College Women
Two conferences are represented in the Northeast region of the USA Rugby Women’s DI College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA, Round of 16. The Northeast conference sent its first-, second- and fourth-place teams: Norwich, American International College (AIC) and UCONN, respectively. The Ivy League is represented by conference finalist Dartmouth.
The Mid-Atlantic region of the USA Rugby Women’s DI College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA, feels familiar. That’s because the two Round of 16 matches – Quinnipiac vs. Army and Navy vs. Brown – have occurred in friendly form this fall.
Saturday’s game between Washington State and Central Washington is one of two that will essentially decide the Pacific Mountain North conference. The pair are the best DI women's teams in the region – one, the reigning champion; the other, the upstart challenger.
Iowa State is feeling pretty lucky right now. The Midwest’s #2 team had applied for, and was denied, an at-large bid to the USA Rugby Women’s DI College Fall Championship, hosted by ACRA. Up until last week, the season was over for ISU, but then Texas A&M dropped out of the West bracket, and a spot opened up.
Some drastic changes occurred in the Women’s DI College rankings, thanks to some surprise results and close games. Central Washington and New Mexico made big leaps up the Top 20, but their final rankings deserve some explanation.