DIAA Latest: The Playoff Picture And More

The DIAA fall playoff bracket will be announced relatively soon, and there are still a few questions to get answered as conference champions are being decided.

The fall playoff will include eight teams, and there's even a question as to where those eight teams come from. Why is that in doubt? Well the last couple of years USA Rugby has selected conference champions from four participating conferences, plus an independent team, and then three second-place teams.

But this year, two teams are eligible as independents, Lindenwood-Belleville, and Iowa Central Community College, which was just forced to play in DIAA rather than the DII playoffs. 

The whole story is here: Iowa Central Appeal Denied: Bumped Up To DIAA

Chances are that the Mid-American and MARC will have their 2nd-place teams involved because those conferences provided the fall finalists in 2018. But the Chesapeake is very, very tight. The SCRC is too, but the SCRC is playing its championship game on November 16, which is when the USA Rugby playoffs start.

Here's a look at the various conferences, including those that will finish up in the spring.

Chesapeake

Virginia Tech beat Maryland 47-29 to clinch 1st in the conference, while a 36-36 tie between Salisbury and Mount St. Mary's, which was enough to clinch 3rd for Salisbury and 2nd for idle NC State. So now Salisbury and NC State, both former national DII champs, will play-off for 2nd.

Once Again A Wild Finish In Chesapeake

Down To The Wire In The Chesapeake

MAC

Bowling Green won it all last fall but has struggled this year with losses to Western Michigan and Louisville. We're all set for the playoffs with WMU, Louisville, BGSU, and IUPUI playing off next week.

Independents

Iowa Central CC was idle after finding out the Tritons would be DIAA. Lindenwood-Belleville lost 39-12 to DIA team Arkansas State. These teams have similar records, and split the two games they played between each other. So there's no set leader.

MARC

West Chester already had clinched 2nd and this week lost to Towson. Down 19-0 Towson exploded in the 2nd half for four tries and a penalty goal to win 27-19. Max Burgos and Andrew Hicks scored tries, Ben Taylor converted two and added a penalty, and Paul Janiszewski scored two tries in the comeback.

The upshot of that is that Towson is in 3rd, and just held on to that as Pitt beat Rowan 17-10, but failed to get the bonus point. IUP pushed Temple to the max but Temple held on 32-31. Towson gets to the playoffs thanks to a superior bonus-point tally than that of Pitt or Temple.

SCRC

Tennessee beat Kentucky 24-20 in something of an upset. In a massive battle, Tennessee came back from a 12-5 halftime deficit to win it and take 2nd in the standings. So that sets up #1 Kennesaw State vs #2 Tennessee in two weeks. 

NCRC

It's pretty early in the Pacific Northwest but it's always really compelling. Boise State leads in Pool B, but in Pool A it's anyone's game. Oregon beat Oregon State 31-12, pulling away with three tries in the second half. Washington State, led by Ashton Dial and Will Suddeth, shut out Gonzaga 21-0.

Ivy League

Dartmouth has dominated, of course, but it's worth noting that Columbia has been solid and is 4-1, just behind 2nd-place Brown.

Heart of America

Kansas continues to roll. The Jayhawks beat Kansas State 69-0 with a broad-based attack that included tries from captain Blake Mitton, No. 8 Clayton Ginther, lock Isaac Schmidt, flyhalf Sam Gasparovich, wing Marek Dujakovich, center Reid Parsons, hooker Andrew Schmidt, and wings Cole Williams and Devon Meyers. Center Tom Oliver added two tries, and Gasparovich added seven conversions for 19 points.

The Jayhawks are now 5-0 and in control of the HOA, which finishes up in the spring.

Lonestar

We've been tracking the Lonestar Conference as DII but in fact the conference now a hybrid NSCRO/DIAA conferenve (as is the Gold Coast in Southern California). Sam Houston State and UT San Antonio both won big over the weekend. SHSU is undefeated and was led by Deionte McMurray and his pace in a 54-12 win over UT-Dallas.

 

 

 

 

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When you realize you thought a college team was D2 but it turns out that (almost) the whole conference has moved. @lonestarrugby @utsamensrugby #d1aarugby @usarugby

A post shared by Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) on Nov 2, 2019 at 2:47pm PDT

Meanwhile, UTSA's power in the rucks and set piece helped lead them to a 78-15 win over St. Edward's. Prop David Phillips was a force.