Men DII College Games Sept. 16-18

More conferences get started this week in Men's DII College action.

We have a closer look at the Great Lakes here, and also at the Rugby Northeast here. The Great Lakes looks to be pretty tight this year, but Grand Valley State could well retain the top spot. In the Rugby Northeast, it was a close three-team race in 2015, with Roger Williams at the top, only to fall to UMass-Lowell in the playoffs. Well, as we detailed, Lowell lost to Bentley last week, and so suddenly, in Week 2, Bentley v Roger Williams carries huge meaning.

In the Tri-State, 2015 conference winners RPI comes back missing some accomplished players from last fall. They do return all-conference prop Evan St. Angelo, who is a key part of their forward effort. But the likes of Siena, Marist, and Vassar will be gunning for them. RPI opens against historical rivals Union College on the road.

It's still all full of questions in the WIIL in the Midwest. One might be answered as Northern Iowa visits Illinois-Chicago. The winner of that game will be 2-0 and in good shape in the South. Defending conference champs UW-Whitewater hosts UW-Milwaukee on Sunday in an early meeting of 1-0 teams. If Milwaukee has aspirations, they need to prove something there. 

the Northern Lights finally starts moving and defending national champs Minnesota-Duluth, under a new coach, will host North Dakota.

In the Cardinals Conference, VMI started well and will host Virginia Commonwealth. Radford won also but their coach seemed unimpressed. They visit NC State, who looked very good in the early going. The MARC has plenty of rugby to play, with all teams still in the hunt. 

In the NECRC, Norwich and Middlebury could be a big one in a rivalry of Vermont teams. 

The New England-Wide conference starts up with, you may notice, Coast Guard now there instead of in Rugby Northeast. USCGA might be in a bit of a rebuilding phase but the move is more because they save a ton on travel expenses. NEWCRC is more local to the Connecticut-based Coast Guard team. The move makes Coast Guard an instant contender, but Springfield, which finished the regular season 6-0 in 2015, will have something to say about that. Springfield visits Worcester Polytechnic, and Coast Guard hosts Western Connecticut State.

Defending Colonial Coast champs Salve Regina visit UMass Dartmouth as that conference kicks off, but Salve will have to deal with some player turnover. In Upstate NY, the 1-0 teams are playing 0-1 teams, and all 1-0 teams - Oswego, Cortland, Buffalo State, and RIT - are favored. Colorado School of Mines continues to look good in the Rocky Mountain.

Spring Hill plays Lindenwood-Belleville in a cross-divisional game. Spring Hill is playing an independent DII schedule, and a very competitive one it is.  

Check back here for scores.