Varsity Cup Championship

Varsity Cup

Sport	Rugby union
Inaugural season	2013
Ceased	2017 (post-season)
Number of teams	16
Country	United States
Holders	Cal (2017)
Most titles	Cal and BYU (2 titles each)
Website	varsitycup.us
Broadcast partner	NBC Sports

For Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union, see Varsity Rugby.

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.^[1]

The Varsity Cup was organized by United World Sport, the organization which also ran the USA Sevens tournament and the Collegiate Rugby Championship.^[2] The 2014 Varsity Cup final was televised by NBC Sports on NBCSN.^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

The Varsity Cup folded in November 2017 when the organizer, broadcast partner and a major sponsor, Penn Mutual, withdrew their support.^[8]

Teams

The teams invited to compete in the Varsity Cup were from schools where rugby enjoyed varsity status or advanced club status.^[7]

Team	School's Endowment	School's NCAA Affiliation	Joined V-Cup	Head Coach	Rugby Since	Best VC Result
Air Force	$28 m	Mountain West	2013–2016	Denny Merideth	1969	QF (2013)
Arizona State	$553 m	Pac-12	2015–2016[9]	Gary Lane	1975	R16 (2015, 2016)
Arkansas State	$43 m	Sun Belt Conf.	2015–2017	Mani Delaibatiki	1991	2nd (2017)
Army West Point	$284 m	Patriot League	2016–2017	Matt Sherman	1961	QF (2016, 2017)
Boston College			2017			R16 (2017)
BYU	$957 m	West Coast	2013–2016	David Smyth	1965	1st (2013, 2014)
Cal	$3.0 bn	Pac-12	2013–2017	Jack Clark	1882	1st (2016, 2017)
Central Washington	$13 m	Great Northwest	2013–2017	Tony Pacheco	1972	SF (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Clemson	$483 m	ACC	2014–2017	Steve Lynch	1967	QF (2015, 2017)
Dartmouth	$3.7 bn	Ivy League	2013–2017	Gavin Hickie	1951	QF (2013, 2014, 2016)
Harvard		Ivy League	2017			R16 (2017)
Navy	???	Patriot League	2013–2017	Mike Flanagan	1963	SF (2013, 2014, 2015)
Notre Dame	$8.3 bn	ACC	2013–2017	Justin Hickey	1961	QF (2013)
Oklahoma	$1.2 bn	Big 12	2014–2017	Doug Neubauer	1974	R16 (2014, 2016, 2017)
Penn State	$3.0 bn	Big 10	2016–2017	James Willocks	1962	R16 (2016)
Texas	$6.0 bn	Big 12	2014–2016	Chris Hopps	1985	QF (2014, 2015)
UCLA	$2.6 bn	Pac-12	2013–2017	Scott Stewart	1934	QF (2013, 2014, 2015)
Utah	$670 m	Pac-12	2014–2016[10]	Paul Benson	???	QF (2014, 2015, 2016)
Utah Valley			2017			QF (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,^[11] with Central Washington replacing Utah in the 2013 Varsity Cup.^[12]
• 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.^[13]
• 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.^[14]
• 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.^[15]

Results

Summary

Date	Champion	Final score	Runner Up	Broadcast	Attendance	Location	Stadium	Other Semifinalists
May 4, 2013[16]	BYU	27–24	Cal	YouTube	3,000	Provo, UT	BYU's South Field	CWU, Navy
May 3, 2014[17]	BYU	43–33	Cal	NBCSN	10,172	Salt Lake City, UT	Rio Tinto Stadium	CWU, Navy
May 2, 2015[18]	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[19]	CWU, Ark. St.
May 6, 2017	Cal	43–13	Arkansas State	NBCSN		Santa Clara, CA	Stevens Stadium	Penn State, Navy

Note: BYU's 2015 victory was vacated because BYU fielded an ineligible player.^[20] Upon the discovery and further questions of the usage of ineligible players by BYU, the team left the Varsity Cup and rejoined D1-A.^[21][22]

2013

	Quarterfinals (April 20)					Semifinals (April 27)					Final (May 4)
	1	BYU	69
	8	UCLA	8
						1	BYU	53
						4	Central Washington	20
	4	Central Washington	81
	5	Air Force	28
											1	BYU	27
											2	California	24
	2	California	77
	7	Notre Dame	0
						2	California	74
						6	Navy	6
	3	Dartmouth	0
	6	Navy	32

2014

	Regionals (April 12)					Super Regionals (April 19)					Semifinals (April 26)					Final (May 3)
							BYU	70
							Dartmouth	15
		Dartmouth	59
		Clemson	24
												BYU	60
												Navy	0
							Navy	64
							Texas	10
		Texas	55
		Notre Dame	33
																	BYU	43
																	California	33
							California	41
							UCLA	0
		Oklahoma	12
		UCLA	77
												California	58
												Central Washington	14
							Central Washington	25
							Utah	24
		Utah	71
		Air Force	24

2015

	Regionals (April 4)					Super Regionals (April 11)					Semifinals (April 18)					Final (May 2) (NBCSN)
							BYU	45
							UCLA	16
		UCLA	32
		Air Force	12
												BYU	35
												Central Washington	8
		Utah	1
		Oklahoma	0
							Utah	7
							Central Washington	18
		Central Washington	72
		Arizona State	10
																	BYU	30
																	California	27
							California	100
							Texas	7
		Texas	22
		Notre Dame	17
												California	57
												Navy	15
		Clemson	26
		Arkansas State	22
							Clemson	23
							Navy	24
		Dartmouth	22
		Navy	23

