Conferences are a step closer to deciding their champions in Men's DII College - here's a rundown of Saturday's action:

New England Wide. The much-anticipated clash between Coast Guard and Hartford didn't happen, as Hartford apparently conceded the conference to the US Coast Guard Academy. So Coast Guard moves on to the national playoffs.

Rugby Northeast. As we outlined on Saturday - SoConn Shakes Up RNE - Bentley's loss to Southern Connecticut opens up the door for a three-way tie. On Sunday, Providence College beat UMass-Lowell 55-37 to go 7-0 while Bentley and SoConn sit at 6-1. SoConn plays 8th-place St. Michael's next week, while Providence plays Bentley.  

Colonial Coast. Salve Regina has already clinched and should play the NECRC #2, which is Vermont.

NECRC. Norwich was undefeated and 1st, and played 2nd-place Vermont Saturday. Norwich won 39-12 and is now 7-0 and clinch 1st. So Vermont plays Salve Regina in the opening round of the playoffs. Vermont is close to clinching 2nd, and could clinch next week (we corrected from an earlier mistake). Norwich goes directly to the Round of 16.

Upstate NY. RIT beat SUNY-Fredonia 19-17 in the opening round of the playoffs to get to the semis and face undefeated SUNY-Cortland. SUNY-Oswego won a close one 33-27 over LeMoyne and will face Geneseo next week in the semis.

Tri-State. Sacred Heart played RPI and WPU played Siena on Sunday. Sacred Heart and WPU won. Here are details: WPU, Sacred Heart to Tri-State Final

Cardinals. Playoffs next week. Top two get into the national playoffs.

Southern. As detailed on GRR - Charlotte, Furman Win in Southern - UNC-Charlotte beat UINC-Wilmington at Wilmington, and Furman beat Coastal Carolina to set up the conference final next week. Both teams will qualify for the national playoffs.

MARC. IUP, Rowan, and York at qualified for the conference playoffs. So it was down to Bloomsburg, Scranton, and Drexel for the final spot. Bloomsburg lost to Rowan, as expected, and so the winner of Scranton v Drexel would take the 4th playoff spot, and Scranton won big, 62-5.

Northern Lights. North Dakota State edged Winona State 17-5 in the semis on Saturday. Minnesota-Duluth slammed St. Cloud State 112-0 to make Sunday's final. UMD got five tries from Matt Martin and 42 points from flyhalf Trace Bolstad. In a tough final on Sunday, UMD beat NDSU 31-7.

Great Lakes. Grand Valley State has already won the conference and qualified for nationals. Grand Valley Wins Great Lakes Showdown

WIIL. In the quarterfinals this weekend, Wisconsin-Whitewater beat Illinois-Chicago 138-0. Illinois State beat UW-Stout 57-14. UW-Milwaukee beat Loyola 57-26, and Northern Iowa edged out Northern Michigan 17-7. 

After missing some starters the last few weeks, UNI got most back for this weekend and it made a big difference, especially on defense. NMU spent a lot of time in the UNI 22, but couldn't bust through the UNI defense. With the veterans back the younger players are starting to play better.

Next week is the WIIL Final Four in Cottage Grove, Wisc. UNI plays Whitewater, while UW-Milwaukee plays Illinois State. The final and 3rd/4th game are on November 6. The top three will enter the USA Rugby playoffs, with the champion going straight to the Round of 16.

Gateway. The East took down the West on Saturday, with Principia beating Pitt State and Southern Illinois edging UMS&T. In the final on the Sunday, Principia pulled off a bit of a shock win. Details here: Principia Wins Gateway

Rocky Mountain. Sunday's final will be a rematch of the tight clash between 2015 champs Colorado of Mines, and Western State, won by Western State 34-28 September 17. Mines defeated Montana State 33-29 behind two tries from Jack Martin. Western State beat Colorado College 58-12 Saturday. On Sunday in the final, Western State won 30-17.