We get some questions about merging our D1A and NCR D1 rankings, and we might be discussing that soon, but as we think about that it becomes clear to us that, at least right now, there are two teams significantly stronger than the rest.

And guess what? They're #1 and #2.

The teams that could unseat them? Well Wheeling is probably best positioned to do that. If Dartmouth defeats Brown this coming weekend a bit of a monkey wrench could be thrown into the machine, but right now we think Queens and Brown are top 2. 

When you look around the Rugby East you also see that St. Bonaventure beat Walsh 11-10, and Kutztown beat Walsh 21-15. Now Kutztown plays St. Bonaventure this weekend. Walsh hosts Army, which is a great test for both (Army being D1A of course) and then Penn State (who beat Kutztown). It is likely Walsh makes the NCR playoffs as the Rugby East #4 seed but the mix of results could potential see them edge up.

Who knows what happens with the Big Rivers playoffs. We're hearing that Thomas More might be able to play. We'll see, but we are still thinking Wheeling and Principia will play in the conference final. Dark horse? Marian, who beat Notre Dame (!) and lost two conference games by less than a try, could turn it around quickly.

Notre Dame ... what to do about Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have beaten Michigan, Bowling Green, Western Michigan, and Michigan State. They lost to Marian but ... and this is key ... beat Ohio State. Last week we left Notre Dame at #15 because we wanted to see if Ohio State was, perhaps, not as strong as we thought. Well we looked at it, looked at OSU, and what we needed to do was say, OK, 40-39 over Ohio State on October 5 carries more weight than losing to Marian 38-17 on September 6. We've made that call. However, it's possible that shifts. Such as November 2 when the Big 10 semifinals happen, or November 10, when the finals happen.