BGSU RUGBY 13th in Nation

[Rugby Coach]

October 9, 2007 GoffonRugby/ERugbyNews Men's DI College Rankings

1 Navy 5-0 (1)
Won another tough one 38-26 over Ohio State (13).

2 Wyoming 5-0 (2)
Idle.

3 BYU 2-0 (9)
Won 34-10 over Utah (11)

4 Army 5-1 (4)
Possibly good enough to move up. 44-0 over UConn was within expectations.

5 Colorado 2-3 (5)
Idle

6 Texas A&M 3-0 (6)
Idle

7 Delaware 3-1 (Unranked)
Harshly unranked until now, but their 29-21 victory over Penn State vaults them out of the land of the close losses to big teams and big wins over lesser teams into for-real territory. They get a few weeks to consolidate and then will face Kutztown.

8 Penn State 2-2 (3)
Lost to Delaware 29-21.

9 Kutztown 4-0 (10)
57-0 over Virginia Tech, who are not exactly chopped liver. Why did Delaware move ahead of them? Because Delaware had a tougher schedule to start with. Penn State next week could be game of the weekend.

10 Air Force 2-1-1 (8)
Idle. Still wonder about them.

11 Utah 2-1 (11)
Lost to BYU 34-10.

12 Ohio State (2-3)
Lost to Navy 38-26. Played well regardless

13 Bowling Green 5-0 (16)
Beat Michigan State 49-0. Will take on Indiana next week, so that's one to watch.

14 LSU 1-0 (17)
39-13 over Florida

15 Colorado State 2-2-1 (12)
Dropped a little after their 40-33 victory over DII Northern Colorado. Somewhat harsh, as UNC is one of the top DII sides in the nation.

16 Buffalo 4-0 (18)
Crushed Canisius.

17 Indiana 3-1 (19)
Beat Ball State 36-7. Bowling Green next week.

18 Boston College 3-0-1 (T20)
Downed Yale in impressive fashion 47-0. Have Norwich, and then Northeastern and Dartmouth coming up.

19 Dartmouth 3-3 (T20)
56-5 over Norwich. Remember that their losses have come up against two top Canadian colleges, and Army.

20 Nebraska 3-2 (15)
Drop to 20th because they lost to DII Mizzou. Mizzou is a very good team. Harvard perhaps unlucky to drop out due to one loss to Northeastern, but they are a little inconsistent so far.

[Falconboy]

Who the heck is Klutztown?

[NY-BG-FAN]

Who the heck is Klutztown?

It's KUTZtown, not Klutztown. Bills WR Andre Reed played his college ball there. NCAA Division II in Pennsylvania.

I don't really know rugby, but it's nice to see BG doing so well. Questions I have are, how can those teams with losing and .500 records be so highly ranked? Are there not that many teams that play in BG's division? Were their schedules so tough that 2-3 is good enough to be ranked fifth? Is BG in the highest division of college rugby? If so, how do we win the National Championship? Thanks.

GO Falcons!

[Schadenfreude]

I've got another question.

I know BG has always had a phenominal program, but it seems like they have cycled a lot between D I and D II -- and by this I mean rugby club divisions, not NCAA divisions. Is there a way to explain why that happens?

Also, do you care to post a schedule?

[Rugby Coach]

Schedule - the season is repidly winding down. If BG beats Indiana on Sat. BG will host Ohio State or Ohio U. in a first round Midwest playoff game on Oct. 27 at 1pm. If we win that match we go on to Cedar Falls, Iowa to play the semi-finals & finals the weekend of Nov. 3-4. The nationals then start up in mid-april and coinclude in early May. We are a two season sport in the Midwest, East and Rookies areas.

On the 20th we are at Grand Valley. An up & coming team, good coach, strong program, beat both Michigan & Michigan State this fall.

Who we play & why.........

BG is a Division one club - there are varsity programs (Cal Berkley, the service academies, Penn State and others) and we play them as well as there is only one national championship for club & varsity.

We also play what the surface, seem like D II clubs - if you are using NCAA classifications. Rugby has a very active & timely promotion / demotion system. Lose both of your "pool -play games (for BG those are Mich State and Indiana) and you are tossed into the D II playoff system - if you chose to accept the demotion. MSU lost both pool play matches and could accept a D II demotion but probably won't. Wisconsin-Milwaukee won both pool play matches and thus go into the DI playoffs. Basically - everyone in the Midwest playoff system is considered DI until they lose those two pool matches.

Are there teams "out" of the system - yes. Surprisingly - Kent, Miami, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin - just mention a few "NCAA" DI schools.

