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The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) contests its women’s 15s season in the spring, and there are Division I and Division II (DII update forthcoming) competitions well underway at this point in the school year. The spring championships occur on the weekend of April 11 (location TBA), and then two weeks later (April 25-26) is the CRAA 7s National Championship. [lead photo: Oscar Hugo Lopez Velasquez]
RELATED: 2026 Women’s Rugby Calendar
There are two Division I conferences: the Pacific Desert, which accounts for eight teams in Southern California and Arizona; and the Pacific Mountain, which represents eight teams in the NorCal region and six teams in the Pacific Northwest. They name their representatives to the post-season differently and will contest regional playoffs on March 27-29 at Stanford University. Eight teams should be heading to Palo Alto for those knockouts, and by that Sunday, the DI finalists will be known.
The Pacific Desert Rugby Conference looks like years previous in terms of teams playing 15s — no additions or subtractions. All eight teams play each other once, and final standings will name the champion and runner-up — both of which should be advancing to regional playoffs. Claremont Colleges and Arizona State are the two undefeated teams at the moment, and they’ll meet each other this Saturday, Feb. 21. The Foxes put in a notable performance against Grand Canyon University on Feb. 7, beating the powerhouse 38-26. UC Santa Barbara came close to the Foxes last weekend, falling just short in a 17-12 contest that ended with UCSB being held up in the try zone.
ASU faced UCSB at the end of January and triumphed 43-5. The Sun Devils will play an important match against Grand Canyon on March 21, a game that could decide who heads to Stanford the following weekend for regionals.
The Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference (PMRC) has edits for the 2026 season. In the PMRC South, or NorCal vicinity, the league added two teams in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the reigning DII champion, and also former DII team UC Santa Cruz. On the other end of the spectrum, Sacramento State and UC Davis are rebuilding this spring and have produced some gaps in the league schedule. Like Pacific Desert, teams play each other once and then final standings name post-season berths.
The most notable result thus far is Cal Poly SLO’s 31-29 win against Stanford last weekend. The teams are meeting again this Saturday but it’s a friendly that is replacing the Sacramento State fixture. The Pac Mountain South should receive 2-3 berths to regionals.
In the PMRC North, or Pacific Northwest, there are six teams this year with the addition of Central Washington, which lost its varsity status at the end of the 2025 season. The Wildcats are rebuilding in their new club form. Western Washington is undefeated, having beat Gonzaga 32-15, Central Washington 29-17, Oregon 45-12 and Washington 69-0. The Vikings final league match is Feb. 28 against Oregon State, which posted an important 24-0 win against the Dirty Ducks in its season opener.
There are a pair of at-large teams also vying for the DI title: BYU and Life University. The Cougars also competed in the fall-based National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) 15s season, losing 34-28 to eventual champion Southern Nazarene University in the semifinals. The Utahans play an independent schedule this spring, taking on Grand Canyon this Saturday and then flying to Life for a Feb. 28 fixture. BYU closes out its regular season on March 21 when it hosts Penn State, then its regionals.
Life University is fielding two teams this year — one in CRAA and another in USA Club Rugby, where the Running Eagles are currently leading the Texas Premiership. The Marietta, Ga., team competed in the CRAA Fall Classic with an exhibition match against the Peaks Rugby Academy, a game the collegians won 45-15, and are coming off a 55-17 win against NCAA DI Queens University of Charlotte. Rumor has it that Life is one of two remaining location options for the DI final, but official location is TBA.
So while the regional playoff format has not been publicized yet, the DI field has an idea of how the eight teams heading to Stanford on March 27-29 will get there. Spring breaks chop up some of the momentum heading into the postseason but also allow for some time to dig into the title-vying programs. In other words: Stay tuned for more and look for CRAA to release official details.