College rankings: Army makes a move

(Bronislaw Grala photo)

Now that the fall playoffs are done and dusted we know of four teams that are already on their way to the Round of Sixteen next spring, and those playoffs have a bearing on this week’s Down Under Endeavours Top 25.

Army has benefited the most from the Northeast postseason as the Black Knights have not only clinched the top seed from their region but they’ve also climbed the rankings, although not by all that much. Dartmouth too has secured a seed, but because they lost to Army in the NRU final they remain static.

Buffalo was the other ranked team involved in the NRU semifinals, but as they’re now done for the season, they slip down the order a bit. Kutztown remains in the top three nationally after running the table in the Mid-Atlantic Premier League, while Delaware and Navy drop after final round losses.

Of the other teams on the ascendancy, Nebraska reaches the highest spot after wrapping up its second straight Western RFU Central Division championship. Texas A&M, UC Davis, Penn State, LSU, Oregon State and UC Santa Barbara also head in the right direction, and there are six other teams that fall.

As the East Coast and Midwest seasons come to a close, and with a few West Coast preseason games to go before the year ends, here is the latest Down Under Endeavours Top 25.

1 (1) California (idle) [5]
2 (2) BYU (4-0) [5]
3 (3) Kutztown (7-0) [4]
4 (4) Utah (5-1) [5]
5 (6) Army (9-1) [2]
6 (7) Texas A&M (4-2) [3]
7 (5) Delaware (5-2) [4]
8 (8) St Mary’s (1-0) [5]
9 (9) Dartmouth (7-2-1) [2]
10 (17) Nebraska (5-1) [3]
11 (18) UC Davis (2-0) [5]
12 (15) Penn State (4-3) [4]
13 (13) Bowling Green (10-0) [1]
14 (12) Wyoming (3-1) [3]
15 (14) Colorado (4-1) [3]
16 (11) Tennessee (4-1) [2]
17 (19) LSU (3-0) [3]
18 (22) Oregon State (4-0) [2]
19 (10) Navy (5-2-1) [4]
20 (20) Minnesota (5-1) [1]
21 (16) Buffalo (8-1) [2]
22 (21) Oklahoma (4-3) [3]
23 (25) UC Santa Barbara (1-0) [3]
24 (23) Cal Poly (0-2) [3]
25 (24) San Diego State (0-1) [3]