Five NCR Teams in Rugby East Leave to Form New Conference
Five NCR Teams in Rugby East Leave to Form New Conference
Five teams from the Rugby East have announced that they are moving to NCR exclusively.
In the midst of a discussion about having all members be D1A, even if they also are NCR members, the teams that compete in NCR's postseason have decided to leave Rugby East and form a separate NCR-only Conference.
That conference will also include Wheeling University, which will leave NCR's Big Rivers Conference to shift over to what is now called the Atlantic Coast Rugby Conference (ACRC)
According to reports from multiple sources, NCR has apparently pledged $20,000 to these teams to bankroll the new conference.
What this means is that Rugby East will operate with seven teams now: Navy, Army, Life, Southern Virginia, Mary Washington, Mount St. Mary's, and Penn State. It is highly likely that some other teams will be joining the Rugby East for the 2025-26 season.
Critics have contacted GRR saying that this is the five teams in question moving away from their toughest competition. Certainly it's true that in the last five D1A championship games Rugby East teams have played in all five, and of the seven teams listed above staying with CRAA, three have won a total of four D1A titles. Last fall the five teams moving to the ACRC were 14-21 in the Rugby East, while the seven staying in the Rugby East were 28-21.
The ACRC will align with National Collegiate Rugby with the teams continuing to play a Fall regular season and post-season schedule. They will track with the Liberty Conference, Big 10, and Big Rivers plus potentially one or two independent teams in the NCR D1 postseason. NCR, in their announcement, specifically said teams are free to "maintain their USA Rugby membership will do so at their convenience."
“We are pleased that we could offer a new and competitive structure to these teams,” said Brad Dufek, NCR Men’s Director. “The ACRC is poised to be one of the top conferences in the country, and we are excited to support its inception."
What this will do is simplify what remains a complex situation. All NCR D1 teams are now playing exclusively in NCR D1 competition except for the Big 10. There will be fewer disputes (presumably) about referee assignments and perhaps more clarity for NCR in their playoff seedings. Five of the six teams in the conference will get playoff bids. That detail sounds like the upshot of negotiations. NCR's playoffs included eight teams last year, although there was a wild card game, so really it was 10 teams. If they use the same format this year we would be looking at 5 ACRC teams, with one in a play-in, two Big Rivers teams (although with the conference reduced a little in size we're see if that holds up), two Liberty teams, and one Big 10 team.
Independents SNU and Drury have not entered the playoff picture as yet.