Lonestar Conference Moves to NCR
Lonestar Conference Moves to NCR
The Lonestar Rugby Conference has announced will officially join National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) beginning in Fall of 2025.
This move brings 20 men’s programs under the NCR umbrella, enhancing the reach and depth of one of the nation's fastest-growing rugby organizations. The incoming teams will compete across Division I-AA, Division II, and Division III.
The Lonestar Rugby Conference teams include:
Angelo State University
Baylor University
LeTourneau University
Prairie View A&M University
Rice University
Sam Houston State University
Southern Methodist University
St. Edward's University
Stephen F Austin State University
Texas A&M
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
Texas Christian University
Texas State University
Texas Tech
University of Dallas
University of Houston
University of North Texas
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas at San Antonio
Notable, University of Oklahoma has not made the shift.
Founded in 2012, the Lonestar Rugby Conference has run competitions in a variety of divisions. Usually they run a competition that plays 15s in the fall and spring. To be a part of NCR, the teams will change to a fall-only format for 15s.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Lonestar Conference men, bolstering our competitions across three divisions in the South Central part of the country," said NCR Men’s Director, Brad Dufek. "They are a collection of teams with unlocked potential and we look forward to supporting their journey moving forward.”
It will be interesting to see if all of the teams involved play only 7s in the winter/spring, or if some opt to also play sort of a pre-fall 15s schedule. Some of the teams within Lonestar, notably SHSU, have straddled the line between NCR and CRAA, competing in CRAA's D1AA and also playing in NCR bowl games. Sam Houston State is slated to play in CRAA's D1AA final four in May in Indianapolis.
According to NCR's release (from which most of this article was drawn), the top division teams will compete in will be D1AA. So that will be a change for a few of the teams, which were in CRAA's D1A until now. Others will be in NCR's D2 and D3.
