Goff Rugby Report has an update on the DIAA College playoff picture. 

Sixteen teams are expected to compete for the title, with the final May 7 in Moraga, Calif.

Not all of the teams we thought would be in the playoffs in this article will participate. So here’s how it looks now:

 

East

Eight teams are slated to play in the East half of the Round of 16:

Florida International will play Middle Tennessee State in what is a rematch of the SIRC final.

James Madison, AIC, Bowling Green, Notre Dame College, and Delaware will also all participate. The matchups haven’t been confirmed.

And finally, on April 9-10, the Ivy League will have a play-in competition to find out who out of Harvard, Brown, Cornell, and Princeton finishes out the list of eight teams.

 

West

We’ve still got playoffs to come, so we haven’t confirmed most teams, however …

The NCRC semis begin April 2 and on April 9 we will know the champion. Western Washington is favored to win it all. (Semis this weekend are Oregon at WWU, WSU at Washington.)

The Gold Coast playoffs are set, with San Diego at Cal State Long Beach, and Grand Canyon at USC. That will all be settled April 9, also.

In the Pacific Western, there’s one more week of competition left. Chico State defeated UCSC 47-12 Saturday to move into 3rd in a virtual tie with Nevada-Reno. Stanford could catch both of those in points, but would lose the tiebreaker against both, so this coming week’s games of Nevada-Reno v UC Davis and Chico State v Fresno State will decide who finishes 3rd. The likelihood is that Chico State will be 3rd, and will face Sacramento State in the semis on April 9, while Nevada and Davis will play a rematch. The final will be on Sunday. UC Davis is strongly favored.

In Heart of America, Arkansas and Missouri play in the final week on April 9, and the winner will almost certainly be the conference champion. 

That’s only four conferences. SWC champion North Texas has bowed out due to finances. Utah State is coming in as an at-large team, meaning that three more teams are needed.

Those will likely be the runners-up in Gold Coast and Pac West, and then either the #2 teams from HOA or NCRC, or the #3 team from the Pac West.

 

Teams that are in the playoffs or remain in the hunt:

FIU

MTSU

JMU

AIC

BGSU

Notre Dame College

Delaware

Harvard or Brown or Princeton or Cornell

Western Washington or Oregon or WSU or Washington

Utah State

UC Davis or Chico State or Sac State or Nevada (probably more than one)

Long Beach State or San Diego or Grand Canyon or USC (probably more than one)

Arkansas or Missouri (or maybe both)