Fall 2008 Match Schedule & Results
Date	Home	Score	vs	Away	Score
Preseason Schedule
8/30	Wisc. Invitational Ladies Dev. Side	10		Eastern Illinois University	12
9/6	Wisconsin Scottish Highland Games Tournament
	Panther A	27		UW-Whitewater	0
	Panther A	31		University of Wisconsin (Madison)	0
	Panther B	5		Winona State University	35
	Panther B	5		Marquette University	17
	Championship Match - Panthers	29		Winona State University	0
9/13	Panthers	34		Indiana University	29
League Schedule
9/20	Panthers	83		Marquette University	0
9/27	Panther A (Midwest Pool Play)	15		University of Northern Iowa A	34
	Panther B	5		University of Northern Iowa B	13
10/4	University of Minnesota - Duluth	0		Panthers (Midwest Pool Play)	71
10/11	University of Wisconsin	15		Panthers	36
	UW-Oshkosh	0		Panthers	69
10/18	Panthers	24		Wisconsin Women & Milwaukee Scylla	43
10/25	Inter-Squad Scrimmage
Midwest Collegiate Playoffs*
11/1	Midwest Division I Playoffs - Quarterfinal Round
	Iowa State University			Panthers
3/28/09 & 3/29/09	Midwest Division I Championship - Location T.B.A., Pending Quarterfinal Results
	Final Four
	Championship

Match Previews & Reviews

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About the Fall 2008 Schedule

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The Fall Schedule is determined by the Wisconsin Women's Collegiate Coordinator - Gray Zischke. The Fall Schedule is produced to generate and promote the strongest teams to the Midwest Playoffs.

This year, the Wisconsin RFU has two teams participating in Midwest Collegiate Pool Play. Pool Play for the Collegiate men has been abandoned in favor of a Division I League. Reportedly the Midwest RFU plans to abandon Pool Play for fall 2009 in favor of a Division I Women's League. Both UW-Milwaukee Women and the University of Wisconsin (Madison) Women will participate in Midwest Pool Play this fall. As Pool Play teams have two weeks of their schedule set aside for Midwest Competition, the Wisconsin Pool Play Teams have been moved to a de-facto Tier I. These two teams will have an open in-state schedule only playing each other and one other in-state opponent. The remaining Wisconsin RFU Collegiate Women's Teams have been divided into Tier II and Tier III competition. The idea being to promote the Wisconsin Tier II Champion and Runner-up to Midwest Division II Playoffs provided that the Tier I Teams win at least one game in Midwest Pool Play.

In order for UW-Milwaukee Women to advance to the Midwest Division I Quarterfinals, they must place 1-1 or 2-0 in Pool Play. If the UWM Women go 0-2 in Pool Play, they have right of challenge against the top Wisconsin Tier II Team for entry into the Midwest Division II Playoffs. This is a big year and a big step for the UW-Milwaukee Women. This team has been working towards a spot in Division I for several years now, and they hope to make that dream come true.

Hopefully, the Tier I Teams will proceed to the Midwest Division I Playoffs, and the top two Wisconsin Tier II Teams will advance to Midwest Division II Playoffs. However, Midwest Pool Play does have some effect on the bearing of this assembly. Namely, if a Pool Play Team goes 0-2 in Pool Play, they can qualify for Division II Playoffs through their LAU. As such, the weekend of October 18th has been left open in the schedule to resolve any issues that may arise as the result of a tie or no head-to-head competition record between Midwest Pool Play Teams and non-participants.

Two interesting articles on the Midwest Pool Play Structure appeared in the June 20th, 2007 issue of Rugby Magazine - the articles are: Editorial: Defining DII Teams and Opinion: Defining DI & II College Teams (page 65).

Read Pool Play and Challenge Weekend Explained (rev. 10/2007)

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"Who is Division I and what is Pool Play?"

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“Who is Division I (and what is Pool Play)?” I get this question rather often at the beginning of the fall season. And unfortunately I can't give you a very clear answer. The best I can do is attempt to explain it, and take into account some of the variables that come into play with the Midwest, Pool Play, Division I and Division II. First, I will attempt to answer, "What is Pool Play?"

"What is Pool Play?"
 
