The South Independent Rugby Conference will kick off in October with a new schedule plan.

Last year, the conference wrapped up its championship in November, and then held a second matchup between the top two teams as part of the DIAA playoffs (FIU won the final, MTSU the playoff game). This coming season, the rugby will start about a month later than last season, and will actually finish up in the spring. The teams will play the first half of the season in the fall, take  a winter break, and then resume league play in February.

The playoffs will be a final four weekend April 8 and 9 April, giving teams a nice run-up to the national DIAA playoffs.

In addition, the conference will hold two 7s tournaments, with the North holding a tournament October 1-2 at Kennesaw State, and the South holding a tournament January 28 at North Florida.

North Florida has joined the conference for this season. The conference has also changed commissioners, with Rock Cole from the University of Memphis taking over from Jody Hensley of MTSU.

The SIRC is divided into two conferences of five teams, the South (Central Florida, Florida International, Florida State, South Florida, and North Florida), and the North (Middle Tennessee State, Kennesaw State, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, and Memphis). Each team will play the other teams in its division twice, making for an eight-game league season.

Watch out for the March 25 clash between Central Florida and FIU - that could be a decider in the South. MTSU v Kennesaw State on March 18 could also have major standings implications.