in pre-season games, and then opened up league season with a 34-5 win against RPI – a respectable result from the Engineers. Vassar produces a thorough write-up after every match, so read more.

Columbia and Fairfield have post-season potential as well, and they both won their respective season openers last weekend. Columbia shut out Marist 44-0, and Fairfield topped Stony Brook 38-5 (a  week after losing 70-14 to Roger Williams in a preseason friendly).

UPSTATE NY (4)

Binghamton, Buffalo, Cornell, Syracuse

Both Cornell and Buffalo won pre-season games against DI teams (Cornell beat Pitt 74-0, Buffalo beat Colgate 22-5), but then Syracuse kicked off the regular season last Saturday with a 49-31 win against Cornell. Syracuse will also see Colgate and then Buffalo on Oct. 28 for more perspective. Alongside Binghamton, the teams do a nice job playing teams from other conferences, which is valuable in determining cross-league strength.