NCR Finals Weekend By the Numbers
NCR Finals Weekend By the Numbers
NCR's finals weekend produced plenty for the college rugby fan.
Here it is by the numbers:
5 Champions: D1 went to St. Bonaventure, D1AA went to Virginia Tech, D2 to Thomas More, Small-College Cohen Cup to Christendom, and Small-College Challenge Cup to Siena.
8. Out of the 16 games 8 were decided by a try or less. Another game was a three-point contest until the final play. Another game that ended 44-29 started 0-29, so there was doubt of the result for a long time. And yet another was 22-22 until the final few minutes when two converted tries ended it 36-22.
2 Bowl Games were held and the bowl game concept continues to be a good one—teams that play them seem always to be happy to do so. NCR lucked out with the Central Florida vs UConn game because, really, who would have predicted it would be 26-25 with three converted tries scored in the final 20 minutes to get a win for Central Florida? That game could easily have been a 50-5 snoozer. It wasn't.
1 Gig Question: The Varsity Question. Bonnies, Thomas More, and Christendom are all varsity programs, Where those programs fit in the collegiate landscape is a question to be answered. NCR seemed to make a bit of a decision in that direction with the likes of Queens and elevated clubs like Mary Washington and Brown going into the higher-level D1 competition, leaving D1AA for straight club teams. That is a direction non-NCR D1AA competitions are going, too.
In D2? Well we'll likely see some serious changes, some brought on by the programs themselves. Siena, having won small-college Challenge Cup (beating a fledgling varsity program NEw Mexico Tech in the final) is talking D1 already.
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Some links from the weekend.
NCR Finals Weekend All-Tournament and MVP Selections
Small-College Champs Christendom Keep the Faith
Thomas More Takes D2 Title; Adrian Much to be Proud Of
Tights Games and Drama in NCR Small-College Challenge Finals
St. Bonaventure, Penn State Down to the Wire
Wheeling Holds Off Iowa Central in Compelling Bowl Game
