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The Big Ten Rugby Conference (B1G Rugby) is a collegiate rugby league composed primarily of universities that are members of the Big Ten academic and athletic institutions, but it operates independently from the official Big Ten athletic conference. The league was formed to build on the traditional rivalries among these universities, but because of travel challenges, not every original Big 10 is in the rugby conference. Only seven of the teams that made up the Big 10 NCAA conference starting in the 1950s are in the Big Ten Rugby Conference. To even things out, the rugby conference added Notre Dame, which is a University with similar history and background to the Big Ten Universities.

This conference is split into West and East, with teams playing three conference games each. The top two from each side then play in semifinals, and the bottom two from each side play in 5th-place semifinals. Then all of the teams meet for a day of championship rugby in which all eight are placed 1st through 8th.

Of the eight teams in B1G Rugby, five play in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) postseason, while the other three play toward a College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) postseason.

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College Men

Who Makes the NCR D1 Playoffs?

NCR's D1 playoff picture ...

Ten teams will be in the playoff, with four teams participating in play-in games on November 11, and six teams going directly to the quarterfinals on November 18.

2022 NCR D1 Quarterfinals
Thomas More 70-21 Fairfield
St. Bonaventure 29-24 Indiana
Brown 27-7 Wheeling
Queens 33-14 AIC

msu v ohio state 2023
College Men

Spartan Surprise, Hoosier Depth Lead Big 10

Michigan State pulled off a bit of a surprise result, defeating perennial Big 10 power Ohio State 20-17.

The Spartans win was something of an upset but not a massive one as Ohio State had shown itself to be a little bit vulnerable. They had escaped in a couple of close games and not really been consistent enough to be a sure bet.

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College Men

Big 10 SF Matchups Close to Being Decided

November 11 brings the Big 10 Finals Day to Notre Dame, but there's plenty to be figured out before those eight teams convene in South Bend.

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College Men

Some Head-Turning Results in D1 College Over the Weekend

Surprises and upsets?

We certainly saw a few in men’s collegiate rugby action over the weekend. Here’s a look at a few results we thought were especially interesting this week.

Wisconsin

After a couple of relatively rough years the Wisconsin Badgers unleashed an impressive 41-29 defeat of University of Notre Dame.

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College Men

The Ripple Effect of Life Joining Rugby East

Life University's joining of the Rugby East this coming fall is the latest move in an interlocking sequence of gears within the college game.

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