The Varsity Cup Championship was an American college rugby competition established in 2012 to serve as an invitational championship following the breakaway of several schools from Division 1-A Rugby.
The Varsity Cup was organized by United World Sport, the organization which also ran the USA Sevens tournament and the Collegiate Rugby Championship. The 2014 Varsity Cup final was televised by NBC Sports on NBCSN."Varsity Cup creates promotional broadcast partnership with NBC, UWS", Varsity Cup. The Varsity Cup's ability to get onto television was seen as a boost to the Varsity Cup and to the rugby programs of the member schools."Varsity Cup, USA 7s parent, NBC in landmark pact", Gainline, June 21, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
The development of the Varsity Cup post-season tournament created some controversy. The Varsity Cup Championship did not replace Division 1-A Rugby, but it was endorsed by USA Rugby."BYU Rugby joins Varsity Cup Championship", Provo Daily Herald, July 17, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2014. The schools participating in the Varsity Cup often referred to it as the national championship, but with the rival Division 1-A Rugby post-season tournament running concurrently, USA Rugby did not consider the Varsity Cup to be the national championship."USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a mythical championship'", Deseret News. May 17, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
The founding schools formed the Varsity Cup with a number of goals in mind. One was the ability to manage and control their playoff games. Another was to develop a tournament with commercial appeal, that would generate revenue from attendance and concessions, and that would generate marketing exposure through TV coverage."New college 15s championship points to business goals", Gainline, July 18, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
The Varsity Cup folded in November 2017 when the organizer, broadcast partner and a major sponsor, Penn Mutual, withdrew their support."Varsity Cup's Death D1As Rebirth" , Rugby Today, November 28, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
Teams
The teams invited to compete in the Varsity Cup were from schools where rugby enjoyed varsity status or advanced club status.
Team School's Endowment School's NCAAAffiliation Joined V-Cup Head coach Rugby Since Best VC Result Air Force Mountain West 2013–2016 Denny Merideth 1969 (2013) Arizona State Pac-12 2015–2016 Gary Lane 1975 (2015, 2016) Arkansas State Sun Belt Conf. 2015–2017 Mani Delaibatiki 1991 (2017) Army West Point Patriot League 2016–2017 Matt Sherman 1961 (2016, 2017) Boston College 2017 (2017) BYU West Coast 2013–2016 David Smyth 1965 (2013, 2014) Cal Pac-12 2013–2017 Jack Clark 1882 (2016, 2017) Central Washington Great Northwest 2013–2017 Tony Pacheco 1972 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) Clemson ACC 2014–2017Steve Lynch 1967 (2015, 2017) Dartmouth Ivy League 2013–2017 Gavin Hickie 1951 (2013, 2014, 2016) Harvard Ivy League 2017 (2017) Navy ??? Patriot League 2013–2017 Mike Flanagan 1963 (2013, 2014, 2015) Notre Dame ACC 2013–2017 Justin Hickey 1961 (2013) Oklahoma Big 12 2014–2017 Doug Neubauer 1974 (2014, 2016, 2017) Penn State Big 10 2016–2017 James Willocks 1962 (2016) Texas Big 12 2014–2016 Chris Hopps 1985 (2014, 2015) UCLA Pac-12 2013–2017 Scott Stewart 1934 (2013, 2014, 2015) Utah Pac-12 2014–2016 Paul Benson ??? (2014, 2015, 2016) Utah Valley 2017 (2017)
Utah was supposed to be one of the eight teams participating in the 2013 inaugural Varsity Cup, but the Utah rugby team was suspended by the school,"University of Utah suspends its club rugby program ", Salt Lake Tribune, April 3, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014. with Central Washington replacing Utah in the 2013 Varsity Cup."Central Washington Replaces Utah in Varsity Cup", This is American Rugby, April 5, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014. Arkansas State committed in 2014 to join the Varsity Cup beginning in 2015, in significant part due to the ability of the tournament to improve the name recognition of the school's rugby program."Arkansas State Joins Expanding Varsity Cup", Rugby Today, July 2, 2014. Arizona State joined the Varsity Cup in 2015 to increase the prowess of their Olympic athletes. Soon after their coach was fired following a lawsuit in which it was revealed that an ineligible athlete assaulted an opponent. No criminal charges against Lane were filed and all civil litigation was settled out of court. Oklahoma was supposed to participate in the 2015 Varsity Cup but had to forfeit their scheduled match vs. Utah due to the use of ineligible players.
Results
Summary Date Champion Final score Runner up Broadcast Attendance Location Stadium Other Semifinalists May 4, 2013Linehan's dramatic dropkick gives BYU men's rugby Varsity Cup national title with win over Cal, Provo Daily Herald, May 5, 2013. BYU 27–24 Cal YouTube 3,000 Provo, UT BYU's South Field CWU, Navy May 3, 2014BYU rugby: Cougars defeat California in 2014 Varsity Cup Final, capture third straight national championship, Deseret News, May 3, 2014. BYU 43–33 Cal NBCSN 10,172 Salt Lake City, UT Rio Tinto Stadium CWU, Navy May 2, 2015BYU Wins Thriller, Fourth Consecutive Title, Rugby Today, May 2, 2015. BYU 30–27 Cal NBCSN 9,033 Salt Lake City, UT Rio Tinto Stadium CWU, Navy May 7, 2016 Cal 40–29 BYU NBCSN Provo, UT BYU's South Field CWU, Ark. St. May 6, 2017 Cal43–13Arkansas State NBCSN Santa Clara, CA Stevens Stadium Penn State, Navy
Note: BYU's 2015 victory was vacated because BYU fielded an ineligible player."With 2017 fast approaching, the Varsity Cup has a few questions to answer", Goff Rugby Report, December 26, 2016. Upon the discovery and further questions of the usage of ineligible players by BYU, the team left the Varsity Cup and rejoined D1-A.byu-out-varsity-cupbyu-joins-d1a-rugby-as-independent
2013
2014
2015
Note: BYU's 2015 victory was vacated because BYU fielded an ineligible player.
2016
Italicized teams hosted each round.
2017
Italicized teams hosted each round.
Records Most points for one team (single match): 136 — California vs Texas (2016) 113 — BYU vs Arizona State (2016) 100 — California vs Texas (2015) 100 — Penn State vs Harvard (2017)
List of broadcasters The following table shows the broadcasters for each year's final match. YearTV NetworkPlay-by-play announcersColor commentatorsSideline reporters2013YouTubeBrian HightowerSalesi Sika 2014NBCSNTodd HarrisBrian HightowerMarty Snider2015NBCSNTodd HarrisBrian HightowerMarty Snider2016NBCSNBill SewardBrian HightowerTanith White2017NBCSN
See also Division 1-A Rugby Collegiate Rugby Championship Intercollegiate sports team champions
References
External links Official Site