Who BGSU plays on any given weekend is dictated somewhat ,by league & pool schedule, but also by money. We exist on just $18,000 a year (I think I read once that it costs $55,000 to get the BGSU football team down to Ohio U. for a game). We try our best to hit a cross section of the nation (we played Alabama & Georgia Tech this spring, we've even smacked Kutztown around in the past), tour foreign countries every other year (South Africa, Ireland, Wales, England, etc.) and still live within our means (I don't get paid and we have no scholarships).

Until BGSU decides to recognize a "competative club sports" system (more money & resources) or makes us varsity (I'm not holding my breath) we are doing the best we can with what we have to work with. Example - of the starting 1st XV - nine never played rugby before coming to BG. Donations are gratefully accepted through the BGSU Foundation!

One last thing to note (besides the fact that even though we beat Ohio State they are ranked ahead of us ?????), most clubs go through the usual up / down cycles - BG has been ranked in the top twenty for the past 27 years in a row.

[Falconboy]

Schedule - the season is repidly winding down. If BG beats Indiana on Sat. BG will host Ohio State or Ohio U. in a first round Midwest playoff game on Oct. 27 at 1pm. If we win that match we go on to Cedar Falls, Iowa to play the semi-finals & finals the weekend of Nov. 3-4. The nationals then start up in mid-april and coinclude in early May. We are a two season sport in the Midwest, East and Rookies areas.

On the 20th we are at Grand Valley. An up & coming team, good coach, strong program, beat both Michigan & Michigan State this fall.

Who we play & why.........

BG is a Division one club - there are varsity programs (Cal Berkley, the service academies, Penn State and others) and we play them as well as there is only one national championship for club & varsity.

We also play what the surface, seem like D II clubs - if you are using NCAA classifications. Rugby has a very active & timely promotion / demotion system. Lose both of your "pool -play games (for BG those are Mich State and Indiana) and you are tossed into the D II playoff system - if you chose to accept the demotion. MSU lost both pool play matches and could accept a D II demotion but probably won't. Wisconsin-Milwaukee won both pool play matches and thus go into the DI playoffs. Basically - everyone in the Midwest playoff system is considered DI until they lose those two pool matches.

Are there teams "out" of the system - yes. Surprisingly - Kent, Miami, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin - just mention a few "NCAA" DI schools.

Who BGSU plays on any given weekend is dictated somewhat ,by league & pool schedule, but also by money. We exist on just $18,000 a year (I think I read once that it costs $55,000 to get the BGSU football team down to Ohio U. for a game). We try our best to hit a cross section of the nation (we played Alabama & Georgia Tech this spring, we've even smacked Kutztown around in the past), tour foreign countries every other year (South Africa, Ireland, Wales, England, etc.) and still live within our means (I don't get paid and we have no scholarships).

Until BGSU decides to recognize a "competative club sports" system (more money & resources) or makes us varsity (I'm not holding my breath) we are doing the best we can with what we have to work with. Example - of the starting 1st XV - nine never played rugby before coming to BG. Donations are gratefully accepted through the BGSU Foundation!

One last thing to note (besides the fact that even though we beat Ohio State they are ranked ahead of us ?????), most clubs go through the usual up / down cycles - BG has been ranked in the top twenty for the past 27
years in a row.

Thanks Rugby Coach for all the info here. I'm guessing OSU's rugby team is "sanctioned" or recognized by the university and therefore supported financially. You guys sure do a ton with so little. Its weird and awesome at the same time that we are able to compete so easily with all those big name schools even though you guys live on 18k a year. I don't know how much it would "cost" the university to start supporting rugby but maybe we could switch off some other smaller sport and give you guys some better support. You guys deserve it. Ranked over the past 27 years? No other sport in BG can lay claim to that , not even close.

I hate to start anything here, but Rugby has done more to earn university dollars than the hockey program I'm afraid.

[PGY Tiercel]

Thanks Rugby Coach for all the info here. I'm guessing OSU's rugby team is "sanctioned" or recognized by the university and therefore supported financially. You guys sure do a ton with so little. Its weird and awesome at the same time that we are able to compete so easily with all those big name schools even though you guys live on 18k a year. I don't know how much it would "cost" the university to start supporting rugby but maybe we could switch off some other smaller sport and give you guys some better support. You guys deserve it. Ranked over the past 27 years? No other sport in BG can lay claim to that , not even close.

I hate to start anything here, but Rugby has done more to earn university dollars than the hockey program I'm afraid.

Coach correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys get a decent chunk of that 18k$ from the University right?

All club sports get some money from the University. In fact Falconboy, since Rugby is a club sport, BG's team is "sanctioned" by the university as well. It isn't just a group of guys. There are rules they have to follow, and at least when I ran the water polo team, they have a meeting once a month with the University. I have always heard that the rugby team was given the most finical support from the university. They have the biggest team, the best record, and probably the best run team of all the club sports.

