UCSC’s Loren Roundtree / Photo: Jackie Finlan (TRB)
THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL. Again: The following is not a bracket created or circulated by USA Rugby, which administers the collegiate championships, but a proposal from TRB.
Even though the new year marks the official kickoff of the spring collegiate season, many, if not most, conferences have been active in the fall. Several have already contested league games, while others have seen their member teams hit the tournament circuit and play friendlies. That activity allows a better understanding of teams’ standings and conference numbers heading into the new year. So much so that drafting a bracket for the spring regional championships, and circulating it to the conferences and teams *well* in advance for proper time and financial preparation, is doable.
Spring Division II playoffs should not start at the Round of 16. It hasn’t been able to fully populate that stage of the bracket, and last year, there were four byes. When the Round of 16 and quarterfinal games occur as part of a double-header weekend, then a bye is a huge advantage, and it cheapens the competition.
Furthermore, the number of playoff-viable teams has not increased since last year, and has lost Fresno State, which is now in DI; Tulane University, which isn’t playing competitively this season; and John Brown, which has been replaced by Pittsburg State (read more), a team in its first competitive season in the Mid-America conference. Capital supplied three teams to the Spring Round of 16 last year, with only Salisbury moving on. In this year’s Capital final, held in the fall, Salisbury beat William & Mary 79-3.
In the following proposal, each of the seven conferences receives an automatic berth to the quarterfinals. Based on last year’s results, the West Coast would receive two spots to the Round of 8. The Cascades conference hasn’t supplied a DII team to regionals since 2017 but if there was interest (Eastern Washington), then a play-in match against West #2 would make sense. Again, advance notice and stated expectations are everything.
Division I is less complicated. Regionals begin at the quarterfinal stage: the East features three teams from Blue Ridge (formerly Mason-Dixon) and a Florida team, and the West features the Pacific Mountain and Pacific Desert conferences. The only change of note is that BYU is no longer an at-large team and has officially joined the Pacific Desert this season. To TRB’s knowledge, there is no other at-large team that competes in the spring 15s season.
Again, USA Rugby will produce the official brackets, and historically, they’re published late in the season.