It's a slow buildup in DI rugby conferences, but we've identified a few games to keep a special eye on.

Colgate at Fordham. It's early days in the Empire Conference, but this early game will tell us a lot. Fordham lost a close one to Syracuse last week, but look to be fairly tough customers. Colgate started well against Brockport and could be a conference contender - if they win this game.

Cincinnati at Notre Dame. This is a non-conference game, but one that will tell us a lot about whether the Fighting Irish, with a new coaching staff and new outlook, are truly improved. Cincinnati battles hard and were a little unlucky last year. A win could launch their chances in the MAC.

Minnesota at Michigan. Minnesota has a new coach, and Michigan is thinking about contending in the Big Ten. This is an early look at who might be the best Indiana chasers.

JMU at MSM. Both Mount Saint Mary's and JMU won their Chesapeake Conference openers. James Madison did so quite impressively. This new conference, with a disparate group of teams from NSCRO, DII, and DI, is a conference of great interested to us here at GRR because it was formed because all of the teams involved wanted more tough games through their season. We support that outlook. This is another game that tells us who is on the inside track.

Northeastern at NEC. Could be that Northeastern will sneak up on people. NEC probably will, too. 

Penn at Cornell. The Ivy League is still likely Dartmouth's to lose. But there are teams working hard to catch the Big Green, including Harvard, and these two. Penn has a new coach and a new outlook. Cornell will be a very tough test.

Navy at Dartmouth. This is an excellent rivalry and this time features two teams that lost their games last week (Navy's and Dartmouth's). It's still early days; these teams both have a lot of talent. Who puts it all together?

St. Bonaventure at WJU. Has Wheeling Jesuit truly come on from their big early-season loss to Notre Dame College? Quite possibly. St. Bonaventure continues their move up the ladder. This is an early Rugby East game, with West Virginia at Army probably slated to be one-sided, and Iona v Delaware one we think Iona will win. It's where SBU and WJU are that really has us wondering.

Utah at Air Force. This is the opening weekend in the West DIA. Both teams have been relatively quiet getting ready for this. Air Force looks like they are going to be improved this season. Utah has a ton of talent and returns some key performers. We might be looking back at this game in the spring saying "that's where it started for them."

Ohio at Dayton and Davenport at Western Michigan. Bowling Green is the MAC dominant team. Yes, yes, they lost a regular-season game to Western Michigan last year, but they won the conference. WMU rugby, by the way, was the university Club of the Year for 2015-16, so that's good for them. They can flat-out play, but will have their hands full against Davenport. Meanwhile, both Dayton and Ohio have designs on moving up in the MAC. These two games tell us whether any of those teams is ready.

Check back for scores.