The Challenge Division of NCR's Men's Small College competition is a strange one if you think of Small College as one division, but if you instead think of the Cohen Cup as DIII and the Challenge Cup as DIV it makes a bit more sense.

With all of that in mind, we decided to take a stab at rankings the Challenge Cup teams. We looked at results, asked some experts (who also asked some experts), and used our own observations of games played at the NCR Championships as elsewhere.

This is what we have. Note that Babson, despite not being in the Round of 16, gets ranked #3. No team other than #2 Wayne State came anywhere near as close as Babson to ultimate champs and #1 team Siena. The Siena team told us, also, that Babson is a very strong team, and the video of the game, which is available here>>, bears that out.

After that we generally follow the national playoff finishes, with a few notable shifts. 

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1. Chicago made the national playoffs and UW Stevens Point didn't, but that was due to a one-point game in the GMW conference final, which we saw. UofC did very well to win, but Stevens Point could easily have won that game. Those two teams are essentially even.

2. William & Mary lost a close game to Widener, and Widener was very close to College of Charleston in the next round of playoffs. Meanwhile, Emory and Henry lost big to CofC. This would lead us to rank Widener pretty high (which we do), and also list E&H behind W&M because of comparable results. Except ... Emory & Henry beat William & Mary late in the regular season. So we go with that.

3. Gonzaga lost 12-10 to WOU, and while Gonzaga also lost to OIT overall we feel they are the second-best team out of the Northwest and, thanks to WOU's solid showing in Houston, a pretty good team.

4. Wake Forest's only loss was 17-8 to College of Charleston. They deserve to be up there despite not making the Round of 16.

5. Keene State was competitive (ish) with Babson (twice), so is in at #21. Now, yes University of New England did indeed beat Keene State, but way back in September. After that game Keene State won three in a row and then lost to Babson 103-0, lost to Nichols. So really a close win over Keene State has to be backed up. Keene backed themselves late, UNE didn't quite. So UNE is ranked #30. (We'd love to rank Merrimack. They had five league games, won only one, by forfeit, but the other four were lost by a total of 45 points, with 25 of those against Babson—a 37-12 scoreline that Keene and UNE would have loved to have had. In the end, we needed a win, but they are our #31.)

Goff Rugby Report Men Small-College Challenge Cup Rankings 2021
Rank	Team	Notes
1	Siena	Swept through entire competition
2	Wayne State Neb.	Played Siena closer than anyone by a wide margin (#1-ranked all-club team? Siena is run by their athletic department so ... sure)
3	Babson	Played Siena closer than all but Wayne State by a wide margin
4	Western Oregon	3rd in playoffs
5	College of Charleston	4th in playoffs
6	Gonzaga	Lost to WOU by 2 points
7	Widener	Close loss to CofC
8	Slippery Rock	Competitive vs Wayne State
9	Chicago	Competitive vs Wayne State
10	UW-Stevens Point	Lost to Chicago by 1 point
11	Wake Forest	Very close loss to CofC
12	Emory and Henry	Beat W&M in regular season
13	William and Mary	Close loss to Widener
14	Case Western	Close loss to Slippery Rock
15	Geneva	Beat Grove City, St. Vincent
Goff Rugby Report Men Small-College Challenge Cup Rankings 2021
16	St. Vincent	Top in Three Rivers
17	Nebraska-Omaha	Best team behind Wayne State in West
18	Grove City	Close loss to St. Vincent
19	Mass Maritime	Beat Buffalo State
20	St. Scholastica	Top challenge team in Minn.
21	Keene State	Second best in NERFU East behind Babson
22	Buffalo State	Lost to Mass Maritime
23	Elon	Competitive with CofC and Wake Forest
24	Nichols	Just behind Kenne State in NERFU East
25	Trinity	Lost big to Siena, but who didn't? Beat Wesleyan
26	Macalester	Just behind St. Scholastica and St. John's in Minn.
27	OIT	1-1 in NCRC
28	Drew	Won Conference
29	Pitt-Johnstown	Close won v Geneva but lost to Grove City, St. Vincent
30	U. New England	Beat Keene State, close loss to Nichols
Goff Rugby Report Men Small-College Challenge Cup Rankings 2021