Heart of America (college rugby)

Last updated
Heart of America Conference
HoAFRUlogo.jpg
Association USA Rugby
Sport Rugby union
Founded1975;48 years ago (1975)
Division Division I-AA
No. of teams10
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  USA
Region Central USA
Most recent
champion(s)
Kansas
(2022)
Most titles Arkansas (2 titles)

The Heart of America Rugby Football Union is a college rugby conference playing in Division I-AA, with membership composed mostly of Big 12, Big Ten and SEC schools (and many of these schools enjoying longstanding rivalries from the former Big Eight Conference). HOA organizes a league competition with the winner qualifying for the national playoffs, and every fall hosts a rugby sevens tournament with the winner qualifying for the national sevens championships.

Contents

Heart of America was a Division 2 conference until 2011, with Arkansas and Missouri ranked among the top teams in Division 2. [1] In summer 2011, however, with the creation of the Premier College Division (Division I-A), several conferences including HOA decided to move up to Division I-AA. [2]

The HOA conference is led by Conference Commissioner Bill Sexton of Truman State University. [3]

Current members

The current member schools (and the date they joined the conference) are: [4]

InstitutionNicknameCityStateFoundedAffiliationEnrollmentJoined HOA
Iowa State University Cyclones Ames IA 1858 Big 12 29,8872012
University of Arkansas Razorbacks Fayetteville AR 1871 SEC 27,5491980, 2021
University of Kansas Jayhawks Lawrence KS 1865 Big 12 30,0041980
University of Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa City IA 1847 Big Ten 32,948
Kansas State University Wildcats Manhattan KS 1863 Big 12 23,5881980
University of Missouri Tigers Columbia MO 1839 SEC 34,2551980
Oklahoma State University Cowboys Stillwater OK 1890 Big 12 23,3071980
Truman State University Bulldogs Kirksville MO 1867 GLVC 5,8801989
University of Minnesota Golden Gophers Minneapolis MN 1851 Big Ten 49,1482021
University of Nebraska Cornhuskers Lincoln NE 1869 Big Ten 25,8202015

Member notes:

League results

YearChampionRunner Up
2009-10 Arkansas Central Missouri
2010-11ArkansasCentral Missouri
2011-12 Missouri Arkansas
2012-13 Lindenwood Arkansas
2013-14 Missouri Iowa State
2021-22 Kansas Minnesota
2022-23 Iowa State Minnesota

Heart of America Sevens

The HOA sevens tournament is played every fall among the eight members of the HOA conference and a limited number of additional Division 1 schools. The winner of the HOA sevens tournament qualifies for the annual USA Rugby sevens national championship.

The HOA sevens tournament is one of a number of college rugby tournaments that are tapping into the increased interest of rugby sevens while also targeting traditional collegiate conference rivalries. The HOA developed this competition due to the increasing popularity of rugby sevens throughout the United States, particularly since the 2009 announcement adding rugby sevens to the Summer Olympics, and in the wake of the success of the Collegiate Rugby Championship rugby sevens tournament broadcast live on NBC every year.

DateLocationChampionScoreRunner UpThird
Sep 24, 2011 Lawrence, KS Oklahoma  ??? Kansas State Arkansas
Sep 22, 2012Lawrence, KS Lindenwood 21-5 Arkansas Missouri
April 16, 2022 Iowa City, IA Iowa State 21-19 Nebraska Missouri
April 22, 2023 Columbia, MO Iowa State 27-20 Nebraska Minnesota

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartmouth Big Green</span> Sports teams of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA

The Dartmouth College Big Green are the varsity and club athletic teams representing Dartmouth College, an American university located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth's teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Ivy League conference, as well as in the ECAC Hockey conference. The College offers 34 varsity teams, 17 club sports, and 24 intramural teams. Sports teams are heavily ingrained in the culture of the College and serve as a social outlet, with 75% of the student body participating in some form of athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State Beavers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Oregon State University

The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Oregon State's mascot is Benny the Beaver. Both the men's and women's teams share the name, competing in 7 NCAA Division I men's sports and 9 NCAA Division I women's sports respectively. The official colors for the athletics department are Beaver Orange, black, and white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Towson Tigers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Towson University

The Towson Tigers, formerly the Towson College Knights, are the athletics teams of Towson University. All of the major athletic teams compete in the Colonial Athletic Association with 19 Division I athletic teams. Gymnastics competes in the EAGL conference, having rejoined the league in the Spring of 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College lacrosse</span> Lacrosse played by student athletes in North America

College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL), while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and programs in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCF Knights</span> Athletic program of the University of Central Florida

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Illinois Huskies</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Northern Illinois University

The Northern Illinois Huskies are the athletic teams that represent Northern Illinois University (NIU). The Huskies are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The athletic program is made up of seven men's sports and 10 women's sports. The football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindenwood Lions</span> Athletic teams of Lindenwood University

