Eighteen college rugby teams will compete in the Heart of America Classic this weekend in Kansas City, Mo., an automatic qualifier for the CRC 7s invitational this coming June in Chester, Pa.

Of the teams involved, one, Lindenwood University, is already qualified having won the Las Vegas Invitational qualifier earlier this month. The rest are looking to get that golden ticket. 

The tournament features several teams with solid 7s pedigrees. AIC is an exciting outfit led by Jihad Khabir and Christian Adams. Ohio State already has a tournament win under their belts. Lindenwood-Belleville, Arkansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Davenport all could challenge for the title. But with their LVI victory behind them, Lindenwood is probably favored, depending on who lines up for them.

Pool A
Lindenwood
Oklahoma
Louisville

Pool B
AIC
Minnesota
North Texas

Pool C
Davenport
Wyoming
Nebraska

Pool D
Ohio State
Iowa State
Kansas State

Pool E
Lindenwood-Belleville
Missouri
New Hampshire

Pool F
Arkansas
Michigan
North Dakota

All teams get two pool games, and then the teams are re-seeded based on results. Games kick off at 9am on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, the #10 seed and the #11 seed play off, and #9 plays #12. The winners of those games will play seeds #7 and #8 on Sunday morning for a chance to get to the quarterfinals. 

Seeds #3 through #6 will play in the quarterfinals to get to the semis. The #1 seed will play the winner of #7 v #10-or-#11, and the #2 seed will play the winner of #8 v #9-or-#12.

The bottom six teams will play for the Plate, with the top two seeded teams getting a bye to the semis.