NEW YORK – The Varsity Cup has released the brackets for its 2017 playoff today, Feb. 22.

Fourteen well-regarded college teams will compete in a four-weekend playoffs. Two teams - the top finishers from 2016 that remain in the competition - will get a bye.

The opening round kicks off April 8 at six different universities across the nation, followed by the April 15 quarterfinals and April 22 semifinals before the May 6 Varsity Cup final.

For Round One, top two seeds California and Central Washington receive a bye, but pay for that week off by having to travel to their quarterfinal opponents. In Round One, #3 seed Arkansas State play Oklahoma University in Norman, Okla., and #4 seed Penn State visits Harvard at Harvard's new rugby facility. Army hosts Notre Dame in West Point, NY, Arizona State visits Los Angeles to play UCLA, Utah travels to Annapolis, Md. to battle Navy, and Dartmouth goes to Clemson, SC to face the Clemson Tigers.

The quarterfinals will be held April 15, and they will be set up as follows:

Cal at Clemson/Dartmouth winner

Notre Dame/Army v Penn State/Harvard 

CWU at Utah/Navy

Arizona State/UCLA v Arkansas State/Oklahoma

The Varsity Cup semifinals will send advancing teams with lower seeds to the homes of the higher seeds for the national-championship qualifiers on April 22. Then, on May 6, the two surviving teams will meet at a location to be announced for the Varsity Cup final.