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The NRU men's College D1 seeds have been the subject of considerable debate the past few years as each member Local Area Union has felt that they were slighted for the benefit of another.
"While we have consistently sent our two strongest teams on to Nationals, there hasn't always been agreement among the LAU's regarding the allocation or ordering of seeds." said NRU VP of Colleges Fred Bressette.
To resolve these differences, a committee comprised of two representatives from each of the NRU's local unions (New England, New York State and Met NY) was formed this past spring to develop a playoff format agreeable to all three unions.
"Everyone on the committee put aside competing local interests and really put the best interests of the Territory first," said Bressette. "They came up with a plan that acknowledges the relative strength of each union while also recognizing that the three LAU's are equal partners in the Northeast. I think they did a fantastic job."
The NRU Board of Directors has agreed to a request from the committee that they be allowed to remain in place to discuss long term changes to the NRU men's College D1 structure.
"All ideas are open for discussion. A premier league or some other sort of inter-LAU competition, playoff dates, seeds, league structures, etc. These are just some of the topics the committee has touched on. We look forward to their recommendations for 2009 and beyond," said NRU president Bruce Church.
For the 2008 season, the NRU #1 seed and an automatic berth in USA Rugby's 2009 national championships will be awarded to the New England regular season champion. Three additional teams from New England will square off with three teams from New York State and two teams from the Met NY league for the NRU's second seed to the national championships.
The seeds for the 2008 NRU playoffs are:
1) NYS #1
2) Met NY #1
3) New England #2
4) NYS #2
5) New England #3
6) NYS #3
7) New England #4
8) Mey NY #2
Quarterfinal matches will be played November 1, 2008 at the home of the higher seed.
Winners will advance to the NRU Championships hosted by Army at West Point, NY, the weekend of November 8-9.
