Great Midwest Rugby Conference

In Spring 2012, the Great Midwest Rugby Conference (originally named the WIIL Rugby Conference) was formed by joining D2 collegiate men's teams from the Wisconsin RFU, Illinois RFU, and CARFU. This was done partially to comply with USA Rugby's directive on forming conferences as well as increasing competition and enhancing the reputation of rugby in the Midwest. Since then they have branched out into Iowa, as well.

The Great Midwest Conference Champion regularly has teams go far in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) national-level playoffs.

In recent years, the Great Midwest added a Small College competition, and now runs competitions in D2 and D3 (which is what Small College is now called).

Division: Men's D2
Division: Men's D3 (Small College)

Conference Website

Men's D2

Updated: October 12, 2026

Marquette came together for the comeback.

10.12.2026College Men

Marquette Takes Key Win Over UW-Milwaukee in GMW D2

Marquette pulled off a major result in the Great Midwest men's D2 to put the Golden Eagles in a strong position in the GMW North.

Marquette edged UW-Milwaukee 27-24 to improve to 3-1. Milwaukee, however, remains ahead of Marquette in the GMW standings because of more bonus points.

10.06.2026College Men

Are We Seeing Contenders in D2 Already?

Who can contend for a NCR D2 title?

The playoffs normally bring in almost two-dozen teams into the playoffs but we're looking at who might go deep.

As always we're looking at the Great Midwest, but the NACR, Southern, and MARC also are worthy of examination, and the shifts in the Allegheny and Lonestar mean strong teams are coming from every where.

10.01.2026College Men

Milwaukee, Loyola Push Toward Tops in GMW

Early results in the Great Midwest confirm that, yes, Northern Iowa is still good, and, yes, Chicago is still strong, but also there are one or two up-and-comers.

09.21.2026College Men

Who Made a Statement in GMW Opening Weekend?

Northern Iowa and Marquette kicked off the Great Midwest with victories as we're starting to see the men's D2 college season warm up a bit.

Also over the weekend, Benedictine, who had a bit of a breakout season last year, edged UIC 10-7, while Loyola won comfortably 45-7 over DePaul.

U. Chicago vs Northwestern from October 18, 2025.

10.26.2025College Men

Top Seeds, Mostly, Advance in Great Midwest

The Great Midwest is down to four teams now and things worked out basically how we expected in last weekend’s quarterfinals.

The home teams, meaning the higher-seeded teams, won three of the four games. The #1 seeds Northern Iowa and University of Chicago won fairly comfortably.

Chicago beat Wisconsin-Whitewater 43-22.