It's a quiet weekend in Men's NCR D1 and D1A rugby in part because this is the Play-in weekend for NCR's playoff, so no regular games were scheduled at this time.

In addition, this is a good time to just clear off your desk of school stuff with Thanksgiving looming. 

We do have one more Rugby East match. Mount St. Mary's, with a bonus-point win over Southern Virginia, can bump up past Queens into 4th in the overall standings.

But also interestingly the Rugby East splits itself, as well (we might see a straight CRAA / NCR split in the future, we'll see about that). That standings uses only intra-divisional games, and that benefits Queens as their two losses were to Northern teams. 

Once again MSM beating SVU can move Mount up. SVU would love a win and is quite capable of winning this game if they are healthy, but the match won't allow them to move up.

Other conference games are in the Midwest.

Only one game last week, which was Lindenwood 45-12 over Davenport. Mark Barbour was player of the game, getting plenty of go-forward for the Lions. Eduan van Heerden scored four tries. Lindenwood is in the lead in the conference with a 3-0 record. They play a very tough Adrian side and Arkansas State hosts McKendree.

Non-conference games include Davenport at Penn State, which is an interesting crossover between Midwest and Rugby East. And BYU, as usual, caps off their fall with a really tough match. This year the Cougars are at Navy, which should be a huge playoff-level matchup for both.

Play-Ins

We know how close the Rugby East has been, but the Liberty has been tight, too, and Big Rivers and Big 10, too, at the top. So can the #4 NCR team out of the Rugby East beat the #3 overall team out of the Big 10? This is what this is all about. Dartmouth at St. Bonaventure should be a really good one. 

West Coast

Several West Coast teams are inching their way into the meat of their seasons. Saint Mary's at Long Beach State is one to watch. The Gaels have to be favored, and they are building their way toward a Bowl Game at the CRAA Fall Classic against Life. That should be fun.