Note: BYU's 2015 victory was vacated because BYU fielded an ineligible player.^[20]

2016

	1st Round (April 9)					Quarterfinals (April 16)					Semifinals (April 23)					Championship (May 7) NBCSN
		BYU	113
		Arizona State	8
							BYU	75
							Dartmouth	15
		Penn State	25
		Dartmouth	30
												BYU	68
												Arkansas State	20
		Clemson	0
		Arkansas State	50
							Arkansas State	31
							Navy	24
		Notre Dame	3
		Navy	57
																	BYU	29
																	California	40
		Texas	0
		California	138
							California	41
							Army West Point	29
		Oklahoma	10
		Army West Point	55
												California	14
												Central Washington	13
		UCLA	15
		Central Washington	44
							Central Washington	58
							Utah	5
		Air Force	31
		Utah	36

Italicized teams hosted each round.

2017

	1st Round (April 8)					Quarterfinals (April 15)					Semifinals (April 22)					Championship (May 6) NBCSN
						1	California	71
						–	Clemson	5
	–	Clemson	36
	8	Dartmouth	29
											1	California	35
											5	Penn State	14
	4	Army West Point	41
	–	Notre Dame	8
						4	Army West Point	34
						5	Penn State	47
	–	Harvard	7
	5	Penn State	100
																1	California	43
																3	Arkansas State	13
						2	Central Washington	24
						7	Navy	27
	7	Navy	64
	–	Boston College	14
											7	Navy	7
											3	Arkansas State	25
	6	UCLA	14
	–	Utah Valley	40
						–	Utah Valley	12
						3	Arkansas State	39
	–	Oklahoma	7
	3	Arkansas State	69

Italicized teams hosted each round.

Records

Most points for one team (single match):

1. 136 — California vs Texas (2016)
2. 113 — BYU vs Arizona State (2016)
3. 100 — California vs Texas (2015)
4. 100 — Penn State vs Harvard (2017)

List of broadcasters

The following table shows the broadcasters for each year's final match.

Year	TV Network	Play-by-play announcers	Color commentators	Sideline reporters
2013	YouTube	Brian Hightower	Salesi Sika
2014[23]	NBCSN	Todd Harris	Brian Hightower	Marty Snider
2015[24]	NBCSN	Todd Harris	Brian Hightower	Marty Snider
2016[25]	NBCSN	Bill Seward	Brian Hightower	Tanith White
2017	NBCSN

See also

• Division 1-A Rugby
• Collegiate Rugby Championship
• Intercollegiate sports team champions

References

1. Hougaard, Todd (17 May 2013). "USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a mythical championship'". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
2. "Our Properties | United World Sports". Archived from the original on 2013-09-24.
3. "Varsity Cup creates promotional broadcast partnership with NBC, UWS", Varsity Cup.
4. "Varsity Cup, USA 7s parent, NBC in landmark pact", Gainline, June 21, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
5. "BYU Rugby joins Varsity Cup Championship", Provo Daily Herald, July 17, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
6. "USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a mythical championship'", Deseret News. May 17, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
7. "New college 15s championship points to business goals", Gainline, July 18, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
8. "Varsity Cup's Death D1As Rebirth", Rugby Today, November 28, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
9. "This Is American Rugby: Varsity Cup Adds Teams, Sets Final Location". Archived from the original on 2017-03-24.
10. "This Is American Rugby: Utah Opts Out Of Varsity Cup". Archived from the original on 2017-03-21.
11. "University of Utah suspends its club rugby program ", Salt Lake Tribune, April 3, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
12. "Central Washington Replaces Utah in Varsity Cup", This is American Rugby, April 5, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
13. "Arkansas State Joins Expanding Varsity Cup", Rugby Today, July 2, 2014.
14. "Varsity Cup Adds Arizona State". United World Sports. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
15. "Oklahoma Makes it Official - No Varsity Cup". Goff Rugby Report. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
16. Linehan's dramatic dropkick gives BYU men's rugby Varsity Cup national title with win over Cal, Provo Daily Herald, May 5, 2013.
17. BYU rugby: Cougars defeat California in 2014 Varsity Cup Final, capture third straight national championship, Deseret News, May 3, 2014.
18. BYU Wins Thriller, Fourth Consecutive Title, Rugby Today, May 2, 2015.
19. "Varsity Cup Final Venue, PRP Rescheduling, Tracking Camps". This is American Rugby. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
20. "With 2017 fast approaching, the Varsity Cup has a few questions to answer", Goff Rugby Report, December 26, 2016.
21. byu-out-varsity-cup
22. byu-joins-d1a-rugby-as-independent
23. "NBCSN PRESENTS 2014 VARSITY CUP NATIONAL RUGBY COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY AT 4 P.M. ET". NBC Sports Press Box. 2 May 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
24. "NBCSN PRESENTS 2015 PENN MUTUAL VARSITY CUP NATIONAL RUGBY COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY AT 4 P.M. ET". NBC Sports Press Box. 30 April 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
25. "CAL FACES BYU IN 2016 PENN MUTUAL VARSITY CUP NATIONAL RUGBY COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY AT 4 P.M. ET ON NBCSN: BYU Cougars Face Cal Golden Bears in Championship Match For Fourth Consecutive Year". NBC Sports Press Box. 5 May 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.

External links

• Official Site