GRR: Bowling Green
Louisville secured a spot in the Mid-American Conference playoffs after upsetting Bowling Green 27-18 Saturday.
Bowling Green went into the game the defending USA fall DIAA champs, and ranked #7 by Goff Rugby Report. But Louisville, ranked #21, has been playing some solid rugby, and despite a 40-0 loss to Western Michigan, had every expectation of knocking off the Falcons.
The Mid-Atlantic is coming down to the final three weeks before the playoffs and five teams are still strongly in the hunt for a conference title.
Western Michigan defeated Bowling Green, Louisville rebounded from last week’s loss, and Cincinnati made it three in a row as the top of the MAC tightened up.
Western Michigan edged Bowling Green 24-17 in a game that lived up to the intense rivalry between these two teams.
WMU Head Coach chalked it all up to the early losses to Notre Dame College and Indiana.
Louisville, IUPUI, and Bowling Green all won convincing victories in the opening weekend of the Mid-American Conference in Men's DIAA rugby action.
Defending USA Rugby Fall DIAA champion Bowling Green cruised by Dayton, as expected, winning 67-5. Less expected, perhaps, was IUPUI's debut in the conference, a 38-0 shutout of Cincinnati.
IUPUI opened up its new DI season with a 19-13 defeat of Purdue this past weekend.
Head coach Joe Richards said it was a nice confidence-builder for the program, but not to read too much into the result.
The game was not particularly tidy and both teams looked like exactly what they were — athletic college players who had just returned to campus.