Pool A: Western Washington, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa

Defending champs Western Washington brings back five players from that 2024 team that won in Bellingham, Wash.

"We are young, skillful, and fast," said WWU DOR Paul Horne, who points out that six freshmen made the squad. But veterans from 2024 Charlie Funk and Eli Ashmann help make them explosive.

"Our team is young as was our 15s team but we have some exciting young talent," added Head Coach Adam Roberts. "Not being able to play in a preliminary tournament due to the success in the 15s will hurt a little bit, so we are looking to just build one game at a time and get better each game."

Keep an eye on Canadian George Pritchard who is a freshman but has a solid resumé of 7s tournaments. Ashmann has a very nice combination of speed and power and will captain the side. Funk was the CRAA tournament MVP in 2024 and he is very elusive.

"I am super excited to watch a player named Sho Sekiya he grew up playing in Japan and is incredible in five meters of space," added Roberts.

Pool B: Iowa State, Oregon, Texas State, Millenium Atlantic

As we pointed out earlier, MAU is very much a dark horse. A lower-division side out of Florida they have experience and plenty of rugby knowledge. Iowa State won the Heart of America 7s, beating Nebraska in the semis and Minnesota in the final. While they were playing 15s just a couple of weeks ago, their teamwork, led by Ian Klein and Justin Johnson, could well see them through. Also, it's worth pointing out that many of the ISU players played their high school rugby in Iowa, which is a 7s-only league.

Pool C: St. Thomas, Baylor, Wyoming, Nebraska

This is very much a tossup pool, although likely St. Thomas is favored. Yes they played the CRAA D1AA final two weeks ago, their playmakers Welton Charumbira, Tshepang Matubatuba, Taonaishe Mapani, and forward Owen Phillips are all explosive players.

But keep an eye on the rest of these teams. Wyoming, led by Cade Pugh, is dangerous, and they looked good in the Kansas City 7s and Nebraska 7s. At the Nebraska 7s they were defeated by the Cornhuskers, who are led by Lucas Fleming and the speedy Christian Meneses. Nebraska played in the CRC D1 Club bracket where they lost their opener vs Tennessee 15-10 and then ran the table over Temple, Iowa, and Oregon State to take the Bowl.

So if we were to pick some favorites, it would be St. Thomas, Western Washington, and Iowa State. However, the format of the tournament is important—one second-place team will make the semifinals and that team could well finish. Nebraska might be that team, but anyone who loses a game has to make sure it's not by too much.