We've got this little matter of the CRC 7s tournament this weekend.

After a long (some would say too long? We won't say who says that but their initials are GRR) spring 7s season we've come to the culmination for a large portion of the collegiate landscape. And let's hope for nice weather this time! Well OK, the forecast is for cloudy weather with a bit of wind and some rain on Saturday. Not a lot of rain, but some rain. It won't be warm, but it won't be really cold, either.  Early-morning games might be in the 40s with a bit of wind and rain so ball handling might suffer.

Still, no monsoons so we've got that going for us.

Now here's a look at the men's brackets.

Men's Premier Cup

This is a cross-divisional bracket and the top bracket for the men's competitions. We are seeing a bit more of a split in the college world in 7s like we have in 15s. Only three D1A teams are in the 32-team knockout bracket—Mount St. Mary's, Southern Virginia, and Air Force.

MSM, as you may recall, won it all last year despite playing in only two tournaments as preparation. This year they haven't played in any, and there remains a debate as to whether you need to play 7s for months in order to be ready for the big dance.

Mount Gets Defensive in Ride to CRC Title

Of course it's worth pointing out that the previous year's winner was Kutztown, which plays a ton of 7s in the winter and spring.

OK, to the bracket and the matchups.

Wheeling is perhaps the team on the biggest roll this spring and they are in the same section of the bracket as Mount St. Mary's. We'd favor Wheeling to beat Fordham and MSM to beat Fairfield (usual disclaimers apply). But then that Round of 16 matchup will be a tough one.

St. Bonaventure vs Marian and Indiana vs Virginia Tech are intriguing first-round games and while it's easy to point to Indiana, we think they might be vulnerable this year ... maybe.

Babson vs Harvard and Notre Dame vs Siena. Now we're talking. Babson, the small college that could (Babson Makes Its Mark in CRC Championship) has no qualms about competing with the big dogs and, really, we're not going to bet against them. Notre Dame has some snappy young talent and Siena has a lot of rugby IQ to bring to bear. We're just thinking it's Beaver time.

Air Force vs UMW and Notre Dame College vs Alabama. This might be the Section of Death. Any of these teams could challenge for it all. Alabama is an outstanding D1AA-level 7s team. NDC is looking to pull a NCR D1 /. CRC double in their final throes as a program (the school is closing this spring). Air Force has this annoying habit of starting slowly and then winning consolation brackets as they heat up. They need a shorter runway this time. Playing UMW will not be easy at all.

Kutztown vs Southern Nazarene and Dartmouth vs South Carolina will be a good group, with Kutztown favored here. But SNU's style of play lends itself to 7s. Dartmouth, if healthy, has players who can break open a game.

Michigan vs Clemson and Principia vs AIC is a nice juxtaposition of institutions. Clemson could be one of this D1AA dark horses. Principia and AIC have both achieved much on the 7s front. We're leaning Principia at the moment just on overall team speed.

Brown vs Maryland and SVU vs Rio Grande looks like it will be Brown's coronation into the quarterfinals but keep a close eye on Southern Virginia. 

Belmont Abbey vs Aquinas and Iowa Central vs Iona. Iowa Central has been playing some excellent 7s and should win out here. Yes Iona will be a difficult to open against, but the Tritons are in good shape to take them on.

So that would give us a quarterfinal group of:

Wheeling (probably) vs Indiana (probably)
Babson vs umm ... not sure. NDC?

Kutztown vs Principia
Brown (ish ... maybe SVU) vs Iowa Central

Hmm ... seems like a Big Rivers weekend. 

Men D1 Club

Sixteen teams play in a bracket format here. 

San Diego vs Nebraska
NC State vs Bowling Green

UMass vs Georgia
Purdue vs Florida

Louisville vs Salisbury
Missouri vs Columbia 

North Carolina vs Oregon State
USC vs Tennessee

The teams we think might do really well here are the teams that haven't been playing a ton of 7s, namely Florida and U. San Diego. But Louisville and Tennessee might give a strong showing. Oregon State is a complete wild card (so it UNC Chapel Hill for that matter). Two games on Friday, two games on Saturday, and they're done.

San Diego just got off winning their CRAA D1AA Western Regional (on a walkoff doink) and now think they can win 7s a week later. Oh wait, they've done that before.

Unity and a Quick Turnaround as USD Wins CRC