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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.

Men's D1A

Updated: October 28, 2025
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College Men

Penn State to Join Big Ten Conference for Sevens Season

The Big Ten Universities Rugby Conference has admitted Penn State to its Spring 7s competition.

This is a big move for Big Ten University Rugby as it helped elevate the standard of competition with addition of one of the top programs in the country.

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College Men

Big Ten Names All-Conference Selections

The Big Ten Conference named Ohio State scrumhalf Vince Carso as its MVP and Buckeyes Head Coach Tom Rooney as Coach of the Year in its end-of-season awards.

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College Men

Ohio State Comeback Highlights Big Ten Finals Day

After the Big Ten Championship game, someone called out to Ohio State Head Coach Tom Rooney—“Hey Tom, don’t you feel 25 pounds lighter with that monkey off your back?”

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College Men

Big Ten Holds Four-Game Championship Weekend in Chicago

Saturday sees the Big Ten complete its season with every team in the conference playing a finals game. 

The championship will be between Indiana and Ohio State, a rematch of a game GRR attended earlier this fall, which Indiana won 33-31.

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College Men

Big Ten Update: Where The Teams Stand

One more week remains in the Big Ten regular season and here's where we stand.

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