Well, well, what to do.
As often happens, the playoffs shake up the rankings pretty nicely. The question, as has been the question all season, is what results do you push aside and what results do you hold onto?
Chief among these results:
Kentucky over Lindenwood-Belleville 17-14 on October 19.
Lindenwood-Belleville 33-16 over Iowa Central CC on October 9.
Kennesaw State 29-19 over Tennessee on September 14.
Western Michigan 24-17 over Bowling Green on September 28 OR Bowling Green over Western Michigan 23-20 November 10.
Louisville over Bowling Green 27-18 on October 26.
All of these results make it less easy to just automatically say this team or that team is the top team.
Here's what we're thinking:
1. Western Michigan has lost one game and that one by a last-second penalty goal 23-20.
2. Dartmouth has not lost to a DIAA opponent, but their schedule is not super-strong. They lost close games to Penn State and Army, but we don't have a definitive result that says "these guys are #1." So, yes, we could put Dartmouth at #1, but we like to reward strength of schedule.
3. Iowa Central CC did indeed lose to Lindenwood-Belleville, who lost to Kentucky, who lost to both Tennessee and Kennesaw State, but the Tritons also beat Lindenwood-Belleville this fall and beat, Notably, Notre Dame College, a strong DIA team.
4. Virginia Tech barely lost to Iowa Central, and had they prevented that last try, could have been sitting at #1 right now. But Tech also lost a game this fall.
5. The strong showing of the MAC helps the rest of the MAC.
As a result, we're picking the most almost-perfect team as #1, and that's Western Michigan. Iowa Central or Dartmouth could be #1 as well, and they will have opportunities to prove it. Dartmouth will have more 15s games to play in the spring, and Iowa Central plays Western Michigan in two weeks.
GoffRugbyReport Men's D1AA Rankings 2019-20 Nov. 25 2019 | |||
| Rank | Prev | College Team | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Western Michigan | Beat Tennessee (4), St. Joseph's (1) |
| 2 | 11 | Iowa Central CC | Beat Virginia Tech (3), Bowling Green (5) |
| 3 | 2 | Dartmouth | |
| 4 | 3 | Virginia Tech | Lost to Iowa Central (11), Beat Kennesaw State (7) |
| 5 | 5 | Bowling Green | Beat Kennesaw State (7), lost to Iowa Central (11) |
| 6 | 4 | Tennessee | Lost to WMU (6), Beat NC State (15) |
| 7 | 1 | St. Joseph's | Beat NC State (15), lost to Western Michigan (6) |
| 8 | 7 | Kennesaw State | Lost to Bowling Green (5), Virginia Tech (3) |
| 9 | 8 | Chico State | Lost to Cal Poly |
| 10 | 9 | Kentucky | |
| 11 | 11 | Lindenwood-Belleville | |
| 12 | 14 | Louisville | |
| 13 | 15 | NC State | Lost to St. Joseph's (1), Tennessee (4) |
| 14 | 10 | CSULB | |
| 15 | 13 | Kansas | |
| 16 | 16 | Western Washington | |
| 17 | 17 | West Chester | |
| 18 | 18 | UCF | |
| 19 | 19 | Boise State | |
| 20 | 20 | Oregon | |
| GoffRugbyReport Men's D1AA Rankings 2019-20 Nov. 25 2019 | |||
| 21 | 21 | Salisbury | |
| 22 | 22 | Oregon State | |
| 23 | 23 | IUPUI | |
| 24 | 24 | Maryland | |
| 25 | 25 | Mount St. Mary's | |
| 26 | 26 | Towson | |
| 27 | 31 | Cincinnati | |
| 28 | 27 | Iowa | |
| 29 | 29 | Brown | |
| 30 | 28 | Alabama | |
| 31 | 29 | South Florida | |
| 32 | 30 | Temple | |
| 33 | 32 | Iowa State | |
| 34 | 33 | Stanford | |
| 35 | 34 | Pittsburgh | |
| 36 | 35 | Rowan | |
| 37 | 37 | Missouri | |
| 38 | 38 | Sam Houston State | |
| 39 | 39 | UT San Antonio | |
| 40 | Unr | Delaware | |
| GoffRugbyReport Men's D1AA Rankings 2019-20 Nov. 25 2019 | |||
