Rocky Mountain, Northeast Decide CRAA DI Fall Title

The Collegiate Rugby Association of America (CRAA) will hold its Women’s Division I 15s Fall Championship on Friday-Saturday, Dec. 1-2 in Charlotte, N.C. New this year, the final event begins with semifinals on Friday and then title match on Saturday. [Lead photo: www.studio13sports.com]

CRAA is home to two women’s DI conferences that play 15s in the fall – Northeast and Rocky Mountain – and they’ll send their champions and runners-up to the North Carolina finale. The Northeast includes six teams from Connecticut, Massachusetts (4) and Rhode Island, and members play each once in the regular season. On Saturday, the two undefeateds, Northeastern and UCONN, face each other and the expectation is that they’ll take those berths to the post-season. But it’s not a guarantee as the conference is holding playoffs on Nov. 11, so teams have another shot at each other.

The Northeast conference does a great job tracking the league and its players, and sharing that information with the public. Toggle through this spreadsheet for all things standings, leading scorers and remaining matches.

The Rocky Mountain includes seven teams from Colorado (4), Montana, Utah and Wyoming. They, too, all play each other once during the regular season, and standings name the final places. Colorado Mesa State, which competed in Division II up until this season, is currently undefeated with one more league game against Montana State this Saturday. Air Force fell five points short of the Mavericks in their regular-season match and is the leading contender for the other berth to Charlotte. Follow the Rocky Mountain conference on Instagram (@rmcr18) for updates.

Whoever advances, a new champion will be named for 2023. The U.S. Naval Academy won the 2021 and 2022 titles, and now competes as an NCAA Division I program in NIRA. The same will also be true for CRAA’s Women’s DI Spring 15s Championship, as three-time victor BYU is now in DI Elite.

On Friday, Dec. 1, the No. 1 seeds will play the No. 2 seeds from the opposing conference in the semifinals. On Saturday, the DI Fall 15s Championship final will join the Fall Classic lineup of matches. Visit CRAA for more information.