ACRC Bowl Series

Last updated
Bowl Series
Current season, competition or edition:
Rugby football current event.svg2022
Bowl series rugby logo.png
Sport Rugby union
First season2014
Ceased2016;8 years ago (2016)
Organising bodyURugby
Official website bowlseries.com

The Bowl Series Rugby, formerly American Collegiate Rugby Championship (ACRC) Bowl Series, was an annual college rugby competition featuring top national teams playing fifteen-a-side rugby. The inaugural event was held in Charlotte, N.C. in November 2014; this 20-team bowl competition occurred at Charlotte’s Rugby Athletic Center, a sports and events venue located three miles from downtown.

Contents

The tournament was managed by URugby, [1] a division of Sevens Sports LLC, [2] a sports event management and marketing company specializing in the sport of rugby.

History

The 2014 ACRC Bowl Series included nine collegiate bowl games with 18 teams (including nine conference champions) over two days. Participating conference champions were Clemson, American International College, Stony Brook, Bowling Green, Life University, West Virginia, Army, South Carolina, and North Texas. The AIC-Bowling Green game was named the 2014 College Game of the Year by Goff Rugby Report. [3]

The 2015 ACRC Bowl Series were memorable, marked by close contests and dramatic finishes, including the down-to-the-wire Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference Championship and an Indiana-Kutztown game Alex Goff called an "instant classic". [4] With two tournament locations, The University of Delaware visited Iona College's campus for one of ten bowl matches in 2015 while mine other matches were held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 2016, the tournament changed its name to the Bowl Series Rugby. This created a more inclusive conference, which allowed high school 7s matches played during halftime of the collegiate 15s matches. Hosted at Iona College, the 2016 Bowl Series produced more classic matches on its opening day than previous years as the hosts Iona College facing off with ECRC champions American International College (AIC) with "an aggressive, hard-charging defense". [5]

2016 Bowl Series Rugby

The 2016 Bowl Series returned to Iona College, New Rochelle, New York on November 19 and 20, for a 2-day 24-team collegiate championship event.

The 2016 Bowl Series hosted six collegiate 15s matches and six high school 7s matches. Featuring six returning teams from the 2014 Bowl Series and the 2015 Bowl Series, the tournament guaranteed the electric passion of previous years. Returning teams included: American International College, Iona College, Stony Brook University, Rutgers University, University of Delaware and University of Massachusetts.

2016 Bowl Matches

2015 American Collegiate Rugby Championship (ACRC) Bowl Series

The 2015 ACRC Bowl Series took place Nov 20-21. The line-up of teams included the then-#1 and #2 ranked college rugby teams in the U.S., American International College and Indiana University, and five of the then-current Top 10. [6]

Nine of the 10 matches took place at the Rugby Athletic Center in Charlotte. The tenth, dubbed the Quinn For the Win Ice Bucket Challenge, took place at Iona College in New York. The game between Iona College and the University of Delaware raised money for former rugby player and Ice Bucket Challenge co-founder Pat Quinn's Quinn For the Win foundation, which raises money for ALS research.

2015 Southeast Collegiate Rugby Conference Championship

The 2015 Bowl Series was the site of the SCRC championship game between Tennessee and South Carolina. Tennessee won the game with a dramatic last-minute try to secure the 23-22 victory. [7]

2015 Bowl Matches

2014 American Collegiate Rugby Championship (ACRC) Bowl Series

The inaugural American Collegiate Rugby Championships Bowl Series came to Charlotte, N.C on November 21–23, 2014. This high-level collegiate rugby competition hosted a series of matches in traditional bowl format, bringing the very best college rugby teams from around the country to Charlotte’s Rugby Athletic Center. The 2014 ACRC Bowl Series featured eight championship bowl games over three days. Many of the participating teams were selected based on their finish in their respective collegiate conferences.

2014 participating ACRC conferences and teams

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References

  1. "URugby Bowl Series". URugby Bowl Series. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  2. "Sevens Sports". www.sevenssports.com. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  3. "2014 College Game of the Year," Goff Rugby Report http://www.goffrugbyreport.com/2014-college-game-year
  4. "Indiana v Kutztown an Instant Classic". Goff Rugby Report. 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  5. "Bowl Series Produces More Classics". Goff Rugby Report. 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  6. "Fall Men D1 College Rankings Week 10," Goff Rugby Report 11/16/15 http://www.goffrugbyreport.com/news/fall-men-di-college-rankings-week-10
  7. Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC) 15s Champions https://southeasternrugby.org/15s-champions/