This is perhaps the most exciting women's DI college 7s field ever, with 11 teams, all of which - yes, every single one - have the ability to win it all.

There is not a single easy game in the tournament, and as such every game will need to be played to the utmost.

There are 11 teams in the Women's DI because the Rocky Mountain 7s champion was slated to be part of the tournament, but the Rocky Mountain winners, Air Force, are in the middle of their graduation week, so they can't come.

To make up for the odd number of teams, here's how the competition will work: 

Three teams will compete in Pool A, and four teams in Pool B and Pool C.

The pool winners will move on to to the quarterfinals. So, too, will the next best five teams. Since you can't measure teams against each other when they play a different number of games, the best result for teams from Pool B and Pool C will be eliminated.

So all teams will be seeded based on two games - the two games played by Pool A participants, and the least-good two games by participants of Pool B and Pool C.

According to USA Rugby sources, all teams have accepted this plan, but let's see how they react after the tiebreakers come into effect.

The bottom three teams will play off for the Bowl.

So, now that we've got that straight, let's look at the pools and teams:

Pool A

Penn State

UC Davis

James Madison

Ouch. This is a rough pool. You can see, now, why the best result will be rejected for Pool B and C teams when they work the tiebreakers - this Pool A is brutal. Penn State is the best 15s team in the country, with five former USA U20 players, including 7s maestro Tess Fuery, the redoubtable Bitsy Cairns, and the all-seeing Gabby Cantorna. They might have been in the 15s playoffs until May 7, but they can rebound to 7s easily.

The 15s-to-7s thing is also an issue for UC Davis, which won the spring DI title (Penn State won DI Elite). They have some superb runners who work nicely together in Rebecca Lehman, Sydney Watanabe, and Eric Hipp. But things will likely rise and fall on the backs of their forwards, led by hard-charging Erin Martin.

James Madison, you might remember, was the national runner-up in the 2013-14 season, but this team has seen some turnover since then. Super-senior Stephanie Goetz is an All American and Kayla Cook is also a talented 7s player, but, as for everyone, it's going to be tough.

Our pick: Penn State should go 2-0, but we wouldn't be surprised if all three went 1-1. Davis is probably your 2nd team and JMU probably your third, but it's hard to imagine none of these teams is good enough to compete in the quarters.

 

Pool B 

Life

Stanford

Texas A&M

Virginia

Led by Nicole Strasko and freshman 7s talent Whitney Wilson, Life is nicely placed to do well in this pool. They are physical, work hard, are athletic, and will defend. Stanford can beat Life with speed and ball movement, but ball movement is kind of difficult if the other player is in your face. Stanford is fairly young, and seniors Fiona Meyer-Tueruel, Mia Hutchinson, and Maya Thueuer will be called upon to keep it all going smoothly. 

Virginia played in the spring DI final May 7, losing on the final play of the game. All the elements of their 15s run dovetail nicely into a high-quality 7s team. They have a couple of big runners, like Luma Abunimer, and some pacey outside backs like Sierra Parks and Joy Jefferson, and watch out for Cary Wingo, too. It's a nice combination of speed, ball-handling, and power.

It will be a tough go, then, for Texas A&M. The Aggies' best bet is to stay strong in contact - because there are some heavy hitters out there - and keep the ball in the opposing end.

Our pick: We like Virginia. Life may well win this and you won't hear a shocked gasp from GRR World Headquarters, but this could be an excellent opportunity for UVA.

 

Pool C

Central Washington

Lindenwood

North Carolina

Chico State

Well, the daughter of King of 7s is on the CWU team so you've got to figure they should be OK. Seriously, there's perhaps a little too much pressure on Nate Serevi to take control of every game she's in. Overall, this talented group of Wildcats know how to play 7s and have the coaching to get it done.

They will have a lot to deal with in Lindenwood. The Lions are full of collegiate and high school All Americans, and they have some 7s experience, too. McKenzie Hawkins leads this group and is a Sorensen Award finalist. Ariana Lewis has played 7s with Atlantis and trained at the Olympic Training Center. You see where this is going. Lindenwood wants two national titles. They might well get them. Heck, they might get three.

North Carolina is talented but not quite as deep, and you need depth, while Chico State has had a nice influx of young talent - led by sophomore Darby McFall.

Our pick: It's down to Central Washington or Lindenwood. Both could win. Both should make the quarterfinals. It's a toss-up.

 

So that leaves us with five teams we think are really strong in Penn State, UC Davis, Life, Virginia, Central Washington, and Lindenwood. As we said, any of those (or perhaps the others catching a little luck) could win this. There will be no easy games. And because of the format, winning one game by a blowout doesn't help you - you've got to go back it up, and you can't let a loss get away from you.

Right now we're kind of feeling that Lindenwood might go all the way here. It's hard to tell. How have the teams that went deep into the 15s playoffs handled the stress on their bodies and the change to 7s? How has the coaching staff adjusted? Who is secretly carrying an injury? We find out all this weekend.