GRR: College Men
The final weekend of the Upstate New York Collegiate Conference is this coming weekend, but the big questions have already been answered.
York College secured the top spot in the MARC Tier II Men’s DII College league with a 60-10 defeat of Bloomsburg.
The Mean ’n’ Green had already edged East Stroudsburg, their closest competition, 25-24 on Oct. 25. The MARC takes three teams from Tier I and one team from its Tier II into the playoffs, so York’s one-point victory over ESU was a cruel blow to East Stroudsburg.
Furman University won the Southern Rugby Conference championship Sunday, beating UNC-Wilmington 23-17 in the final.
Furman and UNC-W had played once before, with Furman storming back from a 31-0 deficit only to be edged at the end 48-38. But both defenses were a little tighter this time around.
One of the big ideas behind the ACRC affiliation of conferences is to set up Bowl Games rather than a championship tournament.
This, say supporters of the idea, makes life easier in that a) the top team is probably known anyway; b) knowing where you’re going means you can plan more in advance; c) it allows conference play to go further into November.
Bowling Green defeated Northern Illinois 55-10 this past weekend to finish up the regular-season schedule for the Mid-Amerca conference.
BGSU has already sewn up 1st in the North Division, while Northern Illinois could not overtake Western Michigan for 2nd.