Tennessee takes on Bowling Green at the CRAA Fall Classic in what is essentially the DIAA club-program championship.

It is certainly being billed as such by the two teams and this actually makes sense. 

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Of the top 10, we can characterize two as fully varsity (Queens and Iowa Centra CC). Four others have major funding and support on campus, with alumni money plus special benefits from the school that elevate them over normal club status. That would be Brown, Dartmouth, Mary Washington, and Notre Dame.

That leaves four others: Tennessee, Bowling Green, Clemson, and West Chester. Of these, Clemson was defeated November 20 by Tennessee in the SCRC final, so we can safely say this isn't their final. The only other team that might have a claim to being the top club program this fall would be #9-ranked West Chester. The Rams are in NCR and made the NCR DIAA final against Virginia Tech. If West Chester wins that, they could argue ... except ... NCR has already split up their DI playoffs, putting what they considered the strong formerly DIAA teams into a higher playoff bracket. That would include Mary Washington, Queens, and Brown. Brown is very good, but lost to Penn State (albeit by a point). Mary Washington lost to St. Bonaventure by a lot, a team that just barely edged Penn State. Queens is still going.

Why do we mention Penn State? Because Penn State lost to Ohio State, a team that Tennessee beat in September. Bowling Green's connection to all of this isn't quite as tight. They played and lost a close game against Notre Dame, who lost to Indiana, the Big 10 runner-up, which might imply they aren't as strong as Tennessee. But they also beat Michigan 42-17, a result comparable to what Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, and Michigan did against the Wolverines. All of that puts BGSU at the level of a good DIA team, which is pretty good for a program that is sitll a straight club team. 

(Bowling Green's loss to Notre Dame is the only reason they aren't ranked higher than #5.)

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In NCR's DIAA bracket, Virginia Tech lost to both UMW and Queens (as well as SVU and Mount St. Mary's). So if West Chester loses to Virginia Tech, that just tells everyone where the different conferences lie in the pecking order. If West Chester wins the final against VT, and do so convincingly, then we've got a debate on the top club team. But it's unlikely.

Tennessee plays Bowling Green at Noon ET at the Mathews Sportsplex in Mathews, NC Saturday, Dec. 4. It will be live-streams.

Here's how these two teams have been ranked among DIAA programs this fall: