During the season the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference has not been keeping regular public records on their standings and scores; we at Goff Rugby Report did the job ourselves.
Last week were informed by Adam Roberts at Western Washington University that we had awarded too many bonus points to Boise State - we had a bonus point for four tries in their 27-14 win over Gonzaga, but that was incorrect. We then adjusted the standings, leaving Boise State with 20 points and Oregon with 15.
So when Boise State lost this past weekend, but scored four tries, we, and Boise State, and Western Washington (their opponent) understood that Boise State had clinched a playoff spot by virtue of being 6 points ahead of Oregon. Even if Oregon won, which they did, 62-0 over Eastern Washington, they would not catch Boise State.
However, on Monday, Oregon submitted game sheets to show that the Ducks scored four tries in their 22-5 win over Western Oregon - this was the game where GRR did not have a bonus point recorded for Oregon, and neither did the NCRC.
With that shown to be true, both Oregon and Boise State finished the season with 21 points (Boise State 3-3-1, 6 bp for four tries, 1 bp for a close loss; Oregon 4-3, 5bp for four tries).
That meant we go to the head-to-head tiebreaker, which Oregon wins having beaten Boise State 32-27 on February 13.
So contrary to what Goff Rugby Report said over the weekend, Boise State is not in the NCRC semifinals, and Oregon is. This was communicated to the teams on Monday.
At Goff Rugby Report, we apologize for the error. We try to follow conference standings, but not every conference keeps good records, and especially when there's a doubt on four-try bonus points, a mistake can be made. In this case, a game where Boise State scored 27 points did not result in a four-try bonus point, but a game where Oregon scored 22 did.
Every single conference needs good, conscientious people to report scores accurately and make sure the standings are accurate. This is hugely important to not only us in the media, but the players and fans who are trying to figure out how it all will finish.
The NCRC seems to have had some trouble finding the right person to track scores this year.
For clarity, here are the official scores that we have accumulated, along with the corrected standings:
| 1/16/2016 | Washington | 20-0 | Gonzaga |
| 1/17/2016 | Washington | 20-0 | Eastern Washington |
| 1/23/2016 | Washington | 28-5 | Oregon |
| 1/23/2016 | Eastern Washington | 7-22 | Gonzaga |
| 1/23/2016 | Western Oregon | 19-29 | Washington State |
| 1/30/2016 | Western Washington | 49-7 | Oregon |
| 1/30/2016 | Washington State | 63-7 | Gonzaga |
| 1/30/2016 | Western Oregon | 19-39 | Washington |
| 2/6/2016 | Boise State | 31-31 | Washington State |
| 2/6/2016 | Eastern Washington | 5-38 | Western Washington |
| 2/6/2016 | Oregon | 22-5 | Western Oregon |
| 2/7/2016 | Gonzaga | 22-20 | Western Washington |
| 2/13/2016 | Boise State | 27-32 | Oregon |
| 2/13/2016 | Western Oregon | 15-26 | Gonzaga |
| 2/14/2016 | Eastern Washington | 46-12 | Western Oregon |
| 2/20/2016 | Western Washington | 31-18 | Washington State |
| 2/20/2016 | Eastern Washington | 36-41 | Boise State |
| 2/21/2016 | Gonzaga | 14-27 | Boise State |
| 2/27/2016 | Oregon | 38-8 | Gonzaga |
| 2/27/2016 | Washington State | 42-5 | Eastern Washington |
| 2/27/2016 | Western Oregon | 5-44 | Western Washington |
| 3/5/2016 | Western Washington | 27-16 | Washington |
| 3/5/2016 | Boise State | 72-26 | Western Oregon |
| 3/5/2016 | Washington State | 34-26 | Oregon |
| 3/12/2016 | Western Washington | 54-24 | Boise State |
| 3/12/2016 | Oregon | 62-0 | Eastern Washington |
| 3/26/2016 | Washington | at | Washington State |
| NCRC | W | L | T | Pf | Pa | Pd | BT | BL | Pts |
| Western Washington | 6 | 1 | 0 | 264 | 98 | 166 | 5 | 1 | 30 |
| Washington | 5 | 1 | 0 | 227 | 93 | 134 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| Washington State | 4 | 1 | 1 | 217 | 121 | 96 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| Oregon | 4 | 3 | 0 | 189 | 151 | 38 | 5 | 0 | 21 |
| Boise State | 3 | 3 | 1 | 250 | 231 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 21 |
| Gonzaga | 3 | 4 | 0 | 114 | 212 | -98 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Eastern Washington | 1 | 6 | 0 | 96 | 259 | -163 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Western Oregon | 0 | 7 | 0 | 101 | 273 | -172 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
