This year's Men's DII College Rankings kick off with a bit of a speculative kick to space.
How are we to know, really, how well a team will do on the field? We don't. Most of these teams haven't played since November or December of 2019. Sure some did get some 7s in, but overall they've missed an entire year. What this means is that players who are leaders on their teams were sophomores or juniors when last there was a full season. Most of these teams don't recruit directly—they are true clubs—and as a result, it's going to be interesting to see how numbers are.
We suspect, however, that the COVID shutdowns will create a bounceback effect for activities, especially activities that also promote social interaction. Teams might not have big numbers at the start of the season, but we get the feeling they will build quickly.
So ... on to the rankings. We have ranked teams based strongly on their history, or their likelihood to have kept numbers up. A few we know a little more about in terms of who is there and ready to play rugby, and we've moved those teams accordingly.
In addition, there are four varsity programs that are going to compete in DII this season that we have decided to rank sight unseen. Well, almost unseen. We have seen Marian play and it's that on-field game time which we think will stand them in good stead going forward. We've ranked these teams conservatively, around the #20 mark (Marian at #16, Alderson Broaddus at #20, Adrian at #23, and Belmont Abbey at #24); what happens next is based on what happens on the field.
 | ||||
| Rank | Team | Conference | ||
| 1 | UW-Whitewater (WI) | Great MW | ||
| 2 | Norwich (VT) | Rugby Northeast | ||
| 3 | Furman (SC) | Southern | ||
| 4 | Villanova (PA) | MARC | ||
| 5 | Vermont (VT) | New England-Wide | ||
| 6 | Illinois State (IL) | Great MW | ||
| 7 | UMS&T (MO) | Gateway | ||
| 8 | Minnesota-Duluth (MI) | Northern Lights | ||
| 9 | MTSU (TN) | SCRC | ||
| 10 | UMass-Lowell (MA) | Rugby Northeast | ||
| 11 | Memphis (TN) | SCRC | ||
| 12 | Loyola-Chicago (IL) | Great MW | ||
| 13 | Boston University (MA) | New England-Wide | ||
| 14 | Bentley (MA) | Rugby Northeast | ||
| 15 | Marquette (WI) | Great MW | ||
| 16 | Marian (IN) | MCRC | ||
| 17 | Montana State (MT) | Rocky Mountain | ||
| 18 | Lehigh (PA) | MARC | ||
| 19 | Northern Colorado | Rocky Mountain | ||
| 20 | Alderson Broaddus (WV) | Allegheny | ||
| ||||
| 21 | UNC (NC) | Southern | ||
| 22 | York (PA) | MARC | ||
| 23 | Adrian (MI) | Great Lakes | ||
| 24 | Belmont Abbey (NC) | Southern | ||
| 25 | Coast Guard (CT) | New England-Wide | ||
| 26 | Marist (NY) | Tri-State | ||
| 27 | MSU-Moorhead (MN) | Northern Lights | ||
| 28 | SLU (MO) | Gateway | ||
| 29 | Grand Valley State (MI) | Great Lakes | ||
| 30 | UNC-Charlotte (NC) | Southern | ||
| 31 | Northern Michigan (MI) | Great MW | ||
| 32 | Pitt State (KS) | Gateway | ||
| 33 | USMMA (NY) | Tri-State | ||
| 34 | Central Michigan (MI) | Great Lakes | ||
| 35 | UNC-Wilmington (NC) | Southern | ||
| 36 | Thomas More (KY) | MCRC | ||
| 37 | Virginia (VA) | Cardinals | ||
| 38 | William Paterson (NJ) | Tri-State | ||
| 39 | UW-Platteville (WI) | Great MW | ||
| 40 | Shippensburg (PA) | MARC | ||
| ||||
