It's mid-October and a young rugby player's thoughts turn to playoffs - or at least qualifying for the playoffs.
So we have some very big games in Men's DII College rugby this weekend, with major playoff implications.
VMI at NC State is a game between the two 5-0 teams in the Cardinal Conference. While the conference does have a final-four playoff in November, the winner of this game gets the #1 seed, and would be the favorite to win the entire conference. However, if the game is close, the #2 team would certainly be in line for an at-large bid in the USA Rugby playoffs.
The top two in the Colonial Coast - Salve Regina and Plymouth State - meet, also. Salve is unbeaten, and as such are favored. In New England-Wide, Coast Guard and Hartford are going to face off next week. This week they are just taking care of business. It's kind of the same situation in Rugby Northeast, where Bentley and Providence have to wait until November 5. However, they have some tough games before then.
In the WIIL, Illinois State and Northern Iowa play in a week to decide who's tops in the South Division. In the North, Whitewater leads, so it's a case of this week's matchup between 4-0 Northern Michigan and hosts UW-Milwaukee (3-1) being the game to watch. If NMU wins, then that sets up a meeting on October 22 between two undefeated teams for the North #1. If NMU loses, then it's a dogfight between NMU and UW-Milwaukee for that coveted second playoff spot - and a home game - and possibly an at-large bid to nationals.
In Upstate NY, 4-1 Geneseo plays 5-0 Cortland in a clash that could decide who gets the #1 seed in the conference playoffs. Should Geneseo lose, then suddenly Oswego could march into 2nd.
And on Sunday, there's still much up for grabs in the Tri-State. With Siena (3-1) taking on 1-3 Union on Saturday, Siena can jump to 20 or 21 standings points. That means that Sacred Heart (4-0) would need to beat 3-1 RPI to ensure 1st in the Tri-State North. RPI, should they win, can't get to 1st because they lack the bonus points, and likely would stay at 3rd win, lose, or draw.
Check back for scores.
| 10/13/2016 | Elon | 19-15 | Wake Forest | Southern |
| 10/15/2016 | Radford | 36-31 | UMBC | Cardinal |
| 10/15/2016 | Virginia Commonwealth | 10-64 | Virginia Griffins U23 | Cardinal |
| 10/15/2016 | VMI | 27-35 | NC State | Cardinal |
| 10/15/2016 | Old Dominion | 0-20 | Hampton Heat U23 | Cardinal |
| 10/15/2016 | Plymouth State | 12-39 | Salve Regina | Colonial Coast |
| 10/15/2016 | Western NE | 12-53 | Endicott | Colonial Coast |
| 10/15/2016 | Wheaton | 10-29 | Boston University | Colonial Coast |
| 10/15/2016 | Ferris State | at | Calvin College | Great Lakes |
| 10/15/2016 | Kutztown 3 | 0-21 | Bloomsburg | MARC |
| 10/15/2016 | Drexel | 31-32 | East Stroudsburg | MARC |
| 10/15/2016 | Scranton | 12-64 | Rowan | MARC |
| 10/15/2016 | Vermont | 11-9 | Middlebury | NECRC |
| 10/15/2016 | Rhode Island | 36-19 | New Hampshire | NECRC |
| 10/16/2016 | Westfield | 7-26 | Springfield | New England Wide |
| 10/15/2016 | Quinnipiac | 7-69 | Coast Guard | New England Wide |
| 10/15/2016 | WPI | 0-28 | WCSU | New England Wide |
| 10/15/2016 | Hartford | 53-5 | CCSU | New England Wide |
| 10/15/2016 | Mankato | 0-28 Fft | Winona | Northern Lights |
| 10/15/2016 | Bemidji | 17-62 | St. Thomas | Northern Lights |
| 10/15/2016 | UND | 5-81 | NDSU | Northern Lights |
| 10/15/2016 | SCSU | 26-31 | UWRF | Northern Lights |
| 10/15/2016 | UMD | 88-7 | St. Johns | Northern Lights |
| 10/15/2016 | Winona | 64-12 | Northern Iowa | Non-Conference |
| 10/15/2016 | Air Force B | 14-38 | Montana State | Rocky Mountain |
| 10/15/2016 | Western State | 20-0 | UCCS | Rocky Mountain |
| 10/15/2016 | Bentley | 104-0 | Holy Cross | Rugby Northeast |
| 10/15/2016 | Saint Michael’s | 22-15 | Stonehill | Rugby Northeast |
| 10/15/2016 | Bryant | 8-69 | Southern CT | Rugby Northeast |
| 10/15/2016 | Providence | 31-29 | Roger Williams | Rugby Northeast |
| 10/15/2016 | College of Charleston | 0-80 | Coastal Carolina | Southern |
| 10/15/2016 | UNC-Wilmington | 33-10 | The Citadel | Southern |
| 10/15/2016 | Siena College | 29-22 | Union College | Tri-State |
| 10/15/2016 | Monroe College | at | SUNY-Oneonta | Tri-State |
| 10/15/2016 | RIT | 22-27 | Buffalo State | Upstate NY |
| 10/15/2016 | LeMoyne | 36-17 | Fredonia | Upstate NY |
| 10/15/2016 | Cortland | 24-12 | Geneseo | Upstate NY |
| 10/15/2016 | Oswego | 58-17 | Niagara | Upstate NY |
| 10/15/2016 | Northern Michigan | 17-48 | UW-Milwaukee | WIIL |
| 10/15/2016 | UW-Lacrosse | 0-91 | UW-Whitewater | WIIL |
| 10/15/2016 | UW-Stout | 28-0 | Marquette | WIIL |
| 10/15/2016 | Loyola | 31-12 | DePaul | WIIL |
| 10/14/2016 | Hartford | 53-5 | CCSU | New England Wide |
| 10/16/2016 | Western State | 67-3 | Colorado College | Rocky Mountain |
| 10/16/2016 | Rensselaer Polytechnic | 0-103 | Sacred Heart University | Tri-State |
| 10/16/2016 | Marist College | 15-66 | Hofstra University | Tri-State |
| 10/16/2016 | Molloy College | at | New Jersey Inst. of Tech. | Tri-State |
| 10/16/2016 | Seton Hall University | 29-14 | College of New Jersey | Tri-State |
| 10/16/2016 | Montclair State Uni. | 10-46 | William Paterson University | Tri-State |
| 10/16/2016 | SUNY-Maritime | at | Drew University | Tri-State |
| 10/16/2016 | Vassar College | 32-44 | SUNY-New Paltz | Tri-State |
