NCR D1 Rankings Week 1

08.26.2024

We open this season of our college rankings with our NCR D1 rankings.

It's a tough one at the top because several of our top-ranked teams from last year have undergone changes. ~~Wheeling has graduated two truly special players in Aaron Juma, Chief Chipfumbo, and Michael Muleya~~. (Sorry, they're back for one more run so we'll see.) Joseph Iye might well be returning which would help, for sure. St. Bonaventure has had a coaching change. Notre Dame College has had a complete college change, with the program moving to Walsh University after NDC as an institution closed its doors.

Walsh University Adopts Notre Dame College's Rugby Teams from Goff Rugby Report on Vimeo.

Indiana has had some player turnover and it talking about a "rebuild."

So take it for what it's worth. We think the top 12 could all be shuffled around quite easily.

Thanks to Next Phase Rugby for supporting these rankings. Next Phase Rugby is how high school student-athletes connect with college rugby programs. Download the app at NextPhaseRugby.com


Rk.	2023 Final	College Team	Conference	Notes
1	2	St. Bonaventure	Rugby East	Finalists in 2023 and 2021 (winning in 2021)
2	1*	Walsh	Rugby East	*#1 ranking was for Notre Dame College. Walsh is essentially that team. But we'll see.
3	3	Brown	Liberty	Two straight Liberty championships.
4	5	Queens	Rugby East	Close with Kutztown as one of the top teams from the Rugby East.
5	6	Kutztown	Rugby East	Close with Queens as one of the top teams from the Rugby East.
6	4	Indiana	Big 10	Say they're rebuilding, but still probably top NCR team out of Big 10.
7	10	Siena	Liberty	Potential Liberty winner.
8	13	Thomas More	Big Rivers	A bit of a guess as Big Rivers is wide open.
9	9	Belmont Abbey	Rugby East	Could easily move up.
10	8	Principia	Big Rivers	2023 Big Rivers champs. Player turnover?
11	17	Dartmouth	Liberty	Could be poised to chase down Brown.
12	15	Southern Nazarene	Gateway	Big recruiting year. Could really make a big step.
13	12	Fairfield	Liberty	We'll see.
14	14	Fordham	Liberty	We'll see.
15	19	Iowa Central	Big Rivers	Another Big Rivers contender.
16	7	Wheeling	Big Rivers	Player turnover, with key leaders moving on, is why they drop down.
17	Unr	Notre Dame	Big 10	Expect them to be more experienced, and stronger this year.
18	11	Iona	Liberty	Another wait-and-see from GRR.
19	16	Marian	Big Rivers	Another wait-and-see from GRR.
20	20	Michigan	Big 10	Better than Notre Dame? Quite possibly.

NCR D1 Rankings Week 1

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