American Collegiate Rugby Sevens Rankings
The first installment of the spring 2015 American Collegiate Rugby Championship Sevens Rankings have been announced!
ACRC Sevens Rankings: Week 1
1. Arkansas State - The best 7s team in college the last 3 years; Las Vegas Invitational (LVI) 2015 1st place.
2. American International College - More than an up-and-coming program; great athletes; LVI 2015 2nd place; 2014 ACRC Sevens 1st place.
3. University of California-Berkeley - Strong coaching and program; strong history; winner Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) 2014; strong 2014 fall 7s season.
4. UCLA - Played well and played tough competition all 2014 fall 7s season.
5. Life University - After 15s season (Varsity Cup), Life will concentrate on 7s program - look for a Life team at the ACRC 7s in late April. Tui Osborne and past history will repeat itself—one of the best college 7s programs in the country.
6. Utah - Consistently good 7s players; LVI 2015 5th place.
7. Central Washington - Good coaching staff/program; good location (Pacific Northwest) to attract good players.
8. Kutztown University - Lost a lot of upperclassmen in the past two years; program needs time to develop underclassmen. 2014 ACRC Sevens 2nd place.
9. St. Joe's - The Hawks are for real, featuring several underclassmen from strong high school 7s programs; LVI 2015 3rd place.
10. Air Force - LVI 2015 4th place.
11. Penn State - Sleeper pick 2015. If the newer players can gel with the more experienced players this team could be a contender for 2015.
12. Notre Dame College - Strong 2014 7s season.
13. Lindenwood - Very strong 7s program over the last several years.
14. Cal-Poly - Great 2014 fall 7s results.
15. Davenport - Star player JP Eloff and a very strong 7s program.
16. San Diego State - 2014 7s fall results.
17. Dartmouth Colege - USA Eagles Captain Madison Hughes and a strong 7s program.
18. St. Mary's - Consistently one of the better 7s teams; young players for 2015.
19. Bowling Green - Strong past history in 7s; always a strong 7s team.
20. Notre Dame - On the verge of competing with the better 7s programs.
21. Miami University of Ohio - One of the best college 7s coaching staffs in the country; team always plays good fundamental 7s.
22. Arizona State - Historically a strong 7s program.
23. Navy - Concentrates on 15s and the varsity cup; will re-evaluate them towards the end of the season.
24. University at Buffalo - Good 2014 7s season.
25. Maryland - Strong 7s players; strong 7s coaching staff.
Teams 26-50
26. Michigan
27. New England College
28. James Madison
29. Stony Brook
30. Nevada
31. Ohio State
32. UC - Davis
33. Western Washington
34. Wheeling-Jesuit
35. Texas
36. Florida
37. Middlebury
38. Drexel University
39. Arizona
40. Wisconsin
41. Western Michigan
42. Cincinnati
43. Virginia Tech
44. Northeastern
45. Virginia
46. Columbia University
47. St. Bonaventure
48. Temple University
49. Old Dominion
50. University of Susquehanna
Teams to watch:
1. UNC - Greensboro
2. Army
3. Boston College
4. North Carolina State
5. Richmond
About ACRC Sevens Weekly Rankings
Each week through the spring, URugby's ACRC Sevens Committee of college coaches will decide national collegiate rankings based on tournament play this spring. With a lot of ACRC sanctioned tournaments on the docket, we expect rankings to change significantly week to week.
What follows is a list of the Top 50 nationally ranked teams, and rugby programs "bubbling under"—the teams we believe are most likely to crack the rankings this spring.
This poll was generated from information and results from the 2014 ACRC Sevens, the 2014 CRC 7s, 2014 fall 7s season and tournaments, 2015 Las Vegas 7s tournament, past history and reputation. Information from various contacts and scouts was also used.
ACRC Sevens Committee
Biddy Boyle, Commissioner
Jason Fox - Notre Dame College
Jerry Mirro - Stonybrook College
Omar Rivera - Rutgers University
Jack Foley - Villanova University
Emil Signes, Advisor - Atlantis Rugby Corporation