Given how messed up college rugby fans would be forgiven for being confused about who, what, and where when it comes to various championships.
Well, we're here to help. Specifically, today we're looking at D1AA. Now, Men's D1AA is the division one step below (and we don't like that word but, yeah, below) D1A. NCR D1 is kind of between them, with teams that compete at a D1A level and teams that have historically competed at a D1AA level. If we broadly generalize, NCR D1 and CRAA D1A teams are either under athletic departments, school funded, or strongly funded through alumni. That's not all of then, but it's the vast majority. Some are just well-run club teams at very large schools.
D1AA teams are almost exclusively club teams (NCR has done a good job of mapping out guidelines for this and as a result some teams had to move up from D1AA to D1).
Even the term D1AA is confusing, because, while D1A is the exclusive use of CRAA, and NCR uses D1, everyone uses the term D1AA. So when someone says they're D1AA National Champions, it can imply that they won a playoff that featured everyone, when, in fact, it didn't. NCR held their D1AA playoffs in the fall, and Kentucky were impressive and deserving champions. But Kentucky did not have to play anyone west of the Mississippi. Similarly, no western teams has had to get by the likes of Kentucky or Louisville.
In the spring, we now have five conferences to talk about. Here goes:
California North: We go into detail about this conference's playoff chase here>>
California South: We talk about this here also. But the upshot is that there won't be a playoff between California South and California North.
California South is essentially the teams left of the Gold Coast Conference, which was ACR but ACR's playoffs are now conjoined with that of CRAA. California North was always CRAA.
NCRC: This conference was previously split with some teams being members of NCR, and some members of ACR (under USA Rugby). But the NCR teams realized over the offseason that geography and the costs associated with overcoming that geography made it pointless to be in NCR. So all of the teams in the NCRC D1 (WWU, Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, and Boise State) are in the CRAA/ACR playoff scenario. More on where we stand with this group below.
Heart of America: HOA capped off their season in the fall and were ACR last year, and now part of the CRAA/ACR conjoinification. What they have now is their conference champion, Iowa State, is waiting for ...
Lonestar: The Lonestar Conference champion (likely either Sam Houston State or Rice) will play Iowa State in what amounts to a regional final.
Florida: Part of the CRAA umbrella starting last year, Florida teams are also in geographic isolation so as a result will play bowl games on the CRAA Finals Weekend. Expect one of those opponents to be the team that finishes 2nd in the Lonestar Conference. We might also see a HOA or NCRC opponent, as well.
Dates
April 13 in Des Moines, Iowa, East Regional Final between Iowa State and Lonestar Champion.
April 20-21: West Regional Semis and Final including California South champs (almost certainly U. San Diego), California North champs (TBD), NCRC champs (almost certainly WWU or Boise State) plus one at-large team (either a California North team or an NCRC team).
May 4-5: D1AA Final and also likely two bowl games featuring Florida teams.
