The Pacific Mountain Conference is two weekends away from naming its DI quarterfinal contestants. Each of the three competitions - North, South, West - knows its champion, but the remaining league games will be important for naming the #2s, most notably for the South.

UC San Diego has successfully locked up the top spot in the South, maintaining its undefeated record after beating UC Santa Barbara 25-7 last weekend. UCSD has played some close matches this season, especially against Arizona State, and showed some vulnerability against Arizona (which beat UCLA 54-38 this weekend) two Saturdays ago. But the team has consistently righted itself and found the way to victories. The Tritons will play West #2 in the quarterfinals, while the yet-to-be-decided #2 South team will play West #1 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.

Central Washington and Washington State will represent the North. The two played each other last weekend (read more), with CWU winning 31-19. The Wildcats have a final league game on Saturday, but at 7-0, have already clinched the top seed and will play West #4 on March 28. Washington State won the second spot on points differential (see below) and will play West #3 in the Round of 8. Both the Cougars and Oregon finished their seasons 5-3, with the latter ending on a 41-5 victory over state rival Oregon State (Zoe Wilson, Leudy de los Santos, Nancy Hernandez and Erika Faris scored tries, while Emma Richie kicked for points). Washington State and Oregon traded victories this season.

Stanford nabbed the West’s top spot after its 62-5 win over Cal Saturday. All American Nikki Richardson led all point scorers with 17 on a try and six conversions. Olivia Bernadel-Huey, Dani McDonald, Kathryn Treder, Chelsea Sveinnson, Maddy Wilson, Maki Asrat, Julia Howell and Esther Melton also scored tries. The Cardinal have one more game against Chico State on Saturday.

UC Davis was also successful on Saturday. Scrumhalf Lauren Kim Sing and forward captain Caroline Sequeira were instrumental in smoothing out a sloppy start against Chico State and helped their team to a 33-14 win. Although any of the remaining three PMC West teams could finish in second place, UC Davis has put forth the strongest argument for second-best with two close losses to the Cardinal. That said, all four PMC West teams advance to playoffs so there's little anxiety about qualification.

PMC Quarterfinals, March 28 @ Stanford
Game 1: West 4 v Central Washington (North 1)
Game 2: West 2 v UC San Diego (South 1)
Game 3: Stanford (West 1) v South 2
Game 4: West 3 v (Washington State) North 2