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Men's College Teams Finding Games Where They Can

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Men's College Teams Finding Games Where They Can

Bowling Green scored 50 on IUPUI. Roger Mazzarella photo.

Just as some college rugby teams are getting back into competition, others are slowing down their activity.

Last week we saw Saint Mary's take on Central Washington and Cal face BYU. That may well be the final game for CWU, and after Cal play Saint Mary's this weekend questions remain as to what else they might be allowed to do. BYU also plays, but Life is off this week and Lindenwood has no more games left on their schedule unless a postseason solution is produced by CRAA or the teams involved.

At the same time, we saw Bowling Green get revenge on IUPUI for their opening loss. Bowling Green won 51-12, pulling away in the second half, eventually scoring seven tries from six players: prop Matt McGrath, flyhalf Jake Kubicki, center Phil Roberto, No. 8 Nico LaBianca, prop Connor Peterson, and a pair by wing Kobe Choat. Scrumhalf Ryan Niemiller five conversions and two penalties for 16 points.

Now another player enters the field with Western Michigan coming in to play their longtime rivals BGSU.

We will also see Louisville play, as they field a freshman-heavy team against IUPUI. It is interesting also to see Iowa Central stay in competition and Indiana finally getting a game. 

Air Force also finally gets to play, and this is a game with trophy implications. The Zoomies travel to West Point to play Army. If that game goes off, it's part of the Commander-in-Chief Trophy series. Army has already beaten Navy so a win for Army would get that trophy to West Point. (The game will be shown live kicking off at 1PM Eastern here>>)

Having beaten Navy 39-13, Queens 34-7, and Norwich 67-0, Army is probably favored here.

Cal vs Saint Mary's is a rivalry game much anticipated on the West Coast, and while both coaches will say they aren't especially seasoned for this kind of game, they should be fine; they looked good last week. Saint Mary's had a couple of players who didn't play last week who might be ready this week.

BYU and Arizona also play. BYU tied Central Washington, beat Utah State 55-14, and then lost to Saint Mary's. Arizona has beaten Grand Canyon twice, 63-20 and 55-17, and lost to Central Washington 47-10. If you go just by the Central Washington matchup, you'd say BYU is favored. But Arizona can play better than they did against CWU, and BYU was a shade fortunate in that tie with the Wildcats. So we'll see.

And we talked a little about the Colorado XOs crossover team from Glendale. Well they are providing Clemson with their first game of the spring.

Check back for scores.

4/17 Western Michigan 27-15 Bowling Green Non-Conference
4/17 Iowa Central CC 26-40 Indiana Non-Conference
4/17 Cal 14-32 Saint Mary's Non-Conference
4/17 BYU Ccld Arizona Non-Conference
4/17 Notre Dame College Ccld Cleveland Crusaders Non-Conference
4/17 Lincoln Wolves U23s 12-37 Iowa State Non-Conference
4/17 IUPUI 23-26 Louisville Non-Conference
4/17 Maryville at McKendree 7s
4/17 Air Force 12-61 Army Commander-in-Chief
4/17 Colorado XOs 38-10 Clemson Non-Conference