It's a massive mix of DI games and we're here to try to make sense of it for you.

Major Crossovers

Indiana vs Notre Dame and Life at Life West are crossover matches not dedicated to any one type of division or competition. Notre Dame plays independently against DIAA and DIA and NCR DI competition and isn't really a member of anything specific (or, rather, they are members of both USA Rugby and NCR). Indiana, the Big 10 runners-up, have played a mostly DIA schedule, but have added in some non-conference games with teams associated with NCR. The upshot of this is that this game could affect both in rankings, but is really most valuable to Notre Dame to see where they fall in the pecking order.

Life is on a tour of California, and Life West, remember, is not a college team. They field many college-age players, some of whom are students at Life West (Life Chiropractic College West), but there are also older players on the team. It's a men's club team, and a very good test for Life. But if the Running Eagles lose, that won't hurt them especially severely in the rankings. Monday's clash with Saint Mary's is an exciting early test of where both of those teams are.

The DI/DIAA Split in NCR

NCR split their DI and DIAA playoffs partly on where conference places themselves (the MARC teams have been DIAA from the start), and partly based on what happened on the field. The Liberty Conference declared itself a DI conference at the beginning of the season, but some of the teams a little further down the finish list are in the DIAA playoffs. The Chesapeake was a DIAA conference, but the top teams showed themselves to be pretty strong and so they are in the DI playoffs.

While Rugby East teams St. Bonaventure, Penn State, and Kutztown are in the playoffs, why aren't Navy and Army? Because they are pushing for a DIA spring playoffs. Remember DIA is run by the College Rugby Association of America (CRAA), which pays dues to USA Rugby, so it's a different organization than NCR.

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The NCRC Split

The Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference (NCRC) is split along membership lines as well. The top team from the NCR-member side is Boise State, and the Broncos are in the NCR DIAA playoffs against Nazareth. Meanwhile, the NCRC teams that are a member of American College Rugby (ACR), which is a USA Rugby dues-paying organization, keeps on with its league season. Oregon, which shut out Washington in impressive fashion last week, faces Western Washington this week.

Two Games for NCR DIAA Teams

The NCR DIAA playoffs are in a two-game-weekend situation. This is partly because most of the teams are club teams, and paying for travel every week is tough to do. So they play Friday and Sunday, with the top two teams going to Houston Dec 10-12 for their final. There are several tossup games here, but it does seem like St. Joseph's, despite being very young this year, is on a roll.

Head Coach Nick Hunter said the average level of his weekly lineup is a first-semester sophomore. And yet they ended up MARC #1.

"We're on Year One of a long rebuild, but the boys are doing whatever's asked of them," said Hunter. His team shut out Rutgers this past weekend, holding off a team Hunter has a lot of respect for.

"They stayed in the game for 80 minutes and continued to play for openings, nearly catching a few late," he said, adding that his team scored 26 of their points in a 20-minute surge, and then "[we] relied on team defense as Rutgers got organized and rallied in the second half. We'll need another massive defensive effort to deal with a powerful Binghamton Rugby which plays to its strength and toughness. This season has been inspiring. From 20 or so young players on their own this summer to where they're at right now, I just don't know if I've seen a team work harder."

NCR DI Heats Up

The NCR DI playoffs will be a one-game-a-week proposition. So this week we've got the quarterfinals and then everyone shows up at Penn State Berks for the semis, with the winners on to Houston. Can Brown keep shaking things up? Is Bonnies for really-real? 

"We have a good mix of seniors and new guys," said Head Coach Tui Osborne, whose team beat Kutztown and Penn State this year, both for the first time ever. "Against KU we had to dig deep and that was good to see. We finally were able to put some phases together in the second half."

Their penalty count is a concern, but they have emerged as a player.

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Major CRAA Games

Three games have important CRAA ramifications. As we mentioned, Life at Saint Mary's is a rankings goldmine. The Tennessee vs Clemson final will decide who plays Bowling Green at the CRAA finals weekend Dec 4-5 at the Mathews Sportsplex in North Carolina. (SCRC and MAC aren't officially CRAA teams but they will play in the fall finale.)

"It will be a battle," said Clemson Head Coach Troy Hall. "Two different styles of play and teams going at it. We will have to match them physically in the final, otherwise it will be a tough day at the office for us. With that said, I back our boys 100%. We have a solid group of top blokes that care about each other - and will work hard for each other when the heat comes on." 

We are excited and grateful to get another crack at them on their home turf. This is going to be a blast and one to remember.

And then Davenport, following a close loss to Life, plays a Mid-South Conference game with Lindenwood, which is coming off a loss to Army. 

"Tonight, was not our night," said Lindenwood captain Marnus Spangenberg after the game. "No matter what we did, we kept getting in our own way and allowed Army to have their way with us. But, this is not the end of our season, and this is in fact a great opportunity to see where we are as a team and what we need to work on. This was a great test and a great lesson for us." 

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