Men DI College Rankings Spring 2016 #13

Some obvious moves in the Men's All-DI rankings, with Cal nudging ahead of Central Washington by virtue of beating said Wildcats 14-13. It was a close one - about as close as you can get - and they seem essentially tied for now.

It's hard to imagine any team other than BYU ending up in the #1 spot at the end of the 15s season. However, it can happen, especially if BYU loses to Cal in the Varsity Cup Final May 7. If that happens, and anyone but Life wins DIA, then we're looking at Cal for #1. If Life wins DIA, we'll have to take a long, hard look at it, and likely will end up with Life at #1.

Indiana did lose to Lindenwood in the DIA playoffs, but IU has shown once again that they are a really good team, pushing Lindenwood very close despite playing essentially out of season. It's worth looking at Indiana's record  for 2015-16. They are essentially the best true club rugby team in the country (if you accept St. Mary's as an elevated club team, which most of the top-ranked are if they're not actually varsity). They have some of the best players in the country, and in fact you will likely be seeing names such as Campbell, Hidalgo, Terezis, for some years to come. They beat Michigan, Davenport, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Kutztown, Middle Tennessee, Wheeling Jesuit, and Western Michigan. They lost twice - to Penn State and Lindenwood. Sure we could say they are below Penn State, but Penn State has a weird record and we give Indiana the credit for the totality of their season.

The big mover is, of course, Notre Dame College. DIAA teams are tough to measure against DIA teams, and when the DIAA team is in an independent schedule, it can be event worse. We under-rated NDC and we knew we were doing it, but we needed the right games to make the measurement. Beating AIC was that game.

Next year, look for NDC to play as a DIA team, as will AIC. The question is, will we see Rugby East expand into the Midwest, or will be see a Midwest DIA conference created. NDC is an obvious anchor to a conference that could include (pure invention on our part) Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Lindenwood, Lindenwood Belleville (playing an independent DI schedule next year), and maybe Wheeling Jesuit or Pitt. Who knows! We're still all in flux.

(*Additional note: I am always wary of ranking teams based on consolation games. We had two of those games this weekend, with JMU beating MTSU, and Utah State beating Sac State. The JMU result didn't mean all that much in that it confirmed rankings we already had. The Utah State win over Sac State was a bit of a surprise, and we have opted not to use it within the rankings, mainly because Sacramento State put out a lineup of players who normally don't start, or haven't become starters yet. It's always tough to judge these things, and we may well be wrong, but we've decided not to consider that result because of who played in it.)