NCR Playoff Update: Division II

There are three weekends remaining before the National Collegiate Rugby 15s regional championships, and some conferences have already named their reps to the postseason. But many leagues hold some sort of conference playoff or championship match, and this update focuses on the Division II space.

RELATED: DI Playoff Update • DIII Playoff Update

Allegheny – Cincinnati is the DII conference champion, but not perhaps by the margins expected. It beat West Virginia 20-19 and tied Ohio University 12-12. All told, this trio was good competition for each other. The Bearcats head to the Midwest quadrant (Columbus, Ohio) for regionals on Nov. 16-17.

Great Lakes – Bowling Green State played its most important match early in the season – a 48-12 win against Grand Valley State. The Ohio team is undefeated with two more regular-season games and should be on its way to Columbus, Ohio, for regionals.

Great Waters – There are North, Central and South pools in this conference, and the top-four teams will advance to the conference championship (semifinals + finals) on Nov. 2-3 in Oshkosh, Wis. Top-seeded UW Eau Claire is the reigning national champion and undefeated this fall. This Friday is a fun opportunity to play up, as the Wisconsin team heads to Iowa Falls for DI Univ. Northern Iowa.

Univ. Illinois Chicago (UIC) is 3-0 in the South and takes the #2 seed. It got its biggest push from Univ. Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) in a 38-34 win, and last year’s national semifinalist is taking the third seed to conference playoffs. The fourth and final spot will come down to the Central’s UW La Crosse and Marquette, which play this Saturday.

Great Waters gets two berths to regionals. The champ will play in the West quadrant in Kansas City, and the runner-up will play in the Midwest quadrant in Columbus, Ohio.

High Peaks – The 3 DII teams have been playing mostly DIII teams and not each other. However, New Mexico State and Utah Tech have a match scheduled for Nov. 2 (10/28 edit: This game is essentially the conference championship). The league does have an automatic berth to regionals, so there is space for a newer, younger team to experience the next level of competition if they want it.

Lone Star – Univ. Texas – San Antonio is 3-1 in a DI/II hybrid league, with the important decisions being a 36-27 win against Oklahoma and 34-31 win against Louisiana State. The team has one more league game with DI Univ. Texas and then will head to the West quadrant (Kansas City) for regionals.

Mid-Atlantic – This conference was the first to kick off playoffs, with quarterfinals occurring between the North and South pools last weekend. Three of the four victors hail from the North:

William & Mary 25-5 Towson
Delaware 52-34 Maryland
Kutztown 70-14 Mary Washington
Temple 52-26 Georgetown

This weekend’s semifinals are now set (below) and the final will be Nov. 9:

Kutztown v Delaware
Temple v William & Mary

North Atlantic – There are only two DII teams in this conference but the benefit is that they play outside of their league a bunch and offer insight into the relative strength of teams around the Northeast. Coast Guard leads, but only after a 12-5 victory against conference mate New Hampshire. The Bears then beat Rugby Northeast leader Roger Williams 52-0 and Providence College 59-0. On Oct. 25, the Bears will host a Friday Night Lights match against Norwich University.

The conference championship between Coast Guard and New Hampshire is Sunday, Nov. 10 at Foley Field in Worcester, Mass. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. ET and preceded by the DIII final at 1 p.m. There will be live-streams for both games.

Rugby Northeast – After its 29-19 win against UMaine Orono, Roger Williams has sealed its conference title and berth to regionals. It has one more friendly this Saturday against the North Atlantic’s New Hampshire, and then the Hawks will head to Canton, Mass., for regionals.

New to the conference this year, Norwich is a candidate for an at-large bid to regionals. The Cadets tied the Hawks 34-34 and have a competitive friendly against the Coast Guard Academy this Friday night. Then it’s a big push for a spot to regionals.

South Atlantic – There are three pools in this conference, and they’ll send their top four teams to the conference championships on Nov. 2-3 in Raleigh. The SARC champion will compete at South regionals in Culpeper, Va.

Coastal Carolina is still the team to beat and challenging itself against DI teams, but 4-1 UNC Charlotte, also in SARC East, is having a good fall, too. When they played each other, Coastal won 24-5. They’re both playing DI teams this weekend.

Also very eager to see Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State face off this Saturday in the SARC West. The former has been itching for some game time after going 3-0 early in the season, and the Owls are coming off a 59-5 win against SARC Central’s UGA. Appalachian State is the team to chase in SARC Central.

Tri-State – The conference moves into quarterfinals this weekend, with the higher seeds hosting. Semifinals follow on Nov. 2, and the finals are Nov. 9. Like the Great Waters conference, Tri-State gets two berths to regionals. The champ will compete in the South bracket in Culpeper, Va., while the runner-up will go to work in the East (Canton, Mass.).

Vassar is the team to beat, and Fairfield has been its closest competitor. Columbia’s roster got decimated by injuries and the New York City team has forfeited the rest of its season. They’re all in the North pool, which is the traditionally stronger pool. In the South, Marist went undefeated and unfortunately drew Columbia for quarterfinals. But byes also have their benefits.

#1 Vassar v #8 Stony Brook
#4 Columbia fft to #5 Marist
#3 RPI v #6 Montclair St
#2 Fairfield v #7 Rutgers

Upstate New York – Syracuse is undefeated and tops the standings. If the team beats Buffalo this Saturday, then the title and berth to regionals in Columbus, Ohio, are sealed. If not, then a strong performance from Buffalo throughout the rest of the season could put UB into the postseason.