How was your week? It's been a good one for a handful of breakout college teams. However, the same can't be said for the Springboks or the Ivy League.

Who's Down

South Africa National Team

This might be a week late but, c'mon, a 57-0 loss to New Zealand? In these pages we're old enough to remember when the Springboks and the All Blacks were dead even. From 1921 to 2000 these two teams played 56 times, with New Zealand winning 27, South Africa 26, and three ties. The winning margin exceeded 17 points only twice.

Since then, New Zealand is 29-9 in these games, with the All Blacks' winning margin exceeding 17 a dozen times, including the record-setting 57-0 shutout the other week. Times have changed, and it seems like the Springboks have gotten away from what used to be their bread and butter. Power and defense wins games for South Africa, and it should have the ability to put a stranglehold on a game.

The stats on defense was especially damning in the last game. NZ and RSA has similar possession numbers, but New Zealand gained more than twice as many meters, thanks to 32 missed tackled by the Springboks.

Competitive Balance In The Ivy League

It's actually really bad. Most agree that Harvard and Brown were the contenders for second in the conference. Then Harvard beat Brown badly. OK, so it's Crimson... and then Harvard gave up 53 to Dartmouth. In truth, it's the Big Green and then a massive gap. And the thing is, there's a massive gap after the next couple of teams, too. Last week's Harvard vs. Brown game needed to be a better spectacle. At least let's see some guys tackle with their shoulders. Please?

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Varsity Cup

The silence is deafening from this competition, and Central Washington is now in D1A.

Cincinnati vs. Ohio State

Cards and words exchanged all over the place in OSU's 27-10 win at Cincinnati on Saturday, including a coach being red-carded. It wasn't pretty. We got one text describing this game that was "F$%#k F$%#k F$%#k F$%#k F$%#k." Best text we've received all month.

Quick Starters

Albany won its opening two games but has given up almost 100 points total in two losses. Virginia opened up with a league win and shipped 88 over the weekend. Air Force scored 86 against Utah State and then gave up 59 (!) to Utah Valley.

Every year you've got teams with high expectations, and then something happens. Usually it's about depth and being able to handle more than one or two injuries. It can also be that the teams you beat early on weren't all that strong.

Who's Up

Breakout Teams

OK, so not all of them are running the table, but Mary Washington is doing pretty well. The Mothers are 3-0 in the Chesapeake and haven't really been challenged. And how about Iowa State? Wins over Iowa (43-0) and Oklahoma (43-7) have the Cyclones rolling nicely. Inside center Joe Dillon has been scoring tries and their forward pack has been shoving people back. Good to see we pegged a few breakout teams, at least.

The Cheetahs And A USA Guy

After pinging the South African teams for foundering in the Pro 14, the Cheetahs have won two in a row. Why does this matter? Well it matters for the fans of the South African teams, for sure, but it also matters when you're talking about all the speculation to put a U.S.-based team in the Aviva Premiership, Pro 14, Super Rugby... Hey, why isn't the Japan Top League calling (?!?).

Playing professional rugby across thousands of miles isn't easy, and it'll be interesting to see how the Cheetahs and others handle it. Any U.S.-based team in a pro European league will have to travel a lot and expect visiting teams to travel a lot. Joining is nice, but losing all the time because of the distances involved would be unpleasant.

Oh, and the Cheetahs haven't put Ruben de Haas on their squad yet, but he's playing well for their Academy and is going to get a look with the USA Selects.

De Haas recently told FloRugby that playing for the Cheetahs Academy in Bloemfontein has been a dream.

"This is a great place to play rugby, and I'm meeting a lot of rugby people, players, and supporters," he said. "It's been a unbelievable experience."

Davenport University

Getting league games in the fall has been good for the Panthers even before they play those league games. A 44-26 win over Lindenwood-Belleville last Friday didn't hurt, either. A program that has played in one of the toughest (if not the toughest) conferences in the country and struggled to win even one game, Davenport is, nonetheless, really pretty good and might be better than usual this year.

Thomas Cheslek is having a good season so far.

Freshmen

Seriously... we started a Freshmen Of The Week column because we wanted to recognize players who might be overlooked. Almost like we needn't have bothered, because first-year players (Daniel Trump and Joe Rusert-Cudy below, for example) are making big plays all over the country. This is a testament to their high school coaching.

Northampton Saints

They started Aviva Premiership with a loss but have reeled off three really nice victories since then.