CRAA Women D1 Playoff Bracket Set
CRAA Women D1 Playoff Bracket Set
The CRAA Women's D1 college playoff brackets are set, with six spots (mostly) up for grabs.
Four teams will play in the first round, while the conference champions from the Rocky Mountain Conference and Rugby Northeast will get a bye.
Navy and Virginia Tech, playing as independent teams within the CRAA umbrella, will be on those two quarterfinals. Navy will be at the Rocky Mountain #2 team. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, will visit the Rugby Northeast #2, a seed that is still very much in question. With Air Force's defeat of Colorado earlier this season it could well be CU that's the Rocky Mountain #2.
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he winners of those two games will all convene at the US Naval Academy on November 19 for the semifinals. The final will be held as part of CRAA's Championship Weekend in Charlotte, NC the weekend of December3 and 4. That event will also hold some men's bowl games, the women's D1 Elite final, and the women's D2 final. All games to be shown live.
For the November 19 semifinals the top team from the Rocky Mountain will take on the winner of Virginia Tech and Rugby Northeast #2. Leadering the way in Rocky Mountain right now is Air Force and they look in good shape to stay there.
As for the top two teams in the Rugby Northeast, the next few weeks are going to tell the tale. Northeastern is 2-0 but won one of those games by a massive margin and another via forfeit. They have yet to play UMass, BC, or UConn. UMass already defeated BC in convincing fashion while UConn also logged a win over BC.
UMass still has plenty of rugby to play, while UConn, at 3-0, sits atop the standings ... for now.
So the season really comes down to: UMass at Northeastern this coming weekend on October 16; UConn at Northeastern on October 29, and UMass at UConn November 5.
Northeastern hosting those two rivals might well put them on the inside track. Most likely if a team comes out of those games 2-0 they will get the bye to the November 19 semis. The team that wins at least once will likely get that meeting with Virginia Tech. However, we could see these three go 1-1 again each other in which case the tiebreakers will factor in.
Here is the bracket.
