With the completion of the fall college 7s tournaments in the West, and then the CRC Qualifier at the Las Vegas Invitational, we feel we have enough data to rank the top 25 men's college 7s teams. Arkansas State gets to #1 because they beat several good teams on their way to winning the CRC Qualifier, and historically, they have been very good.

Cal, which won two of the three tournaments played in during the fall, and the one they lost was a close game, comes in at #2. This follows a theme in our rankings. If a team loses to an opponent (Cal to UCLA, Arizona State to UCLA), but beats that same team later in the season, then the later game holds more weight (not completely; a 33-0 oss in September followed by a 21-19 win in late October would likely prompt us to think the blowout meant more).

AIC finished 2nd in the CRC Qualifier and showed they deserve to be invited to the CRC. We're not sure if they will, and so they'll then go to USA Rugby's event and have an excellent shot at winning there.

Now we come to Air Force. The Zoomies played superbly all weekend, and were a little unlucky not to beat Arkansas State in the semifinal in Vegas. In fact, they were in control of much of that game. After the game GRR overheard the Air Force coach telling his captain that he would be starting players who hadn't received game time for the 3rd/4th game. And this brings up a notion we've followed in evaluating 7s teams - 3rd/4th games mean different things to different teams. We'd be within our rights to say that St. Joseph's should be above Air Force because SJU beat the USAFA in the CRC 3rd/4th game. But ... Air Force started their subs, and so even if St. Joe's started their subs, the game wasn't a true reflection of the squads.

In addition, St. Joseph's run through the CRC, while good, was against slightly less-strong competition. Air Force lost by five points to the eventual champions. St. Joe's lost by nine points to the  eventual runners up (in a weird game where they scored two late tries when AIC was down to five men at one point). St. Joe's beat James Madison, Creighton by forfeit, Lewis & Clark, and Notre Dame College. Air Force beat Georgetown, Pitt, Dartmouth, and Kutztown. Overall Air Force faced stronger opposition, we feel. The only piece of evidence that says put St. Joe's ahead of Air Force is the 3rd/4th result, 19-14 in favor of St. Joseph's. It's not enough.

Lindenwood's ranking is problematic, as the Lions were not consistent and could be bumped down. 

We are not happy with having to leave out Buffalo and Notre Dame (who would be tied if they were ranked, their results were that similar).