[Rugby Coach]

That is correct - the rugby team gets more money than any other club sport. Sport clubs get their money from two sources - Club Sport office and Campus Activities.

Club Sports has a pool of $14,000 in 2007/2008. That was cut from $22,000 in 2006/2007 due to losses incurred by the Student Rec Center (why club sports had to pay that bill is anybody's guess. A "pay to play" system was introduced for intramurals as well to help the Rec Center loss). Of that amount , BG Rugby got $2000. The next highest total was $1400 (I believe) for club hockey.

The other 16 K came from Campus Activities. Our most recent totals ranged from last year's $6000 to this year's $16,000. Next year - who knows. I do not know off hand the total pool that those funds are drawn from (they come from the student general fees) but I believe it is a couple hundred thousand at least. The money any oganization gets from Campus Activities is a crap shoot. Sports clubs were pretty well funded in 2005/2006 but the total amount given the very next year was cut 67%. Four or five clubs that got substantial amounts that first year got zero the next - hockey, lacrosse, women's rugby among them. Tough to do any financial planning when you get massive swings like that.

[Falconfreak90]

"One last thing to note (besides the fact that even though we beat Ohio State they are ranked ahead of us ?????), most clubs go through the usual up / down cycles - BG has been ranked in the top twenty for the past 27 years in a row."

THAT is very impressive! BTW, I have a friend that played rugby at BG in the mid 90's...Angelo Fortunato. Do you know him? He tells great stories about rugby and said all teams usually get together after the game to empty cans of beer....all except Miami.

BTW, is it a game or match?

[Falconboy]

Thanks Rugby Coach for all the info here. I'm guessing OSU's rugby team is "sanctioned" or recognized by the university and therefore supported financially. You guys sure do a ton with so little. Its weird and awesome at the same time that we are able to compete so easily with all those big name schools even though you guys live on 18k a year. I don't know how much it would "cost" the university to start supporting rugby but maybe we could switch off some other smaller sport and give you guys some better support. You guys deserve it. Ranked over the past 27 years? No other sport in BG can lay claim to that , not even close.

I hate to start anything here, but Rugby has done more to earn university dollars than the hockey program I'm afraid.

Coach correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys get a decent chunk of that 18k$ from the University right?

All club sports get some money from the University. In fact Falconboy, since Rugby is a club sport, BG's team is "sanctioned" by the university as well. It isn't just a group of guys. There are rules they have to follow, and at least when I ran the water polo team, they have a meeting once a month with the University. I have always heard that the rugby team was given the most finical support from the university. They have the biggest team, the best record, and probably the best run team of all the club sports.

Ok sorry, I guess I got confused with what "sanctioned" meant, either by the university or the NCAA. I'm still a bit fuzzy on the meaning of club sports. Is hockey supposed to be a club sport too? That surprises me. I'm gonna need an explanation of the difference between our rugby team to our football or men's & women's basketball programs.

[PGY Tiercel]

"One last thing to note (besides the fact that even though we beat Ohio State they are ranked ahead of us ?????), most clubs go through the usual up / down cycles - BG has been ranked in the top twenty for the past 27 years in a row."

THAT is very impressive! BTW, I have a friend that played rugby at BG in the mid 90's...Angelo Fortunato. Do you know him? He tells great stories about rugby and said all teams usually get together after the game to empty cans of beer....all except Miami.

BTW, is it a game or match?

Hey now. My dad played Rugby for Miami (75-79). From the stories he's told me (and the ones that are hinted at but not told), they emptied quite a few beer cans as well. (maybe its just a 90's miami thing)

[Rugby Coach]

I probably played against your dad. I'm sure that he is aware that Doug Edwards died a few years ago. Besides - why aren't you out there playing for BG?

[PGY Tiercel]

I probably played against your dad. I'm sure that he is aware that Doug Edwards died a few years ago. Besides - why aren't you out there playing for BG?

Yep, I think you did. He took me to a couple of games as a kid. I believe that he mentioned knowing you. Though the last time we went to a game he played in a old boys game at Miami's homecoming. It was a short game for him and a long trip to the ER with a dislocated knee and seperated shoulder.

As for not playing for BG, well for one, I graduated back in 01, and am now living in Lexington, KY. I swam through high school and got involved with the water polo team, although I thought about giving rugby a shot, probably could have been a decent "C" or "D" team guy though.

[1987alum]

My bias on the rugby team is rooted in the fact that I was one of the only BG News sports editors who didn't get a jersey during my tenure.

Yes, I'm a bitter, petty old man.

[Rugby Coach]

I can fix that very easily - send me details - name address size ETC. Roger Mazzarella, Coach BGSU Rugby