With the National Small College Rugby Organization having nailed down its fall playoff venues, maybe it's time to look at who might show up at those playoffs.

Among the men's Small College teams, the hot new arrival is Southern Virginia. The Knights started a varsity program with the announcement of the hiring of former BYU Head Coach David Smyth. Like BYU, SVU is a school founded by the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, or Mormon), and as such is an attractive institution for athletes from that faith.

Smyth did well in his recruiting and got Zak Barker (Herriman HS), Cedric and Peni Vakalahi (Penn HS), Simi Hingano (United), and former football player Simi Moala into the squad. SVU is young, but accomplished and physical, and proved it last weekend with a 33-28 defeat of Queens University, Charlotte in a non-conference game. Two weeks before the Knights had beaten the University of Virginia 36-0.

So now Southern Virginia is your team to beat in the Cardinals Conference.

In the Southern Conference, Lander leads the Tier II league, which is the NSCRO league, with a 3-0 record, with College of Charleston right behind.

Loyola of Maryland is 3-0 but two of those wins were very close and it will be a tight race in the Potomac, with this weekend's clash with George Washington for all the marbles.

Further norther, the Upstate NY league sees five unbeaten teams in three divisions, with Geneseo in the West at 3-0, Nazareth (3-0) and Ithaca (2-0) in the Central, and Clarkson and St. Lawrence both 3-0 in the North/East.

Most of these teams have the weekend off, but Nazareth plays Ithaca in a key clash in the Central.

Colby leads New England and has already beaten the teams that might challenge them. So it's Colby and then the rest. Holy Cross takes on Eastern Connecticut State this weekend in another key matchup.

Vassar is in control in the Tri-State but Drew and Hofstra are currently close by. Still, it looks as though Vassar might be the team to beat.

Salve Regina, Wentworth, and Roger Williams are all undefeated in the Colonial Coast. Salve flanker Harry Holte and center Mitchell Gage have been scoring tries and scrumhalf Alexander Fingado has been kicking well. But it's Salve's defense—17 points allowed in three games—that could take them further.

In the Mid-Atlantic, Bucknell and Susquehanna lead the standings, but there have been too many forfeits in this league, despite the large number of teams. This week Susquehanna plays Penn State Berks, and Bucknell plays Franklin & Marshall—all of those teams have actually pitched-up this season so we might see something interesting.