The College Squash Association (CSA) released its first set of rankings for the new calendar year on Wednesday, still using head-to-head results to guide manual adjustments to the standings.
Each season’s return to play after the winter break always offers some intrigue and unexpected results, but the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has created new challenges for some teams who are in the heart of their seasons. CSA will transition to using its objective ranking algorithm in the next couple of weeks, but because COVID-19 is causing some matches to be cancelled or postponed, the rankings decision-making process may involve more of a subjective element than is usually desired.
In the women’s rankings, positioning in spots 10 through 21 will be up for grabs through the remainder of the season. Tufts find themselves at No. 12 after beating Bates and Williams before winter break. Bates, Bowdoin, and Middlebury have a triangle of results thanks to Bowdoin’s recent win over Middlebury, but the match scores favor Middlebury, followed by Bates and Bowdoin. Brown sneaks in the middle of the triangle at No. 17 thanks to its win over Bowdoin earlier in the season. Franklin & Marshall’s 5-4 win over St. Lawrence keeps them just above the Saints and Dickinson at No. 19.
Additionally, Georgetown continues their gradual ascent as a first-year program, settling in at No. 25 this week after their win against Conn College at the Pioneer Valley Invitational.
The men’s rankings stay steady through the top 16, but they get much more interesting in the next 10 spots. Bowdoin’s victory over Amherst creates a full square matrix with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, and Dickinson. Bowdoin and Amherst have 2-1 records in that grouping with the match scores favoring Bowdoin at No. 20. Bates gets the nod over Dickinson at No. 22 thanks to stronger match scores than the Red Devils.
Continuing in that section of the rankings, St. Lawrence’s rebuilding continues with a win over Brown, placing them at No. 18 for now. Key matches in the coming weeks against No. 13 Chatham, No. 20 Bowdoin, and No. 22 Bates will further define their placement. Colby is the other moving piece of the puzzle, moving up to No. 24 after a victory over Middlebury.
To view the full set of rankings, please see below and visit the College Squash Team Rankings page.
| Women’s Varsity Team Rankings as of 1/19/2022 | |||
| Varsity Rank | Overall Rank | Team | Previous |
| 1 | 1 | Harvard University | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Trinity College | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | Princeton University | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Yale University | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | Columbia University | 6 |
| 6 | 5 | University of Virginia | 5 |
| 7 | 7 | Drexel University | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | Cornell University | 8 |
| 9 | 9 | University of Pennsylvania | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | Amherst College | 10 |
| 11 | 11 | Dartmouth College | 12 |
| 12 | 12 | Tufts University | 15 |
| 13 | 13 | Williams College | 13 |
| 14 | 14 | Stanford University | 11 |
| 15 | 15 | Middlebury College | 14 |
| 16 | 16 | Bates College | 16 |
| 17 | 17 | Brown University | 19 |
| 18 | 18 | Bowdoin College | 20 |
| 19 | 19 | Franklin & Marshall College | 17 |
| 20 | 20 | Dickinson College | 18 |
| 21 | 21 | St. Lawrence University | 21 |
| 22 | 22 | William Smith College | 22 |
| 23 | 23 | Hamilton College | 23 |
| 24 | 24 | Wesleyan University | 24 |
| 25 | 25 | Georgetown University | 27 |
| 26 | 26 | Connecticut College | 25 |
| 27 | 27 | Colby College | 26 |
| 28 | 28 | Haverford College | 28 |
| 29 | 29 | Denison University | 29 |
| 30 | 30 | Vassar College | 30 |
| 31 | 31 | Mount Holyoke College | 31 |
| 32 | 37 | Bard College | 32 |
| 33 | 39 | Chatham University | 33 |
| Women’s Club Team Rankings as of 1/19/2022 | |||
| Club Rank | Overall Rank | Team | Previous |
| 1 | 32 | Washington U. in St. Louis | 1 |
| 2 | 33 | Boston College | NR |
| 3 | 34 | Northeastern University | 2 |
| 4 | 35 | Colgate University | 3 |
| 5 | 36 | Boston University | 4 |
| 6 | 38 | Fordham University | 5 |
| Men’s Varsity Team Rankings as of 1/19/2022 | |||
| Varsity Rank | Overall Rank | Team | Previous |
| 1 | 1 | University of Pennsylvania | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Harvard University | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | Princeton University | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Trinity College | 4 |
| 5 | 5 | Yale University | 5 |
| 6 | 6 | Columbia University | 6 |
| 7 | 7 | Cornell University | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | University of Virginia | 8 |
| 9 | 9 | Drexel University | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | University of Rochester | 10 |
| 11 | 11 | Dartmouth College | 11 |
| 12 | 12 | Western University (Ontario) | 12 |
| 13 | 13 | Chatham University | 13 |
| 14 | 14 | Franklin & Marshall College | 14 |
| 15 | 15 | MIT | 15 |
| 16 | 16 | Williams College | 16 |
| 17 | 17 | Tufts University | 18 |
| 18 | 18 | St. Lawrence University | 23 |
| 19 | 19 | Brown University | 19 |
| 20 | 20 | Bowdoin College | 22 |
| 21 | 21 | Amherst College | 17 |
| 22 | 22 | Bates College | 21 |
| 23 | 23 | Dickinson College | 20 |
| 24 | 24 | Colby College | 26 |
| 25 | 25 | Middlebury College | 24 |
| 26 | 26 | Naval Academy | 25 |
| 27 | 27 | Hobart College | 27 |
| 28 | 28 | Hamilton College | 28 |
| 29 | 29 | Wesleyan University | 29 |
| 30 | 30 | Haverford College | 30 |
| 31 | 31 | Connecticut College | 31 |
| 32 | 33 | Denison University | 32 |
| 33 | 37 | Vassar College | 33 |
| 34 | 40 | Fordham University | 34 |
| 35 | 60 | Bard College | 35 |
| Men’s Club Team Rankings as of 1/19/2022 | |||
| Club Rank | Overall Rank | Team | Previous |
| 1 | 32 | University of Michigan | 1 |
| 2 | 34 | Boston University | 2 |
| 3 | 35 | Bucknell University | 3 |
| 4 | 36 | Georgetown University | 4 |
| 5 | 38 | University of Chicago | 5 |
| 6 | 39 | Washington U. of St. Louis | 6 |
| 7 | 41 | Northeastern University | 7 |
| 8 | 42 | University of Richmond | 8 |
| 9 | 43 | Duke University | 9 |
| 10 | 44 | University of North Carolina | 10 |
| 11 | 45 | Colgate University | 11 |
| 12 | 46 | Ohio State University | 12 |
| 13 | 47 | Lafayette College | 13 |
| 14 | 48 | Boston College | 14 |
| 15 | 49 | Northwestern University | 15 |
| 16 | 50 | Indiana University | 16 |
| 17 | 51 | Carnegie Mellon | 17 |
| 18 | 52 | Kenyon College | 18 |
| 19 | 53 | Vanderbilt University | 19 |
| 20 | 54 | University of Notre Dame | 20 |
| 21 | 55 | NC State | 21 |
| 22 | 56 | Swarthmore College | 22 |
| 23 | 57 | Xavier University | 23 |
| 24 | 58 | Navy (CLUB) | 24 |
| 25 | 59 | Davidson | 25 |
