There were two big championships in college rugby over the weekend in the SCRC and the Big Ten while the NCRC got it's 15s season underway.
SCRC
South Carolina are the SCRC champions after beating Alabama 50-22 in the final. The Gamecocks went up early in the match when Zach Mullineaux scored but Alabama scored a try of their own on a pick and go not too long after to make it 7-7. Alabama would then score again to push the score to 12-7. Satchel Coar crossed over for South Carolina to take a 14-12 lead before the two teams traded penalties to make it 17-15. In the second half South Carolina poured it on scoring five straight tries to balloon the lead to 43-15. It didn't help Alabama's cause that they received a yellow card in that time. Alabama would score a late try but the Gamecocks would cap off the day with a try from Michael Rudzinsky.
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For South Carolina it was a fitting end to the SCRC season. They had been strong all year with their only slip up coming to Tennessee last week. That loss cost them the East title but they made up for it with the conference victory. To reach the final South Carolina beat Mississippi State 55-7 while Alabama pulled off the big upset beating Tennessee 32-27 in overtime. The Volunteers were one of the favorites to win the tournament so their loss in the semi-finals is a shock. It also give Alabama a spot in the ACRC Bowl Series. They will play Western Michigan while South Carolina will play ACRL champion Clemson.
Big Ten
Wisconsin are the winners of the Big Ten Conference after defeating Ohio State 34-20. Both teams traded penalties to start before Neil Warren scored for Wisconsin. Ohio State earned a penalty in the second half but tries from Jack Goss and Matoko Noudehou increased the Badgers lead. Ohio State would score through Santino Cua but it wouldn't be enough as Wisconsin scored two more times, including one from Goss, for the win.
In the third place match Iowa beat Michigan, the only team that beat Wisconsin, 36-31 for third place. In the fifth place match Michigan State beat Minnesota 35-20. Ohio State B beat Indiana B 35-17 for the B League title. Indiana finished with the best record in the conference but were not allowed to content the final due to fielding an ineligible player last year.
NCRC
The NCRC opened up 15s play over the weekend Central Washington had no trouble beating Washington State 129-0 although it should be noted that the Cougars were without arguably their two best players in DeShon Bell and Josh Vizcaya. The closer result in the conference saw Washington beat Eastern Washington 34-24. Eastern Washington will get a chance to redeem themselves next week albeit against Central Washington.