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Written by Pat Clifton
Friday, 07 October 2011 10:36 |
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The Week Ahead: DII Men's College |
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Colleges -
Men's DII College
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 There are a slew of weight-bearing games in DII this weekend, with a pair of ranked matchups.
The most intriguing pits No. 20 Saint Louis University against second-ranked Lindenwood. The Lions’ score lines indicate they’ve gone untested this season, despite playing a pair of DII men’s clubs and a pair of D1-AA teams.
If SLU, defending West champs, can hold Lindenwood to, say, 40 points, then perhaps a chink will appear in the Lions’ armor.
The other ranked match features Northern Colorado and the Colorado School of the Mines. UNC has owned this matchup lately, and though we at RUGBYMag have caught some flack for ranking Mines, their recent demolition of New Mexico warrants some attention.
The Eastern Rockies have just one bid to the West playoffs, so this match will go a long way in determining either team’s spring.
There are a few games that only become big if an upset happens, like if No. 8 Mary Washington falls to James Madison, Radford is felled by VMI or Utah Valley loses to Idaho State.
The upset most likely to happen? Probably Idaho State over Utah Valley. The Bengals were the only team to knock off the Wolverines last fall, and their talent is usually enough to keep them in most contests. Don’t sleep on James Madison, either.
Every week is a big week capable of an upset or two in New England. NERFU is probably the most competitive league, top to bottom, in the country.
No. 15 Coast Guard, No. 16 Boston and No. 17 URI are all 2-1, and though their opponents, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, respectively, are a combined 2-6, none have a negative point differential of more than 19.
It’s hard to draw any early conclusions about how New England will shake out prior to the actual end of the season.
Slate of games
#4 UNC vs. #13 Mines
UNM vs. Mesa
Holy Cross @ #17 URI
#15 Coast Guard @ Maine
#16 Boston @ UNH
Norwich @ Vermont
#14 UNCW vs. Elon
Idaho State vs. #5 UVU
#8 Mary Washington vs. James Madison
#21 Radford vs. VMI
UW Stevens Point vs. Marquette
#1 UW Whitewater vs. N. Michigan
UW Lacrosse vs. #18 UW Milwaukee
St. Johns vs. Mankato
St. Cloud vs. Winona
Minn. Duluth vs. NDSU
#20 SLU vs. #2 Lindenwood
#7 Towson vs. St. Mary's
#22 Georgetown vs. Catholic
Hofstra vs. #23 Marist
Sacred Heart vs. #25 William Paterson
New Paltz vs. Fairfield
Vassar vs. Seton Hall
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Written by Pat Clifton
Friday, 07 October 2011 08:48 |
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The Week Ahead: D1-AA Men's College |
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Colleges -
Men's DI College
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 There are two matches pitting ranked opponents against one another Saturday, and they both happen in the old Midwest.
No. 11 Indiana travels to No. 7 Miami and No. 15 Wisconsin to No. 16 Minnesota, for swing matches in the Mideast and Midwest conferences, respectively.
Wisconsin and Minnesota are expected to be playing in front of 2,000-6,000 fans inside TCF Stadium, where the football Gophers ply their trade. The winner, barring a major upset later this season, will win the Midwest and advance to the Sweet 16.
Miami is 1-0 in the Mideast and Indiana 0-1, having lost to Bowling Green by three points Saturday. There are no Mideast playoffs this year and four true contenders: Indiana, Miami, Bowling Green and Davenport.
If Indiana loses to a second one of those teams, the postseason will be all but lost. Conversely, if Miami wants a conference title, they probably can’t afford a loss here.
Though Binghamton sits just outside the top 25, they’re 2-0 in league play and host No. 23 St. Bonaventure for an encounter with massive implications. The Bonnies are 2-1, but lead the Empire’s West Division with a bonus-point advantage over Binghamton.
If anything can be learned by examining scores against common opponents, this game should be closely contested. Both smashed Syracuse, Binghamton by 34 and St. Bonaventure by 41. Binghamton beat Brockport by 23 and St. Bonaventure did so by 48.
The Empire schedule calls for division opponents to play each other twice this fall, so Saturday’s game isn’t a win-or-go-home situation, the winner will take a decisive lead in the divisional standings.
Buffalo, who started its Empire West campaign with a disappointing 30-5 loss to Syracuse, bounced back last week to beat St. Bonaventure 5-0, giving the Bonnies their only loss of the season. If UB wants to send a message to the rest of the division that the loss to the Cuse was a fluke, they need to hang a big score on Brockport, like the league leaders already have.
In the Ivy League, 19th ranked Princeton looks to continue its Cinderella run against Penn. The Tigers are an unexpected 3-0 and Penn sits at 2-1. Princeton has been pounding teams so far this season, winning by Dartmouth-like numbers. The Tigers are slated to meet the Big Green next weekend, and if they bag a win here, they’ll set up a huge clash between ranked unbeatens in Hanover.
No. 25 Kansas State opens its league season in Manhattan against Oklahoma State this weekend. The Cowboys are coming off a loss to Truman State, who lost 90-8 to DII Lindenwood in the preseason. How the Wildcats do here could determine whether or not they’re ranked come Monday. Texas and Oklahoma, traditional rivals in every sports, play the rugby version of the Red River Rivalry Saturday in Dallas. It’s just a friendly, but pride and a traveling trophy are on the line.
