These are the final DII rankings before the playoffs begin, and there are only a few changes to be made.

One is the correcting of a mistake we made last time, sliding Radford ahead of VMI. Radford made it further in the Mid-Atlantic playoffs and finished ahead of VMI in the Virginia Rugby Union.

The other is bumping Lindenwood to No. 1. The Lions' second side won Gateway Ruggerfest in St. Louis, beating Indiana (ranked in DI-AA) handily in the process. UW-Whitewater lost to Wisconsin big, and Indiana actually beat Wisconsin in the fall.

Lindenwood has been nipping on the heels of the Warhawks all season, but UW-Whitewater kept winning. They left the door open for the Lions to roar through this time. Whitewater could prove us wrong if both teams advance to the National Quarterfinals April 29 in Cottage Grove, Wisc., but we doubt it.  

Appalachian also rejoins the rankings. They've had a tumultuous season, being kicked off campus and reinstated just before the beginning of league play, but they were resilient enough to come within one point of making the Sweet 16.


1. (2) Lindenwood 11-0  Beat N. Colorado 53-5, Texas Tech 74-8
2. (1) UW-Whitewater 10-1  Lost 53-14 to Wisconsin
3. (3) Salisbury 13-0  Won MARFU with wins over Towson, Radford, Lafayette
4. (4) Utah Valley 11-2  Idle
5. (5) UNC Wilmington 10-1  Won Southern Conf. with wins over C. of Charleston, App. State
6. (6) Sierra College 6-1  Idle
7. (7) UW-Milwaukee 9-2  Idle
8. (9) ECU 6-1-1 Won South final 33-24 over West Florida
9. (8) Northern Illinois 8-2  Idle
10. (10) Towson 13-4  Finished 2nd in MARFU. Lost to Salisbury, beat Georgetown, VMI
11. (11) Santa Rosa JC 8-2  Idle
12. (12) Boston Univ. 7-1  Idle
13. (13) Texas Tech 6-2  Idle
14. (14) Rhode Island 6-2  Idle
15. (15) Central Missouri 6-1  Lost to Kansas
16. (16) Northern Colorado 7-3-1  Idle
17. (17) Bentley 8-2  Lost 38-21 to Bentley
18. (18) Colgate 9-0  Idle
19. (19) Coast Guard 5-2  Idle
20. (20) St. Edward’s 5-1-1  Idle
21. (22) Radford 4-3  Lost 31-5 to Salisbury
22. (21) Virginia Military Institute 5-3 Lost 27-3 to Towson
23. (23) Idaho State 6-1  Idle
24. (Unr.) Appalachian State Finished second in the Southern Conference. Lost 21-20 in the final
25. (24) Western Oregon 6-1  Idle

Dropped out:
25. (24) Ohio 5-3-1  Lost to Bowling Green