As we outlined briefly in a video posted on social media, we find it difficult to unseat Thunder Rugby at the moment simply because their proxy team in the current SoCal Open Division, Carlsbad, is doing well and so Thunder stays at #1.

However, Carlsbad did lose to Torrey Pines and were pushed by Crean, so, with the playoffs coming on, and the Charlotte Ruggerfest set for early March, and Woodlands, Fort Hunt, and Granite Bay heating up, we could be in for some shuffling over the next few weeks.

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But it's also worth keeping in mind that so many of these games are preseason games where teams test themselves and their lineups. So while we're changing rankings based on these games, they might all be tossed out. We've talked about the KC Jr. Blues still missing some players. Danville's loss to East Palo Alto, and EPA"s earlier loss to San Mateo are noted and affect the rankings, but a league game means more than a warmup, so those early results could be tossed out if we see evidence of improvement.

Similarly, the Carolina Ruggerfest in March is a treasure trove of data for us, but it's also tournament data, not league or playoff data. It's like a rack of ribs on a paper plate. If the team doesn't get another paper plate or two (follow-up results) then the ribs soak through and fall to the ground.

Granite Bay's win over Tempe is a case of two teams wanting to play highly-ranked opponents and test themselves. It means a bit more than just a warmup. But in Tempe's defense, remember it was a long trip, they were missing a couple of players, and it was close. It's a mistake to hang an entire ranking on that result alone.

Rank	Prev	Team	Notes
1	1	Thunder Rugby (CA)
2	2	Charlotte Tigers (NC)
3	4	Woodlands (TX)	Beat KC Jr. Blues (21), St. Thomas Aquinas (S12)
4	3	Aspetuck (CT)
5	5	Royal Irish (IN)
6	6	SOC Raptors (CA)
7	7	Fort Hunt (VA)
8	8	Genesis (UT)
9	9	San Diego Mustangs (CA)
10	27	Granite Bay (CA)	Beat Tempe (10)
11	10	Tempe (AZ)	Lost to Granite Bay (27)
12	13	SFGG (CA)	Beat Mother Lode (17)
13	12	Belmont Shore (CA)
14	14	West Valley Warriors (UT)
15	15	Snow Canyon (UT)
16	16	United (UT)
17	17	Mother Lode (CA)	Lost to SFGG (13)
18	18	Vienna (VA)	Beat Richmond
19	19	Raleigh Redhawks (NC)
20	20	Phoenix Alpharetta (GA)	Beat Father Ryan 3-0 (S50)
21	24	Boca Raton (FL)	Beat Wellington (35)
22	22	SLV Rhinos (UT)
23	23	Harlequin (TN)
24	39	San Mateo (CA)
25	40	East Palo Alto (CA)	Beat Danville (11)
26	11	Danville (CA)	Lost to East Palo Alto (40)
27	34	Hough Huskies (NC)	Beat Wando
28	29	Okapi (FL)	Beat Tampa
29	25	Berks (PA)
30	26	Pendleton (IN)
31	21	Kansas City Jr. Blues (MO)	Lost to Woodlands (4), Kingfishers (S34)
32	28	Red Mountain (AZ)
33	30	Eastside (WA)
34	31	Marin (CA)	On Tour
35	32	Liberty (WA)
36	33	Doylestown (PA)
37	35	Wellington (FL)	Lost to Boca (24)
38	36	Fairfield (CT)
39	37	Eagan (MN)
40	38	Raptor Rugby (TN)
41	41	West Shore Utd (PA)
42	42	Carmel (IN)
43	43	Glenn Ellyn (IL)
44	44	HSE (IN)
45	45	Avon (IN)
46	46	PAC (CO)
47	47	Neuqua (IL)
48	48	Morris (NJ)
49	49	Eastside (OR)
50	50	Germantown (TN)