Gamebreakers Men's D2 College Rugby This Week
We got some massive performances as the conference playoffs arrived.
Sorry for the lack of photos.
Here are our Men's D2 College Gamebreakers.
Eric Jones, Illinois State
One of the best defensive players on the ISU team, Jones has also stepped up as their set piece and offensive structure coach, helping Illinois State beat Marquette to make the Great Midwest final.
Enrique Pesantez, Marist
The co-captain, inside center, and offensive lead scored two tries as Marist defeated Seton Hall to make the Tri-State final.
Official D1A Rankings Week 10
Texas A&M enters the top 25 and we could see Army make it into the top 4, or higher, after they face Lindenwood in a week.
Of course Army has to deal with Air Force first of all.
Here's how we voted on the left, and the official poll on the right.
Week 10 Pick 'em
Congratulations to Week 9 winner, Joe Mitchell, and Kaleb Boleyn who continues to sit atop the season standings
This week’s prize is another $10 Gift Card to Rugby Imports! To play, submit your picks here>> before Friday night.
Week 10 Power Index Powered by Silverbacks Elite Rugby
Featured Matches
Lindenwood at Army
Silverbacks Power Index: Lindenwood by 10.5
Goff Rugby Report: Lindenwood by 14
Navy at Penn State
Silverbacks Power Index: Navy by 17.5
Goff Rugby Report: Navy by 7
DII College This Week: Time to Fill Out The Bracket
We fill out almost the rest of the NCR D2 playoff bracket this week.
We find out who is the New England-Wide champion, the Tri-State champion, the Great Midwest champion, the MARC champion, Cardinals champion, MCRC champion, and the Allegheny champion. With additional seeds going to #2 and (in two cases) #3 teams, we will fill out every spot except for the two allocated to the Southern Conference. And even then we'll know, by the end of the weekend, which two teams will be in; we just need to know who is #1 and #2.
(Click on bracket at right for a bigger version)
David Lyme Named Trine University's First Rugby Coach
ANGOLA, Ind. -- A seasoned veteran with connections to the sport at a national level will lead Trine University's new men's rugby team.
David Lyme, a Level 200 World Rugby Coach and boardmember for USA Youth & High School Rugby, will begin as head coach for Trine on November 15.
Rugby will be the 37th intercollegiate sport currently offered at Trine University. Trine's first Olympian, 2016 graduate Joe Schroeder, competed on the USA men's Rugby 7s team this summer at the Tokyo games.
Power Up Front Leads DI Gamebreakers
With teams chasing some conference championships the Gamebreaker performances become that much bigger; interestingly, this week most of the players we name are forwards, and most of those locks or props.
Here is this week's list from DI rugby.
Marcus Montgomery, Salisbury
The Sharks No. 8 led from the front in a win over Rutgers, testing the Rutgers defense repeatedly and scoring two tries.
Dominic Caccese, West Chester
The Rams lock was the player of the game against Temple, getting over the ball in the rucks and stealing possession or forcing penalties. West Chester won 41-12.
HBCU Rugby Classic to Return for 2022
The HBCU Rugby Classic and Music Festival is back.
The event, which features Historically Black Colleges and Universities, will officially take place on March 26-27, 2022 in Baton Rouge, La.
The HBCU Rugby Classic and Music Festival is the premier rugby event that celebrates HBCU, rugby, and music culture. Since 2018, the HBCU Rugby Classic has featured historically black colleges and universities that carry rugby programs, in an effort to bring awareness to the opportunities and advantages that rugby can have for HBCUs.
Historically Black Colleges the Next Great Rugby Opportunity
The 2022 event will bring in new teams, return old rivalries, new music, and much more exciting action on the way.
Midwest College All-Star Program Names Coaching Staff
The Midwest Region is excited to announce the coaching staff for the 2022 NCR All-Star competition this January in Houston: Jeramy Katchuba, Tyler Selleck, Joe Lippert, Hamish McCallion and Lance Houia. This group is actively taking nominations from Midwest NCR clubs.
