NCR Playoffs Update: Division I

The National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) post-season has begun. This update focuses on the women’s Division I space, where several teams have booked spots in their respective conference playoffs, and two teams have guaranteed their berths to the regional championships. Regionals — which are the equivalent of national quarterfinals and semifinals — will occur Columbus, Ohio and Kansas City, Mo., with game days on Friday, Nov. 15 and Sunday, Nov. 17. The DI national championship will occur the weekend of Dec. 7-8 in Texas.

RELATED: Division II Update • Division III Update

Allegheny – This has been a really fun competition to follow this fall, and two DI newcomers have risen to the top: Wheeling and St. Bonaventure. They’re both 3-0 with lots of non-league play to build out experience. But Walsh University isn’t out of contention. The 2-1 Ohio team played the Bonnies to a 17-15 loss and has Wheeling on Nov. 2. There’s a conference championship penciled in for Nov. 9 at Wheeling, and that will name the rep to regionals in Columbus, Ohio.

Big 10 – This conference gets two seeds to the Nov. 15 quarterfinals. Top seed goes to the Columbus bracket, and the second seed will head to Kansas City. Michigan is on a good track to repeat as Big 10 champ, having beaten Notre Dame, Purdue and Adrian already. The Wolverines still have Michigan State (2-1) and Indiana (0-4) to solidify the claim. Purdue is the leading contender for the second seed, having won a crucial 36-29 game against Notre Dame and then asserting itself in a shutout win against Indiana last weekend. For the Fighting Irish to have a shot at regionals, they need to win their game against Michigan State, and then hope Adrian beats Purdue in a regulation match.

High Peaks – The Univ. Colorado went undefeated through the DI East and will host the conference championship on the weekend of Nov. 2-3. Opponent is TBD. There are only three teams in the DI West and they’re playing each other as well as crossover matches with the East teams. Montana State leads the DI West and closes out league play this Saturday against Utah State.

Lone Star – Southern Nazarene is the juggernaut here and will be heading to Kansas City, Mo., for the national quarterfinals. The Oklahoma team has challenged itself this fall, adding CRAA DIA programs BYU and Lindenwood to its schedule. That exposure can only benefit the team come playoffs.

Midwest – Univ. Northern Iowa went 5-0 through conference play and will take the league’s berth to the national quarterfinals in Kansas City. The Panthers’ closest game? A four-point win against Minnesota last weekend.

Rugby Northeast – There’s still another week of conference play, but it is highly likely that Northeastern and UCONN will feature in the Nov. 2 conference championship. When they played each other this fall, it was a 32-5 decision to the Maddogs. Both teams have put distance between themselves and the field. There will be a Veo livestream for this match.

 

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South Atlantic — This conference includes three pools, and the three pool victors plus an at-large team will advance to the conference semifinals (Nov. 2) and finals (Nov. 3) in Raleigh, N.C. The SARC champ will advance to the national rounds of 8/4 in Columbus, Ohio.

Virginia is the leader in the SARC North. Last weekend, the Hoos replaced its Virginia Tech cancelation with a friendly against the Blue Ridge Bears, a new-ish senior women’s club coached by Virginia grad Clare O’Reilly. Virginia hosts Howard this Saturday, and a win will lock up a berth to the playoffs. • North Carolina State Univ. went undefeated against SARC Central opponents and takes the top seed out of this grouping to Raleigh. For some perspective, NC State played Virginia in a cross-pool match and lost 43-5. • Univ. Central Florida leads SARC South, but a very interesting weekend is coming up. Lander, which had to postpone several games due to Hurricane Helene, is heading to Tallahassee for a double-header against Florida State (Fri) and UCF (Sun). The Bearcats lost a 38-34 cross-pool match to Clemson last weekend, but who knows what a good showing in Florida might do to the wild card race.

Looking for more? Check out NCR’s weekly Coaches Polls. Stay tuned for DII and DIII updates.