Idle week doesn’t prevent Lopes from spending 4th straight week in national poll
By: Jim Howell/GCU Club Sports Information Director
GCU Club Sports is proud to announce that for the second straight week, the Grand Canyon University Men’s Rugby team is ranked 18th in the D1A College Rugby Top 20 Poll. It’s the fourth straight week that the Lopes have been nationally ranked since moving up to DI over the summer, spending a pair of weeks in each of the No. 18 and No. 19 spots in the poll.
The Lopes were helpless to control their national standing this past week, since they’ve been idle since their impressive 43-15 victory over Arizona State University on February 2. However, thanks to the lack of upsets in rugby matches across the country, GCU was one of 10 schools in the Top 20 whose national ranking remained unchanged this week.
One of the few teams in the poll that saw their position change drastically will be the Lopes’ next opponent this Saturday, February 17, in St. George, Utah. The University of Utah dropped four spots this week to No. 16 after losing to No. 10 University of Arizona last Saturday, but will be GCU’s first opponent as the Lopes commence a three-game road trip at 1PM Saturday. The Lopes only have one more match on their home schedule: Monday, March 26, when they host Cal Poly at GCU Stadium on the GCU campus.
The entire DIA College Rugby Rankings for this week are listed below:
| Rank | Team | Previous Rank |
| 1 | St. Mary’s (CA) | 1 |
| 2 | Life (GA) | 2 |
| 3 | BYU | 3 |
| 4 | California | 4 |
| 5 | Lindenwood (MO) | 5 |
| 6 | Indiana | 6 |
| 7 | Navy | 7 |
| 8 | Penn State | 8 |
| 9 | Arkansas State | 9 |
| 10 | Arizona | 11 |
| 11 | Army | 10 |
| 12 | Notre Dame College (OH) | 13 |
| 13 | San Diego State | 14 |
| 14 | Central Washington | 17 |
| 15 | Ohio State | 16 |
| 16 | Utah | 12 |
| 17 | Colorado State | 15 |
| 18 | Grand Canyon | 18 |
| 19 | UC Davis | 20 |
| 20 | Kutztown (PA) | 19 |
