There's no disputing that the Men's College 7s CRC Qualifier at the Las Vegas Invitational is one of the most intriguing college 7s tournaments of the season, in any season.

While it's not the big venue tournament that the CRC (or, for that matter, USA Rugby's championship) is (until the final), the CRC makes up for that with dreamers. Every team involved is shooting for a spot in the CRC, and generally the appearance of a team in Vegas means that team recognized they wouldn't get to Chester, Pa. on an invitation alone. They have to play their way in,

And it's not easy. Some excellent 7s teams have failed to get to the promised land. And this year, some really good teams won't even make it out of pool play.

Here are the pools:

Pool A
Central Washington
Buffalo
Tulane
Georgetown

Pool B
Notre Dame College
Harvard
Colgate
Millersville

Pool C
Lindenwood (St. Charles)
St. Bonaventure
Colorado
UNLV

Pool D
Wheeling Jesuit
Utah Valley University
Northeastern
Dixie State

Pool E
James Madison
Clemson
Michigan State
Montana State

Pool F
Lindenwood-Belleville
Santa Clara
Western Michigan
College of Idaho

Pool G
Grand Canyon University
New England College
Utah State
Colorado State-Pueblo

Certainly some of these teams are taking a shot in the dark, or enjoying the competition and the atmosphere of the USA 7s weekend without realistic goals of winning, but several of these teams have a chance to win. It all comes down, in the end, to durability, defense, and who actually plays 7s.

It could also come down to ugly things like points difference and forfeits.

Eight teams move on to the Cup Quarterfinals out of pool play. And yes, you counted, you were right, there are seven pools. So this will be seven pool winners plus on extra team. That team would very possibly be a 2-1 team with the best points difference. It could be, however, that we have a pool with two teams going 2-0-1, in which case 2-0-1 trumps 2-1.

Still, the key thing is, if you lose a game, make sure it's close, and then blow out the other teams. Forfeits? That's been a problem in the past in the LVI, when teams have, for various reasons, not shown up. That's embarrassing for the tournament, should be embarrassing for team involved (but, strangely, rarely seems to be), and really inconvenient for everyone else. A forfeit score has usually been recorded as 14-0, which hurts everyone else in the pool because they don't get the chance to win by more and bolster their ranking.

But this 28-team tournament is what it is ... too big (20 would have been better), and here are our pool picks:

Pool A. You're kidding, right? Central Washington. Actually the other three teams are pretty good, and this will be a terrific competition among those three for second. But CWU will dominate.

Pool B. Seriously, get out of town. Notre Dame College, which almost won it last year, should have no trouble. This is probably the most lopsided pool.

Pool C. Great to see UNLV in there fighting for something, but the Rebs will be overmatched. Colorado is pretty good at 7s, and St. Bonaventure is very good. It's hard to imagine they could overcome the Lindenwood Lions though.

Pool D. This is perhaps a bit of a pick 'em pool, with Utah Valley certainly capable of upending Wheeling Jesuit, and Northeastern has won a few 7s tournaments in its time. Not sure. WJU, but could be three teams go 2-1.

Pool E. Either JMU or Clemson have got to be looking at Pool D and saying "wait, what? Who picked these pools?" JMU has been more in 7s mode and they've got an excellent 7s pedigree. Clemson has been playing 7s and 15s at the same time, which is weird. Both are quite good. 

Pool F. With apologies to Santa Clara, this is Lindenwood-Belleville's to lose, especially after they got some good news on the injury front this week.

Pool G. GCU has some athletes, as does Utah State, but we're going to go with New England College. They take 7s a bit more seriously, and have been working toward this tournament for a while.

Predicted Quarterfinalists:

CWU, Notre Dame College, Lindenwood, Wheeling Jesuit, Lindenwood-Belleville, NEC, and either JMU or Clemson. 8th seed probably Grand Canyon, but don't count out Buffalo, Tulane, or the 2nd tam in Pool E.

Past CRC Qualifier Winners at LVI:

2011: Central Washington over UC Davis

2012: Life over Utah

2013: Not Held

2014: Not Held

2015: Arkansas State over AIC

2016: Utah over Notre Dame College