Divisional and Geographical Factors Help Prompt Principia Move to Midwest Conference

06.20.2026College Men

Principia joins the Midwest.

Author: Alex Goff

Principia College has announced a bit of a revamp of its rugby program and will join CRAA's Midwest Conference in its D1AA tier.

Principia pulled back from its higher-level competition last year after some on-campus changes and the loss of former Head Coach Philip Kellerman. After dropping out of NCR's D1 and the Big Rivers Conference, Principia moved to D2, but also still struggled because of the coaching questions and the roster turnover.

Then, at the end of this just-past season, another small college team that likes to wear purple, UHSP, found itself qith a questionable future because the University is merging with Washington University of St. Louis.

This ended up being a bit serendipitous for Principia. UHSP Head Coach Peter Lang was, this week, announced as the new Head Coach at Principia. Lucas Black will join as assistant coach and head of S&C.

With this, Principia also officially makes a shift from NCR to CRAA. This is a move that Trine a year ago and for similar reasons—while NCR's definition of what should be a D1 team or a D1AA team makes a lot of sense to most of the rugby environment, it doesn't fit everyone. Principia is a school-supported program, but a small one, and playing in NCR's D1, or CRAA's D1A, doesn't make sense. Playing in a very competitive D1AA does.

And as the Heart of American group that has remained with CRAA joins the Midwest Conference in a tiered system (which other conferences under both umbrella have done), this opened the door for Principia to join.

CRAA's Midwest Conference Expands, Expects More to Come

“This is an exciting opportunity to build on Principia Rugby’s strong foundation,” said Lang in a statement. “Our goal is to challenge student-athletes to reach their full potential and continue establishing Principia as a destination program.”

“The addition of Peter Lang and Lucas Black represents a significant step forward for Principia Rugby and Principia Athletics as a whole,” said Principia Athletics Director Ramiro Dominguez. “Together, they bring the leadership, experience, and vision needed to guide our student-athletes and position the program for long-term success.”

So what will all of this look like? The Midwest D1A now includes Lindenwood, Arkansas State, Davenport, McKendree, and Ohio State, with the Buckeyes joining this coming season.

The Midwest D1AA will include Iowa State, Minnesota, Wayne State, University if Iowa (who confirmed joining a bit after the other three), and Principia. These teams will be playing their D1AA season within that group, but will also play some crossover games with the D1A teams.

That will work nicely for teams that are looking for games (Lindenwood will play anyone and have played Iowa State, Iowa, and Principia in the past). It will also be a good option for the teams that aren't winning every game in the D1A level to play more matches within the conference environment. And it will be a good challenge option for the D1AA teams.

One of the key drivers for realignment, along with which umbrella you want to use, is geography. This Midwest features teams that are all relatively close to each other. The bigger travel distances are mostly for the D1A-level teams.

The options for this conference to grow, most certainly, are geographical.