The program is also currently seeking a team manager to assist with logistics and roster management. If you are interested in this role, please reach out to any member of the coaching staff or Brad Dufek.
Week 10 Power Index Powered by Silverbacks Elite Rugby
It's Week 10 and the Power Index is back with some key questions ... and maybe some answers.
The Power Index is brought to you by Sliver Week 10 Power Index
Silverbacks Elite Rugby's analytics team have developed a ratings system using a complex mathematical formula that adjusting rating points for results—wins, big wins, close losses. The model learns from past results. If your team's not where you think it should be, the quickest way for them to move up is big wins versus quality opponents. Thanks to Silverbacks Elite Rugby we are sharing the Top 40 with you every week.
Too Few Games, Too Few Opponents; Virginia Looks to Playoffs
The University of Virginia appears to be miles ahead of everyone else in the Cardinals Conference, but how will that translate on the national stage.
The Cavaliers may be a big fish in a small pond, but they have at least put the performances in. A large school that has struggled to find a DI conference to play in, Virginia has just done the only thing you can do, keep playing rugby.
Of course the COVID interruption was tough on the team. Club president Kevin Kelley said. Partly it's been tough on the Cardinals Conference, making games hard to come by.
"Multiple weekends we have accepted forfeits but provided our players to other teams in order to get games in," said Kelley.
DIAA-Level Men College Rankings Week 10
We've got another new #1 in our DIAA rankings.
Now, in the past we've had situations where a lower-ranked team has beaten the #1 team and not gone to #1. This has happened recently. In addition, those who are Dartmouth fans might—quite legitimately—point to the fact that Queens University lost to Army, and Dartmouth beat Army, so why shouldn't #2 Dartmouth move up to #1?
CRAA Championship Weekend Taking Shape
The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) postseason is becoming clearer as November arrives.
Women D2 and ACRA
The American College Rugby Association, which is for D2-level women's conferences, will host playoffs on November 20 and 21 at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. Vassar is one of the favored teams here, but there will also be teams from Mid-Atlantic, Rugby Northeast, the NEWCRC, the rest of the Tri-State, and the Rocky Mountain Conference. The Rocky Mountain is not an ACRA conference, but operates under CRAA, but they are playing into the ACRA playoffs. Eight teams will meet up at Vassar to play quarterfinals and semifinals. The final two teams left will meet at the end-of-season championship weekend in North Carolina.
Men D2 College Rankings 2021 Week 9
This was a week of several rankings upsets.
Most of them came about because a) a team that had built its ranking on good early results faded due to injuries, or other challenges; b) the opposite happened, and a team that lost an early game or two just got better, got players back from injury, or got some late recruits; or c) we just had it wrong.
That last one was our judgment that the Great Midwest North was stronger than the Great Midwest South. Not so. The problem was that Northern Iowa's massive scores (78-0, 146-0, 55-15) made it seem like the conference wasn't strong. We also overlooked the early UNI win over Illinois State 34-17. In retrospect, that was a pretty competitive scoreline for ISU.
The Men's DII College Bracket So Far
This past week and the coming weekend will fill in our Men's DII college bracket for the fall.
National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) is running the playoffs and has a Round of 16-Quarterfinal weekend November 19-21 in four locations: Cherry Hill, NJ, Charleston SC, Knoxville, Tenn., and St. Louis Mo.
The teams that win their two playoff games that weekend will go to Houston, Texas for the semis and final at AVEVA Stadium December 10-12. On both weekends teams will be playing on Friday and Sunday, giving them a day off between games.
What we already know:
Big Ten Update: Where The Teams Stand
One more week remains in the Big Ten regular season and here's where we stand.
Michigan State beat Michigan on Friday—Michigan State Holds Off Michigan in Friday Night Rivalry Clash—and that puts the Spartans on the inside track for the 3rd-4th game with Illinois. MSU will make-up their previously-canceled fixture with Purdue this coming weekend, which also opens up for Purdue a window to slide into 4th with a bonus-point win and no bonus points for the Spartans. (No window for Purdue)
Meanwhile, Michigan is not on the inside track as the Wolverines will take on undefeated Indiana in the final weekend.
