And we come to our final NCR D1 rankings.

Since Week 4 Brown and Queens have been at the top of our rankings, switching back and forth. And they showed it in the final, with a very close game. In this case, #2 Brown beating #1 Queens 23-20. The performance of Brown of course puts them up to #1 and it also brings up St. Bonaventure to #3 after their 11-10 loss to Brown in the semis.

We didn't update the rankings after the semis, so those games hav an effect, too.

Add to that the bowl game in which Siena edged Iowa Central CC 45-43. No only does Siena move up but Fairfield moves up, as well, because Fairfield should still be ranked ahead of Siena.

What all of this did, in a small way, is raise the competitive profile of the Liberty Conference. Now the next step is for that conference to keep it up. Brown dominated in the Liberty, which is why, paradoxically, we ranked them #2 (we weren't sure they were challenged). But instead of saying they can't ever overhaul the Bears, the rest of the Liberty needs to chase them down. Can they do it? Right now it's going to be tough, but it can be done, and improvement is the goal.