It’s a guarantee that a brand new men’s Division II National champion will be crowned this weekend in Houston as all four of the finalists from last year’s tournament failed in their quest to return to the promised land.

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One side of the bracket features the top two teams in the country, with #1 Vermont squaring off against #2 UNC-Wilmington. Both teams have the resume and the pedigree worthy of a national champion, but only one will be able to advance for a shot at the title, which means sparks will certainly be flying in this semifinal match.

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The #1 Catamounts, led by MLR draftee John Worobel, have looked invincible all year, outscoring opponents 475-27 on their way to an undefeated season – which included two huge wins over in-state rivals Norwich – and a NEWCRC conference title. In the playoffs, Vermont cruised past #12 Villanova 65-11 before dispatching a feisty Cornell team, one that had knocked off the defending champion IUP Crimson Hawks just a day earlier, 43-16 to punch their ticket to Houston.

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Vermont plays a hard-nosed brand of rugby led by their incredibly physical forward pack. Worobel led the team in scoring in the regional round with four tries in two games, while loose forward Roman Legere finished with three scores of his own. Flyhalf Matthew Tevnan has also helped to keep the offense on track as a distributor when teams sell out to stop the slow march of the forwards. The junior is also dangerous off the tee, hitting 60% of his conversions in the postseason so far.

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The #2 Seahawks may have flown under the national radar this season, but each and every one of their opponents has left their matchup knowing exactly how dangerous these silent assassins can be. Wilmington has been on a tear since the spring, parlaying a CRC 7’s National Championship victory into an undefeated fall season and a Southern Conference championship. They boast an equally impressive score differential to Vermont, scoring 560 points in the regular season while surrendering only 71.

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UNC-W had a bit of a rockier trip through the regional round than Vermont, beating Salisbury 50-7 before escaping at the end of a slugfest against Memphis 50-43. Senior Daniel Marsh was the leading scorer in all of Division II during regionals and he didn’t even have to score a single try to earn that distinction. Marsh went 12 for 13 on conversions, putting the cherry on top of the multiple scores by teammates Xavier Arrington, who had four tries, and Maxton Buckingham, who had three on the weekend. 

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Both teams are ambush predators, and will look to get the drop on their competition early on in the match. While Wilmington may have been excited to see IUP get the boot after the Crimson Hawks won the aerial battle against the Seahawks in last year’s semifinal match 29-24, they still have a huge obstacle to overcome in the Catamounts. History is on their side, however, as UNCW beat Vermont 25-17 in the opening round of last year’s national tournament.

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The other semifinal features the bracket-busting Grand Valley State University Lakers against a University of Chicago team that were giant-slayers during the regular season and have now become the giants themselves heading into Nationals.

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GVSU had a strong season in the Great Lakes Conference once again this year, punctuated by an epic 36-35 come-from-behind win over Miami Ohio and a resounding 106-15 win over Ferris State to secure their fourth conference championship in a row. 

Last year, the Lakers almost made it to the promised land, but fell short in their regional final matchup against Towson, 40-22. This year, however, they finished the job, beginning with a huge 20-17 upset win over the University of Northern Iowa in round one before washing out a strong Scranton team 34-26 in the regional final. Reinhardt Stipp has been the danger man for GVSU so far this postseason, scoring two tries and nailing three conversions. Kyle Riter also scored twice at regionals and makes up one half of a threatening tandem on the wings with teammate Tyler Costello.

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The Chicago Maroons rose steadily up the national rankings as they knocked off higher-seeded competitors on their way to the playoffs. They owned the city of Chicago this fall, beating both Northwestern and Loyola-Chicago before their ultimate victory over UNI bumped them up to #6 in the coaches poll. They breezed past Benedictine 54-14 in the opening round of the playoffs, but showed that they were capable of handling adversity in their regional final matchup, gritting out a 43-38 win against a top-tier Colorado Mesa side.

Joe Baldwin did a lot of the scoring for the Maroons during the regular season, breaking the school’s single-game scoring record with a five-try performance against Northwestern. But it has been Baldwin’s teammates Jack Allison (four tries) and Mateo Rampoldi (three tries) who have run riot in the postseason. Jonas Grusnius was also tied for third in points-scored in all of DII during the playoffs after nailing 11 conversions. 

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It’s anyone’s guess which of these four teams will be left standing when all is said and done, but the journey to that point is sure to be one for the ages. You can catch all the action from the weekend, including pregame, postgame, and halftime analysis from the cast of The College Rugby Show, at tv.ncr.rugby

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