We've got one more fall rankings to show before we take a break and then switch to the spring rankings.

What we do here at GRR World Headquarters is rank D1AA teams that play in the fall during the fall. We rank D1AA teams that play 15s in the winter/spring during the winter/spring.

Some teams play in both seasons, mostly CRAA teams. The NCR teams wrap up their 15s season in a couple of weeks. So in the New Year you will see a very different list of teams in our ranking. And then, once we're all done, in May, we will combine the two. 

Right now, the big movers are UMass and Boston College. LSU moves up six spots thanks in large part to a close-ish loss to UMass. 

We bring in Washington after a couple of good results by the Huskies. UW Victory over Oregon Signals Competitive NCRC. But really the NCRC is all a mix with UW, OSU, and Oregon all in a cluster. Boise State might be there, too, but we need to see more consistency from them. Overall we decided to move those three NCRC teams down, while Western Washington nudges up a bit. NCRC teams, along with Lonestar and Florida and even HOA teams will be able to play their way up, so it's a better move, we think, to move the NCRC teams down right now, and give them a chance to work their way up.

The NCR semifinals are coming up and the rankings did relatively well in predicting who would make that final four. UMass vs Kentucky is a previous #9 vs #1, while Virginia Tech vs Bowling Green is #7 vs #3. It's not a perfect top four because Iowa State is a CRAA team and they are #2, and we still have Louisville just behind Bowling Green and they didn't get a chance to be in the NCR playoffs because the MAC got only one seed. But Louisville lost that MAC final by only one point, so we are comfortable with them being just behind BGSU. So if you take the #2 Iowa State out of it, and the #5, Sam Houston State, which plays in the Lonestar, out of it, the semifinals are (using the rankings before this week) #1 vs #7 and #2 vs #5.

Winter time a great time to get going on your college search. Next Phase Rugby is an ideal way for HS rugby players to get that started. pic.twitter.com/sr05F3jJXa

— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) December 2, 2024