SCRC News
Just because Kentucky is a two-time defending NCR D1AA champion doesn’t necessarily mean the SCRC is the toughest conference, but it’s a pretty tough conference and could well be the most difficult to win.
It is enormously difficult to repeat in a major championship.
You have to deal with players thinking it's going to be easier this time around. You have to deal with the opposition putting a huge target on you. You have to deal with player turnover that could expose deficiencies you didn't know you had.
Kentucky and Clemson won relatively comfortably in their SCRC semifinals to set up next weekend's final.
The Wildcats defeated a hard-nosed South Carolina side 29-15.
LSU pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of D1AA rugby this fall last weekend, beating Tennessee 24-22 in the first round of the SCRC playoffs.
For the Tigers, this was their first chance to play one of the more pedigreed teams in the SCRC, so while they had been kept a secret, LSU knew the secret.
The SCRC D1AA season is fairly short, with teams only playing two pool games before the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean the teams’ schedule as whole is short.
The conference itself kicks off September 21 with Kentucky at Alabama, and really gets going with games on October 5, 12, and 19. The conference is split into three pools—East, West, and South.
Let’s take a look.