The 2025 men’s Division III Fall XV’s was full of surprises. New programs burst onto the scene and were competitive immediately, thanks to strong coaching and recruiting efforts, while more established programs failed to meet the expectations many held for them when the rubber ultimately met the road. The ever-increasing parity among the DIII ranks is evidenced by the fact that only four teams from last year’s Preseason Top Ten have made the list for 2026, and none of them cracked the top three.
The thing that caught most people off guard last season, outside of maybe the residents of Steubenville, Ohio – was Franciscan’s march to a National Championship. While the Barons were generally very competitive under head coach Jason Adams, they entered 2025 unranked after two disappointing conference losses to end their 2024 Fall campaign and the relative youth of the roster heading into the following season.
But that young corps of players – led by All-Americans Joe Bob Moleski, Christopher Ascough, and Lex Lang – gelled almost immediately and began putting up some gaudy numbers. The Barons scored 238 points while surrendering only 14 over a four-game stretch between the end of September and the middle of October, which culminated in an epic 15-7 win over conference foe Slippery Rock, a team that was ranked #1 in the NCR Coaches Poll at the time of the match.
Rock Rugby would get its revenge on Franciscan, however, beating them 20-26 in the ARU Conference Championship – a result that many teams would have accepted as the end of a plucky but ultimately unsuccessful run that signalled better times were ahead. Instead, the Barons went on an insane run through the National playoffs with five consecutive wins over ranked opponents culminating once again in a win over Slippery Rock, 29-17, to secure the championship.
Franciscan is coming into 2026 with a new coach at the helm, however, with Adams – who announced that he was stepping away from coaching following the championship win – being replaced by John Prezzia. But the return of the All-American corps, plus additional standouts like Dom Grecol and Jacob and Paul Leerkes, should make it an easy transition for Prezzia, who has a robust coaching background and has already been involved with the program during its last two preseason camps. So, until someone proves otherwise, the Baby Barons are the team to beat in men’s DIII as they chase the chance to repeat as champions – a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in the division since St. John’s (Minn.) did it in 2012-2013.
The second biggest surprise of 2025 involved the #2 team in the rankings, the University of Montana. The program at Montana, aka Griz Rugby, has a rich history dating back to 1968. But it was disbanded during the COVID-19 pandemic and had laid dormant for years, until new head coach Dave Kenkel stepped in to revive the team last summer.
Kenkel, who had a history of coaching youth programs in the state and also holds a 180-39-2 career record after eight years coaching at Endicott College, wasted no time getting things turned around. He recruited a solid corps of local talent and infused it with key transfers like flyhalf Patrick Brennan and prop Andrew Coscia from Endicott, and Connor Price from Iowa Central Community College, who helped the team be competitive immediately.
Montana beat a DII team in Montana State and a DI-AA team in Washington State in the regular season, before barely losing to New Mexico Tech (32-31) in the first round of the Regional playoffs. With another year under their belt, and a new crop of transfers – including props Javarious Burris (ICCC) and Bradley DiGiacomo (Endicott), as well as gamebreaking speedster Jonathan Taylor (Endicott) – the Griz will look to roar even louder in 2026.
Another program that has looked to microwave its development is Nichols College, who check in at #3 on our list. The Bison, much like their namesake, stampeded across the New England rugby scene in 2025, knocking off preseason favorites Providence College and The College of the Holy Cross on their way to a NERFU Conference Championship. The team boasted a formidable forward pack, buoyed by All-American Tyler Davis and big man Toby Ludewig, as well as a dynamic back line featuring All-American Josh Cullivan at the number 9 spot and the speedy Joey Yearsley at fullback – all of whom are returning for the 2026 season.
Ultimately, the chance for a triumphant march to Houston in the first year of the program’s rebuild was snatched away after an improbably come-from-behind victory orchestrated by the Holy Cross Crusaders. But that only means what was a talented roster in a vacuum will head into the Fall with a legitimate chip on their shoulder – one of the most dangerous things a team can possess.
Look no further for proof of that theory than the #4 ranked Slippery Rock – a team that eats shoulder chips for breakfast. The Rock will certainly use this ranking as motivation heading into the 2026 season, along with their upset loss to conference foe Franciscan in the National Championship last Fall – though some of that resentment may have dissipated after the team conquered the DIII bracket at the CRC 7’s a few months later.
That win was a fitting end for the team’s core group of seniors, who helped head coach Matt Heasley build the program into a contender over the last four years. All-Americans Kam Kruzelyak and Zachary Herrington, along with gamewrecker Chase Nething, are gone now, though, having left the program in a better place than where they found it. And it’ll be up to the next generation of Rock Rugby players, like superstar Aidan O’Shea, as well as Roman Police and Gage Barnes, to keep that forward momentum. The team looked good in early preseason action against Pitt and should still be on track to factor into the postseason conversation come November.
Rounding out the top five is Catholic University, a team that is always competitive under longtime head coach John Solomon but has been bedeviled in the playoffs the last two years by conference rivals Duke. The team will be playing a hybrid DII/DIII schedule in 2026 however, which could help better players for national-level matchups with other DIII opponents. The team has matches scheduled against DII programs like Georgetown, Towson, and the University of Maryland – a scenario that has benefited teams like Slippery Rock and Franciscan who play IUP each season.
Catholic forward Luke Skelton should be a bright spot for the Cardinals again in 2026 after earning All-American honors as a freshman. And another crop of experienced high school recruits should yield another standout performer to assist Skelton in the team’s quest for a championship this season.
#6 VMI has also added a few higher-division opponents to its schedule in 2026, with matchups against Virginia and Virginia Tech slated for September. The Keydets will be led by All-American Augustine Arnaiz, and will lean heavily on the athleticism of fullback Caleb Chandler.
#7 Holy Cross may have lost the services of All-American John Cox – who has followed in the footsteps of other HC greats like Jackson Evarts and Matt Schwab and will now be plying his trade at Brown University under head coach Dave LaFlamme – but a surprise run to the National semifinals last Fall with an incredibly young and inexperienced roster proved that the Crusaders are way ahead of schedule in terms of their rebuild. With another year under their belt, players like Christopher Dalton and Connor Long should give other teams plenty to handle.
Rounding out the list is Duke (#8) – who will be changing head coaches from Ed Dixon to William Norton this season but will still employ the services of All-American center River Hanson – as well as New Mexico Tech (#9) – who will always be competitive as long as All-American Akongnwi Chungong is making plays all over the pitch – and finally Richmond (#10) – who have lost senior Matthew Lynch but should see some growth out of a large chunk of the seven first-year players it started in the playoffs last season.
In terms of teams outside this ranking who could make some noise, Alfred University has been quietly growing stronger under head coach Dale Russell and minted its first All-American last year in the dynamic Ayomideji Israel-Akinbo. Could 2026 be the year that things start to click for Russell’s Saxons? Or can The Citadel take another step forward in its development since its drop down to DIII?
Written by Zach Lanning
