D1AA playoff time is this weekend.

NCR's D1AA playoffs are in a couple of weeks so obviously those conferences are deciding their champions and seeds, but even CRAA conference Heart of America is entering its knockout stage. 

MARC

The Mid-Atlantic Conference has eight teams in a quarterfinal. The most interesting news coming out of last week was St. Joseph's just barely getting by Delaware 31-30.

After going down 30-24 with six minutes to play, SJU managed to win the restart and earned a penalty at the Delaware 22. They tapped and freshman lock PJ Degnan took off down to within five meters of the Blue Hens' line. The forwards went to work with the pick-and-go, and from short range Degnan picked up and powered over. That made it 30-29 (Delaware leading), and the Hawks had a problem. Their flyhalf and regular kicker Jeff George was on the sidelines having received a yellow card. So it was freshman fullback Jack Del Monte who stepped up to kick the conversion from near the touchline to win the game. 

That was pretty thrilling. George, before his yellow card, scored 14 points off three conversions, a penalty goal, and a try. Surprised that two freshmen won the game for them? Don't be. Of SJU's gameday 23, 12 are freshmen, and another six are sophomores. Players in their first two years at St. Joe's scored 26 of their 31 points.

That game decided the #1 and #2 seed out of the MARC North. It was pretty close in the MARC South, too, as Virginia Tech and James Madison tied earlier this year and ended up #1 and #2, with VT taking 1st on points difference. While we're not sure about the quarterfinals, the semis should be very tight.

Men D1AA College Rankings Fall Week 9

Heart of America

In a repeat of last season's semis, it's Kansas State vs Iowa and Iowa State vs Kansas. ISU came through last time. We've talked about this, how unhappy Iowa State was about the CRAA final last spring. One of their best players left the game injured early on and they just played well under their standard. So there's a feeling of a mission unfinished for the Cyclones.

Kansas State put in a big result early in the season over Kansas and could well keep surprising people. Coach Weston Loder has been instilling some self-belief in the players and it has started to pay off.

MAC

The Mid-American Conference is not actually in its playoffs but this week's matchups look like what the semis might be. It's not quite that—the likelihood is that Bowling Green will face Cincinnati and Louisville will take on Western Michigan. That's not guaranteed—Louisville or WMU could potentially grab 1st over Bowling Green, and, for that matter, Cincinnati could sneak in to take 3rd.

The big thing about this conference is that we have periodically seen a team that beats another team in the regular season but then loses to the same opponent in the conference playoffs. GRR asked Bowling Green Head Coach Tony Mazzarella about that and whether Louisville, which lost 28-27 to Bowling Green two weeks ago, is in a better situation in the sense that they know what they need to work on, and the Bowling Green players might think they've got UL figured out.

"Not after what happened last year," said Mazzarella, referring to Bowling Green winning handily over Louisville in the regular season and then losing to the Cardinals in the conference final. "I think we definitely went into that final thinking we had it figured out, but then we started horribly." 

Against Louisville this year Mazzarella said his team played well and then saw their defense let off a little late. That tiny letoff opened the door for Louisville and that was the lesson for the Falcons.

SCRC

We have a piece on LSU (link below). LSU shocked everyone (except, perhaps, LSU) with a win over Tennessee. Now they have to travel to a very good Clemson team that Head Coach Troy Hall has been slowly working his team through several levels of improvement. He's a patient coach and they've responded.

Player Leadership Turns It Around for LSU 

Kentucky, meanwhile, has been playing like the defending champions that they are, but they also were a bit beat up earlier this month. A bit of time off, punctuated by games for their B and C squads, has probably been just what the doctor ordered. Offensively the Wildcats have been ... good ... maybe quite good at times. But they still have work to do. Head Coach Sam Enari told GRR a few weeks ago that his side was looking to play expansive rugby but they weren't doing enough to earn it. South Carolina is coming off a win over Alabama in which flyhalf Grant Ruhlen scored three tries. The Gamecocks are hitting their stride.

Liberty

It's semifinal time and really the team to watch may well be Boston College. After starting the season 1-1-1, the Eagles have won three in a row to take the #3 spot and give them a chance to make the final. UMass is undefeated and the #1 team so far. They are there thanks to their astonishing defense, which is keeping teams to less than seven points per game. Only Yale's defense is even close.

Southern Conference

All kinds of questions sit here as games are being rescheduled from Hurricane Helene, so, who knows?