The road to the 2025 Collegiate Rugby Championship is well and truly underway, as three teams have already punched their ticket to nationals by winning automatic qualifiers, and six more are set to do so this weekend.
Bowling Green State women are the latest to qualify for the CRC, winning the Great Lakes Indoor 7s Saturday at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI. The Falcons went a perfect 4-0 on the day, defeating the host Lakers, 28-14, in the final.
Bowling Green was preceded in clinching a spot in the 16-team Women’s DII field by Coastal Carolina, winners of the Love at First Ruck 7s February 15 at Florida State. The Chanticleers defeated South Carolina, 31-14, in the final.
The host Seminoles won the Women’s Division I Club competition in Tallahassee to become the first team in that division to qualify for Maryland. The Seminoles defeated North Carolina, 22-12, in the final.
Looking ahead to the weekend, three tournaments will see six teams automatically qualify in as many divisions. The Gate City 7s at Guilford University in Greensboro, NC will see the second Women’s Division I Club bid earned, and the third in Women’s DII.
At St. Patrick’s 7s at Missouri Science & Technology in Rolla, MO, the Miners are hosting AQs in Men’s DII and Women’s DIII. The first teams to qualify for both divisions will do so from the wilds of Missouri in this two-day tournament.
The Frostbite 7s in Lancaster, PA will see the first teams qualify in Men’s and Women’s Premier Cup. Both of the defending DI 15s champs from the fall will be contenders in their respective divisions – Brown men and Wheeling women.
2024 CRC semifinalist AIC also looks like a contender on the women’s side, as does three-time CRC champion Penn State. St. Bonaventure also looks like a frontrunner, with several contenders stepping up from lower divisions, like reigning DII 15s champion IUP and DIII Christendom.
