With all the talk about qualifications for the CRC, it’s easy to forget that USA Rugby has its own 7s collegiate championship.

Both of the tournaments have qualifiers, although USA Rugby has a lot more. Both will be held at the end of May, with the CRC May 30-31, and USA Rugby’s May 23-24.

The proximity of the two tournaments will likely have an effect on whether teams play in both. Some will likely want to, if only to use USA Rugby’s event to get ready for the CRC. But we at Goff Rugby Report think you going to see very few teams at both.

Here’s what we know about the CRC teams:

Arizona, Cal, Dartmouth, Kutztown, Life, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, and Virginia Tech are invited. Arkansas State qualifier at the LVI. We expect Navy, Temple, St. Joseph’s, and Air Force to be invited, too. The SEC, ACRL, and Big Ten are to provide their winners to the CRC. It’s possible that UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Army, or even AIC could be invited to fill out the 20-team field. (Air Force were just invited)

Meanwhile, USA Rugby has already started its qualification process.

Here’s a list of the USA Rugby qualifiers:

Cal State 7s, September, 2014. San Diego State winners

West Coast 7s, October, 2014. UCLA winners

Battle in the Bay, October, 2014. Cal winners

NCRC 7s, October, 2014. Central Washington winners

Ivy League 7s, November, 2014. Dartmouth winners

PAC 7s, November, 2014. Cal winners

Pacific West 7s, November, 2014. Nevada winners

SIRC 7s, February, 2015. Central Florida winners

Big XII 7s, March 7, 2015 (Norman, Okla.)

NDC Falcons, April 11, 2015 (Cleveland, Ohio)

Rocky Mountain 7s, April 11, 2015 (Fort Collins, Colo.)

Big Ten Championships, April 18, 2015

Empire 7s, April 18, 2015 (Binghamton, NY)

ACRL 7s, April 18-19, 2015 (Charlotte, NC)

Little Rock 7s, April 25-26 (Little Rock, Ark.)

Red River 7s, April 25 (Austin, Texas)

The SCRC (aka SEC) championship is a four-tournament series, with the first three setting up seedings for the April 18 event in Knoxville, Tenn. The Big Ten is also a series, with tournaments at Michigan and Iowa before Illinois hosts the final event April 18. Same goes for the Empire Conference.

The list of qualifier tournaments list will produce 16 winners. However, not all will attend the USA Rugby event. Cal is not expected to go to USA Rugby’s event, and they already have two spots filled. UCLA is doubtful, too. Dartmouth might be on the fence.

So we know for sure that San Diego State, Central Washington, Nevada, and Central Florida will go.

There will be at least eight at-large bids. AIC, Sacramento State (second in two tournaments), Arizona State (second in two tournaments), Cal Poly, Georgia Tech (second in SIRC), and Yale (second in Ivy and especially if Dartmouth doesn’t go) would be strong candidates.

St. Mary’s, normally a top 7s team, fielded their younger players during the fall and so didn’t place particularly high in the tournaments they played in. It’s possible, though, they could get an at-large bid.

Meanwhile the ACRC has the URugby Challenge Cup, which is an open collegiate tournament on April 11-12 (http://www.urugby.com/urugby-sevens-philadelphia-featuring-challenge-cup) and provides some warmup opportunities for teams. That leads into the ACRC 7s at Virginia Beach April 25-26. This isn’t a qualifier, although it probably should be, and could well turn back into what it was last year, the culmination of a series.

Teams and conferences are still getting into the swing of working through a 7s season. College 7s teams that play across conference borders may well find they are happier than those that play solely within their conference.