Midwest/Mideast
Ohio State @ #1 Davenport
Stout @ Iowa State
#11 Indiana @ #7 Miami #15 Wisconsin @ # 16 Minnesota
Iowa @ UNI
Michigan State @ Purdue
Ivy League
Columbia @ Cornell
Harvard @ Yale
#19 Princeton @ Penn
#2 Dartmouth @ Brown
ECRC
Albany vs. Middlebury
#18 Northeastern vs. Boston College SCSU vs. UConn
Empire - Pat
#23 St. Bonaventure @ Binghamton
Buffalo @ Brockport
Kings Point vs. Stony Brook
Fordham @ Iona
Heart of America - Pat
Oklahoma State @ #25 Kansas State
D1-A or D1-AA Friendlies
Arkansas State @ Arkansas
Colorado vs. Colorado State
Air Force vs. Notre Dame
St. Joe's vs. Delaware
Temple @ Penn State
Maryland vs. Salisbury
Bowling Green vs. Vanderbilt
Georgia vs. Georgia Southern
Florida State vs. UCF
Clemson vs. Kennesaw (Friday)
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Written by Pat Clifton
Friday, 07 October 2011 09:03 |
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The Week Ahead: Men's DI Club |
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Clubs -
Men's DI Clubs
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 There aren’t a lot of huge games in the DI men’s club scene this weekend, but the ones that are important are very important. Perhaps key among them is the Mid-Atlantic clash between Norfolk and Potomac Athletic Club (PAC).
Both are undefeated, Norfolk 4-0 and PAC 2-0, and they’ve looked impressive so far. Norfolk is more battle hardened, having played double the games of PAC, who’s had its season derailed by inclement weather.
Common opponents comparison? It heavily favors the Blues, who pounded NOVA 59-7. PAC beat NOVA 15-0 last weekend.
There are a pair of games with playoff implications in the Midwest, too.
In the East, 4-1 Buffalo travels to 3-2 Detroit. Buffalo, who has done drastically better at home this season, beat the Tradesmen by just eight in the first meeting.
Winning the Midwest East is hugely important, considering the format of the Midwest playoffs. Only the top Midwest East team is guaranteed a spot in the National Round of 32, and last season the East champ, Cincy, went 0-2 against the West and was the only East team to reach the crossover matches against the South.
If Buffalo or Detroit are going to catch up with first-place Cincinnati, a bonus-point win this weekend would go a long way. So would a Griffins upset of the Wolfhounds Saturday.
In the Midwest West, first-place and undefeated Palmer hosts one-loss and second-place Metropolis. The Dragons won 30-24 in their earlier meeting with the Minneapolis club. Just as in the East, only the first-place West team is guaranteed a national playoff bid.
Metropolis is coming out of a bye week and has had ample time to prepare for Palmer, who’s made back-to-back final fours.
In the Northeast, the first-place Boston Irish Wolfhounds play at 1-1 Mystic River. Mystic River’s only loss came by eight points at the hands of South Shore, whose only two losses were tight to the Wolfhounds and second-place Boston. So Mystic River shouldn’t be counted out.
Amoskeag, South Shore’s Saturday opponent who also sits at 1-2, and they too been competitive in its two losses. Amoskeag still has Boston left on its schedule, and a win here would provide a boost of confidence. South Shore’s schedule gets easier going forward, and a win over Amoskeag could be the first of a few in a row.
The one swing match in MetNY features 2-0 Old Blue and 2-1 White Plains. As Old Blue is still expected to play in the Super League in the spring, the playoff pressure is all on White Plains.
Elsewhere in MetNY, either winless Long Island or the winless Village Lions will get out of the league cellar when they play each other Saturday, and 2-1 Monmouth tries to prevent an upset by New Jersey rival Morris. The lone game in the West should be a blowout, as undefeated Glendale plays winless Boulder.
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Written by RUGBYMag Staff
Thursday, 06 October 2011 22:53 |
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Kleeberger to Shave on TV for Charity |
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Canada -
Men
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 Adam Kleeberger, the iconic Canadian flanker that captured so much attention at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, is getting ready to take it all off for charity. Kleeberger grew what became a massive beard, both literally and figuratively, that had people buzzing around the rugby world. After his man of the match performance in Canada's win over Tonga - the deal was sealed that he was the face of the team.
Now, on October 17th, Kleeberger will have his beard removed in Victoria, BC by CBC comic Rick Mercer as part of an upcoming episode of the popular Mercer Report, in an effort to give back to two charities that are important to him.
Kleeberger is asking his fans to support the Shear the Beard campaign in one of two ways. Because of the great support shown to the Canadian team by New Zealanders during its time at the tournament, Kleeberger is urging donations that would go to helping rebuild Christchurch, the town that was nearly leveled by an earthquake this past February and led to World Cup games being pulled out of the area to other cities around New Zealand. To participate in fund raising for Christchurch Earthquake Relief go to http://donate.rugbycanada.ca/e/Shear_the_Beard
In Canada Kleeberger would like to see supporters donate to his Movember page. Movember, www.Movember.com , the month formerly known as November, is a month-long campaign where men start clean-shaven and grow a moustache to raise awareness and funds for cancers affecting men, specifically prostate cancer. Kleeberger's 'Shear the Beard' will get him ready to grow a big hairy ribbon for 30 days starting Movember 1, 2011. To support Adam's Movember campaign - go to http://mobro.co/SheartheBeard.
"Having the beard has been interesting, but frankly I am ready to have my face back in preparation of crafting a Mo," explained Kleeberger, who is still in New Zealand vacationing with family until just prior to the event on October 17th. "It will be good to take this off - but if I can raise money for some good causes as well - then I can stand it for another couple of weeks."
Details of where and when Adam will have his beard sheared will be revealed in the next few days but in the mean time use Facebook and Twitter tools on both websites to spread the appeal through all these popular social networks.
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