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NCR Playoff Update: Division III

  • 23 Oct 2024
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Endicott rugby

Two Division III conferences receive two seeds to the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 15s regional championships, held Nov. 16-17 in four locations. But before those brackets fill in, leagues will be holding their own championships and naming reps to the next stage of play. This update covers the women’s DIII space, but get a wider view of NCR rugby with the Division I and Division II updates. [Note: There are many more DIII teams playing rugby than those referenced below, but only those playing competitive 15s — not 7s, 10s or developmental — are mentioned below.]

RELATED: Check out NCR’s Weekly Coaches Polls

Gannon University is the only DIII team in the Allegheny conference that is playing 15s, but it has access to plenty of DI, DII and 7s/10s-playing members as well as the EPRU, which is not far away. The team is looking at an at-large berth to regionals, so stay tuned.

EPRU (links to standings/results): There are two pools in Eastern Pennsylvania, and the conference will name its champion during the first weekend of November. Saturday, Nov. 2 is for semifinals:

Millersville @ Loyola (Md.)
Shippensburg @ East Stroudsburg

On Sunday, Nov. 3, the two victors will meet at the higher seed’s home for the title match. The EPRU champion will compete in the South bracket (Culpeper, Va.) at regionals.

 

Loyola rugby

Loyola moves into EPRU playoffs / Photo: @therugbybreakdown

Great Lakes: Calvin and Ferris State compete in an otherwise DII league and they hold their own. When the two met each other early in the season, Calvin took the 33-17 win. The Grand Rapids-based team will be submitting an application for an at-large bid to regionals and if accepted would feature in the Midwest bracket in Columbus, Ohio.

Great Waters: There are five DIII teams across the entire conference, and they all compete in DII hybrid leagues. Come playoffs, they break out for their own conference semifinals and finals on Nov. 2-3 in Oshkosh, Wis.

There’s still a round of league play this weekend, but the four semifinalists are known [Correction: Saturday’s games will determine the semifinalists]: #1 UW Platteville, #2 Northern Michigan, #3 Univ. Chicago, #4 Michigan Tech.

Great Waters gets two berths to regionals (Nov. 16-17). The conference champion will compete in the Midwest bracket in Columbus, Ohio, and the runner-up will head to the West bracket in Kansas City, Mo.

High Peaks: There are three DIII teams playing 15s and Colorado School of Mines is the strongest of the trio. The Orediggers played DI and DII teams to fill out the schedule and are coming off a 10-7 win against New Mexico State. There is no conference final, so Mines should be taking the conference’s berth to regional playoffs, competing in the West bracket in Kansas City, Mo.

Mid-America has been holding 15s tournaments all fall, festival style. As such, the conference does not have an automatic berth to regionals but there were a couple of programs that were considering at-large bids. Will update.

Mid-Atlantic: Christopher Newport is easily the strongest DIII team in this conference and challenged itself against DII opposition, winning against Mary Washington and playing William & Mary strongly. There are no more games on the team’s public schedule or Virginia referee site, but the conference does have an automatic berth to the South regional bracket in Culpeper, Va., which is approximately a three-hour drive from Newport, Va.

North Atlantic: Still two weekends of games and then the top-two teams will compete in the conference championship on Nov. 10 at Foley Field in Worcester, Mass. Kickoff is 1 p.m. ET. The DII final will follow at 3 p.m. and there will be live-streams for both matches.

Endicott is undefeated and has been winning by large margins. The Gulls play their sixth and final league game this Saturday against Smith. Perhaps the most important match across the next two weeks occurs on Nov. 2 between Yale and Salve Regina, both of which are 3-1 and the top candidates for the other berth to the conference final. The conference champ will advance to regionals on Nov. 16-17 and compete in the East bracket (Canton, Mass.).

Rugby Northeast: The champ is determined on standings, and Colby and Bentley are the leaders here. They’ll meet this Saturday, Oct. 26. Bentley has played everyone in the conference and is 4-0. Colby added competitive friendlies against NCAA DIII programs Bowdoin (loss) and Univ. New England (win). Conference champ will compete in the East bracket at regionals, held in Canton, Mass., on Nov. 16-17.

Northern Lights: This conference has a lot of active members but the majority are playing 10s – hence records that reflect 10-12 games played this fall. Two DIII teams are playing 15s: MSU Moorhead and Univ. North Dakota. When they played each other in Minnesota, the visitors won 52-20. Their rematch is this weekend in North Dakota.

Their third and final match against each other will occur at the conference championship on Nov. 2. The champ will compete in the West bracket of regionals in Kansas City, Mo.

Ohio Valley: Two teams dropped from the 15s competition last minute, so the schedule has been light for teams like Denison University – which is in its second year of 15s since covid – and Baldwin Wallace, which will play its first of two conference matches this Saturday. The conference does not get an automatic berth to regionals, so an at-large application is necessary. Denison is not looking at the post-season and Baldwin Wallace – which is 75% new players with a new coach – are TBD.

Prairie States: Wayne State College has worked hard to build a challenging schedule, including games against DI Iowa State and Southern Nazarene. The Nebraska team plays tournaments, gets 15s out of the Prairie States all-stars, and won its conference match against Univ. South Dakota 62-19. Expect to see the Wildcats at regionals, doing work in the West bracket in Kansas City, Mo.

South Atlantic: Lee University is the only active, healthy team in this conference right now, and it has played a DII schedule this fall. The Flames have beaten Alabama and Appalachian State, and were competitive against Georgia Tech. The Tennessee team will play Univ. Tennessee Knoxville this weekend, and then advance directly to the South regional championships in Culpeper, Va.

Tri-State: Siena College is undefeated and posting big wins, but there have been some holes in the schedule with forfeit wins. In fact, there are only three teams that could commit to the post-season, so Molloy and New Paltz are contesting a semifinal this weekend, and the winner will travel to Siena on Nov. 2 for the conference final. The Tri-State champion will advance to the East bracket of regionals in Canton, Mass.

Upstate NY: There are two pools in this conference – East and West – and they’ll contest crossover semifinals this weekend:

Plattsburgh (East #1) vs. Geneseo (West #2)
Niagara (West #1) vs. Clarkson (East #2)

The conference final is Nov. 2, and both finalists will advance to the regional playoffs on Nov. 16-17. The Upstate New York champ will compete in the South bracket in Culpeper, Va., and the runner-up will compete in the Midwest bracket in Columbus, Ohio.

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