Midwest Pool Play is an attempt to rank Midwest Teams in "real-time" by having in-season promotion and relegation through the Pool Play process. This is accomplished through foregoing the USA Rugby Divisional Declaration Guidelines by considering all teams within the Midwest "Without Division" prior to the conclusion of Pool Play. For further information on Pool Play, please read Pool Play and Challenge Weekend Explained (rev. 10/2007).

"Who is Division 1?"
 
Per the above paragraph, at the start of the fall season, no team is technically Division I. However, the Pool Play Teams could be considered contenders for Division I. So we'll take a minute to describe how Fall 2008 Pool Play has been formed and lay out what teams are participating in Pool Play and why.

In fall 2007, only a Final Four was held for Midwest Division I Women. The teams that participated in the Final Four were the 2-0 teams from each of the four Fall 2007 Midwest Pools. These teams met for a final four playoff and the top to bottom results of the Championship were:

2007 Midwest Division I Rankings
1. Indiana University
2. University of Northern Iowa
3. Purdue University
4. Iowa State University

Several Teams that finished 1-1 or 0-2 in Midwest Pool Play opted to "declare" Division I status. These teams did not qualify for the Division I Playoffs. But by declaring "Division I Status" and participating in Pool Play, were precluded from participating in Division II Playoffs. These teams were then considered for inclusion in Fall 2008 Pool Play:

2007 Midwest Pool Play Teams that declared Division I Status
1. University of Minnesota
2. University of Illinois
3. Ohio State University
4. Marquette University

For the last several years Midwest Pool Play is comprised of the 4 Division I teams, and the Top 8 Division II Teams. However, when teams participate in Pool Play in a prior year and have declared Division I Status, they are allowed to "supercede" Division II Teams in the Midwest Pool Play Structure for the following season. The Pools for Midwest Pool Play are then rounded out from the top finishers in Midwest Division II. The Top 8 Teams from 2007 Midwest Division II were:

Fall 2007 Midwest Division II Rankings
1. University of Minnesota - Duluth
2. UW-Milwaukee
3. Bowling Green State University (suspended by University, ineligible)
4. Grand Valley State University
5. UW-Stevens Point (declined Midwest Pool Play)
6. University of Wisconsin (Madison)
7. Ball State University (declined Midwest Pool Play)
8. Slippery Rock State University (declined Midwest Pool Play)
9. Michigan State University

The Midwest Pool Play Structure originally was proposed to include the following teams in the following pools:

Initial Proposal - Fall 2008 Midwest Pool Play
Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Indiana University	U. of Northern Iowa	Purdue University	Iowa State University
Ohio State University	University of Minnesota	University of Illinois	Minnesota - Duluth
Grand Valley State U.	UW-Milwaukee	Illinois State U.*	Marquette University**
* The placement of Illinois State was an error as University of Wisconsin defeated Illinois State in 2007 D2 Playoffs
** Marquette University was seeded last into Pool Play in the 2008 Proposal due to BGSU's suspension Marquette University as bottom seed was subsequently challenged by Michigan State University. Marquette lost the challenge match and Michigan State is now included in Pool Play

Due to Michigan State's victory in the challenge match, and University of Wisconsin's inclusion in Pool Play, the pools were realigned for the final structure of Fall 2008 Midwest Pool Play:

Final - Fall 2008 Midwest Pool Play
Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Indiana University	U. of Northern Iowa	Purdue University	Iowa State University
Ohio State University	Minnesota-Duluth	University of Illinois	University of Minnesota
Grand Valley State U.	UW-Milwaukee	Michigan State U.	University of Wisconsin
NOTE: In Fall 2008, the 2-0 and 1-1 finishers in Midwest Pool Play will participate in an 8 team Division I Quarter Final Playoff on November 1st. The four teams that win their Quarter Final Division I Playoff will proceed to the Midwest Division I Championships on March 28th and 29th, 2009

So what does this mean for UW-Milwaukee?
 
The implications for UW-Milwaukee are rather simple. We have to win in Pool Play. We have to come prepared to play and we have to win. Granted, if we perform well against our In-State opponents, we still have an opportunity to participate in Midwest Division II Playoffs. However, this team has worked too long and too hard to let the opportunity to advance to Division I slip away.

So as coach Boris would say, "Win ladies. Just win."