Some intriguing games populate this weekend in men’s DI college rugby.

With the LVI coming up fast, several teams are taking a weekend to prepare, but still there’s rugby to be played.

The marquee game is likely UBC at Cal, the first half of their annual two-game series. Cal is looking very strong this year, with an athletic and uncompromising back row being the hallmark of many of their best teams, and they’ve got one this year. 

This year’s game is on TV (Pac-12 Networks), and Cal is in a good position to win. Last year they won the first game and lost the second. The balance between the two teams might be similar.

See our preview here.

Out in the Pacific West, Stanford and Sacramento State are chasing after idle Nevada. See our preview here.

In the Gold Coast, Cal State Long Beach and SBCC have both started well, and look to push their advantage. They should do just fine this weekend, although expect to see Cal State Fullerton bounce back this week. See our preview here.

In the NCRC, the big game might well be Central Washington v Western Washington. WWU is still thinking playoffs even after losing to Washington 10-0 last week. They are not favored against CWU - no one in the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference is - but they can make a statement regardless.

Washington State started well and look to build against Boise State, which they can.

In the PAC Rugby Conference, UCLA hosts Utah in a big game. See our preview here.

In a clash of a team from the PAC Rugby Conference and once from the NCRC, Oregon State hosts Washington. This is one of the off-conference games between teams from the Pac-12. Last week Stanford beat Colorado, and OSU also hosted a tournament of northern Pac-12 teams. While the PAC Rugby Conference has only six teams in it, there are (logically) 12 in the Pac-12. Several of these teams play each other. Stanford has Colorado and Cal on their schedule. Washington plays Oregon, OSU, and Washington State. It’s possible we’ll see more of these games in the future.

The Red River continues with Texas Tech at Baylor. The chase is for third, and Baylor can get there if they win here and beat Texas A&M. 

In non-conference games aside from UW at OSU, Cal Poly visits San Diego State, North Texas plays Texas A&M, and Colorado State is at Arizona.