Ann Arbor, Mich. - During a cold March morning on the campus of the University of Michigan the Michigan Collegiate Cup kicked off with eight college rugby teams determined to see who the best college team in the state would be.

The day saw some close games, crazy finishes, and even a few upsets as each team represented themselves and their schools well. In the end, it was Oakland verses the University of Michigan in the final, but both teams had very different journeys to get there.

The tournament was structured with four pools including two teams in them. The first set of games were for seeding purposes with the winner of the pool match-up playing the loser from the neighboring pool in the first round of the knockout stages.

The pool round results:

Pool A: Oakland 15 v Central Michigan 0

Pool B: Saginaw Valley State 7 v Michigan State 47

Pool C: Calvin 5 v Grand Valley State 8

Pool D: Eastern Michigan 13 v University of Michigan 24

The Grizzlies from Oakland were set to take on Saginaw Valley in the first round knockout match while Michigan was set to play Calvin. Oakland made quick work of Saginaw Valley, scoring early and often with a full fifteen man effort. They eventually out-paced the Cardinals from Saginaw by the score of 41-5. Michigan’s game against Calvin looked much the same as the game ended with a 44-0 scoreline. While it looked like a large margin for a victory, Calvin made the Wolverines work for every point and applied constant pressure to U of M. The other knockout round match-ups had Michigan State playing Central Michigan in a very tight match that saw the Spartans win 7-0. Then Grand Valley State played Eastern Michigan to another close one; the Lakers beat the Eagles 15-12.

This put Michigan State up against Oakland in one semi-final and Michigan versus Grand Valley State in the other.

The first semifinal gave us arguably the game of the tournament, when Oakland squared off with Michigan State. Both teams took it to each other exchanging scores through the first half. The second half heated up with MSU dotting down first to take the lead by an unconverted try. It would take Oakland the better part of the entire half to eventually answer the try with the conversion giving them a 19-17 lead. With the game deep into injury time the Spartans tested the Oakland defensive but couldn’t break the line and the game ended with Oakland moving onto the final.

That left one spot open in the final and it was between U of M and Grand Valley State to determine who will fill it. The game started out close and remained that way for the entirety of the first half with Grand Valley locking down the Michigan attack. It was until the second half that Michigan started to outpace  GVSU. When the dust settled Michigan had won 29-5 and booked their place in the final against Oakland.

The Michigan Collegiate Cup final did not fail to entertain the spectators that were in attendance. From the kickoff Oakland was determined to show Michigan they weren’t an opponent to be taken lightly. The Grizzlies set the tone by scoring 12 unanswered points and repeatedly repelled Michigan’s efforts to gain access to the try zone. At the half Michigan was faced with a 12-0 deficit and it appeared Oakland was well in control of this final. With the abbreviated 20 minute halves the 12 points were going to be a big hole to climb out of but at the kick-off Michigan set about implementing Coach Bill Becker’s adjustments to see what they could do. Five minutes in saw Michigan get their first break when their scrum-half spotted a small gap around the breakdown, squirted through and bolted for the try line. With the successful conversion the Wolverines had closed the gap to 12-7. Oakland stayed true to their style of play and dug in but unfortunately just ran out of steam. Michigan put another two converted tries over before the end of the game to win the final 21-12 and leave with the Michigan Collegiate Cup.

This event was a huge success and wouldn’t have been made possible without the teams who committed to attending it. The organizers look forward to making this tournament bigger and better next year and attracting even more of the Michigan schools.