Conference playoffs and finales wrap up October in D1AA this weekend.
Liberty gets its semifinals, and while Boston College and Northeastern are teams who were expected to be here, but it's fair to say not everyone expected Babson and Yale to be here. Babson's season in D1AA is their first and while the Beavers were known to be strong, this was a challenge.
Yale, for their part, have put a number of of the pieces together. Yale Rugby is celebrating their 150th anniversary this year, which is pretty astonishing, and with some explosive play from No. 8 Diego Valacco and center Levi Cervantes, they rescue their drive for the semifinal spot by beating Babson two weeks ago.
They had lost to UMass the week before and knew their playoff chances hinged on that Babson game. So we know that Yale can win with their backs against the wall.
The SCRC semifinals will be very tight. LSU tied Kentucky during the regular season, and that is an indication that the Tigers could shake things up. GRR has Tennessee ranked #1 among D1AA teams, but having said that, LSU could get them.
Kentucky takes on Clemson, and that matchup could easily be remarkably close.
The Lonestar semis are also into their semifinals, but there do seem to be favorites here, with Texas A&M hosting Texas Tech, while Texas is at Sam Houston State. A&M and SHSU seem destined to be in the final.