The Lindenwood Lions and Lady Lions are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference for most of its sports since the 2022–23 academic year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davenport Panthers</span> Athletic teams that represent Davenport University

The Davenport Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Davenport University, located in Caledonia Township, Michigan, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for most of its sports as a provisional member since the 2017–18 academic year. The Panthers previously competed in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2005–06 to 2016–17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeastern University Rugby Club</span> Rugby team

The Northeastern University Rugby Football Club is a college rugby union team representing Northeastern University. The club competes in the Liberty Conference of Division 1-A Rugby and is governed by USA Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division 1-A Rugby</span>

Division 1-A Rugby is the highest level of college rugby within the United States and is administered by USA Rugby. Division 1-A rugby is modeled after NCAA athletic competitions, with the 46 D1-A rugby schools divided into eight conferences: East, Midwest, Rocky Mountain, California, Big Ten, Red River, PAC, and Independent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Coast Rugby Conference</span>

The East Coast Rugby Conference is a college rugby conference, founded in 2011 after USA Rugby decided that collegiate rugby teams would leave their local area unions and form independent conferences. Seven teams participated in the inaugural season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collegiate Rugby Championship</span>

The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010–2017, on ESPN News and ESPN3 from 2018–2019, The Rugby Network in 2021 and 2023, and on CBS Sports in 2022. The CRC capitalized on the surge in popularity of rugby following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby sevens to the Summer Olympics. Beginning in 2021, the tournament has been organized by National Collegiate Rugby under license for the name and logo.

The Atlantic Coast Rugby League was an annual college rugby competition played every spring among eight universities—seven from the Atlantic Coast Conference, plus Navy. The league was disestablished in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference</span>

The Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC) is an annual college rugby competition played every spring among 10 universities from the Southeastern Conference.

The USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships is an annual competition among the top college rugby teams in the country to decide a national champion in rugby sevens. USA Rugby organized the championship to capitalize on the surge in popularity of rugby sevens following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby to the Summer Olympics. USA Rugby recognized that rugby sevens is growing in popularity, participation and interest. At the time of the foundation of the tournament, rugby was one of the fastest growing sports across college campuses. This tournament is a major contributor to the selection process for USA Rugby Olympic athletes.

The Red River Rugby Collegiate Conference is a college rugby conference in Division 1-A Rugby, formed during summer 2014. The conferences consists of many of the same schools from the Big 12 Conference that had previously been in the Allied Rugby Conference adding the Texas Christian University rugby team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheeling Cardinals</span>

The Wheeling Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Wheeling University, located in Wheeling, West Virginia, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) as a founding member since the 2013–14 academic year. The Cardinals previously competed in the defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) from 1957–58 to 2012–13.

The Lindenwood Lions men's rugby team represents Lindenwood University in college rugby. Lindenwood plays in Division I-A in the Mid-South conference. The team is coached by Josh Macy. The Lindenwood men's rugby team won the 2012 USA Rugby Division II national championship in its inaugural season, and finished second in Division I-AA for the 2012-13 season. Following the 2012-13 season, Lindenwood moved up to Division I-A for the 2013-14 season. Lindenwood has also had success in Sevens. The Lions won the D1 7s National Championship in 2015 & the Red Bull University 7s Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PAC Rugby Conference</span>

The PAC Rugby Conference is a college rugby conference composed of four schools from the Pac-12 Conference that compete against each other in Division 1-A Rugby. It was formed in 2012 with six teams, with conference play beginning in February 2013 to compete in Division 1-AA. In 2016, PAC added USC and Stanford and dropped Oregon State, and moved up to D1-A. Despite only recently moving up from D1-AA affiliation, the PAC has historically been one of the strongest conferences in college rugby, with five of its members consistently ranked in the Top 25 overall. The PAC Rugby Conference began play on February 2, 2013, with Cal beating Arizona State at Witter Field in Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College rugby in the United States</span> Sport

College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the auspices of the NCAA and are instead governed by National Collegiate Rugby and USA Rugby, two nationwide governing bodies. 27 women's programs participate in the NCAA.

References

  1. Rugby Mag, Men's DII College Top 25, Dec. 7, 2010, "Men's DII College Top 25, Dec. 7, 2010". Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  2. Clifton, Pat (June 19, 2011). "D1 Conferences Identified". Rugby Magazine. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  3. Rugby Mag, USA Rugby Certifies College Conferences, June 21, 2011, http://www.rugbymag.com/college-news/1271-usa-rugby-certifies-college-conferences.html Archived 2013-02-01 at archive.today
  4. Clifton, Pat (August 16, 2012). "DI-AA Conferences Set". Rugby Magazine. Archived from the original on August 23, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  5. Rugby Mag, Gateway Collegiate Rugby Conference Launched, April 26, 2012, http://www.rugbymag.com/men's-dii-college-/4307-gateway-collegiate-conference-launched.html