The Penn State Men’s Team will finally begin it’s league competition this weekend in Happy Valley versus a very familiar rival in Kutztown University. Fresh off a convincing win against #4 Davenport University this past weekend, the #5 Bears of KU will be looking to continue their winning ways against #6 PSU.
Penn State will be looking to begin their fall league season on a good note with a solid performance in front of what is hoped to be a rowdy home crowd. The team is VERY anxious to hit someone other than their teammates, and most have had this date circled on their calendars since this past spring.
As far as this fall goes, we are competing for our conference championship this fall season, switching from the spring basically because everyone else on the east coast wanted to. You do not see Army or Delaware on the conference schedule because they have been suspended from competition by the University of Delaware and the United States Military Academy respectively. We are expecting Army to return to the conference competition but must wait until the Academy lifts their disciplinary suspension. Unfortunately Delaware is a different story, as the Blue Hens have been suspended by the school until 2018. This is forcing some tough decisions to be made as far as our future goes, and brings a potential move to the Big 10 into the picture. However, with the inclusion of Wheeling Jesuit, and Davenport (potentially for Fall 2014) into our league, if Army is allowed to return to competition, there is still the potential for a strong Rugby East conference in D1A, which is where we would like to stay.
There has also been a new competition added to the mix, the East Coast Championship. This competition is comprised of all of the conferences East of the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean, and from Maine to South Carolina. The SEC and the Mid-South D1-A conferences have agreed to join the competition during the fall of 2014. The winner of each conference and the top two place winners in our conference (D1-A Rugby East) will participate in a play-off format. Ending with the East Coast Championship being played on December 7, 2013.
During this competition, Penn State also hopes to qualify and will simultaneously send a squad to the USA Rugby National 7′s qualifier and subsequent National 7′s Championship on November 23rd. This is obviously a change for the program, but the players have decided to undertake this big challenge, and are all in supporting it. All of this competition will enable a larger number of our players to compete at the highest levels possible and distribute the experience and value of championship caliber competition throughout our entire squad, along with our sevens program as well.
