Not too much movement in the Women DI College Rankings, despite the onset of the fall playoffs. A few key games outside of the ACRA-sponsored championship proved important, however, but no one team moved more than two spots.

The top six teams remained intact, with Penn State, Norwich and Quinnipiac all heading to the final four this weekend. The fourth semifinalist, Indiana, bumped up one spot after escaping the West region with a 7-0 quarterfinal win over Northern Iowa. The Panthers scored 14 points all weekend, which was marked by frigid temperatures.

West Chester and AIC didn’t necessarily deserve a demotion; however, Central Washington earned the leap. The Wildcats asserted their dominance in the Pacific Mountain North, defeating reigning champion Washington State 41-5. And don’t forget – the first-season varsity side beat Quinnipiac in a close friendly, and it wasn’t a fluke.

The same goes for Life. UVA and Cal didn’t deserve demotions, but we like what’s happening in Marietta, Ga. The Running Eagles played the traditional southern power – North Carolina – to a 59-24 victory to cap a 7-1 season. That’s some nice momentum heading into the spring matrix season.

The Golden Bears have impressed on the 7s pitch, winning both the Oregon State and Stanford 7s qualifiers. Fifteens, however, has been a different story. Cal dropped games to DII teams CSU Northridge and Humboldt during Scrum by the Sea, a 15s tournament. Granted, the aforementioned is a pre-season event, but our ranking is also based primarily on 15s performances. Unfortunately for Cal, all of this 7s success seems a bit anti-climactic, as the national 7s championship has been moved from December –  when the team would have had an advantage preparation wise – to the spring.

With the exception of this weekend’s fall final four, the DI rankings will go quiet until mid-January, when the Pacific Mountain and South Independent conferences start up.