As the calendar swings from February to March, inching us closer to the greatest collegiate 7s tournament on Earth at the end of April, there are two huge qualifying tournaments set to take place this weekend that will offer up a compelling preview of the competition that awaits fans at this year’s Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s.
Yellow Rose 7s Showcase
Billing itself as the largest National 7s qualifier, and the second largest collegiate 7s tournament in the US, the Yellow Rose 7s Showcase certainly lives up to the old adage that everything is bigger in Texas. Teams from all four men’s divisions, hailing from 14 different states and 11 different conferences, will descend on Houston, TX this weekend to compete for a spot at the CRC’s while hopefully enjoying some warmer weather than they’re experiencing at their home campuses. There’s also a Gorilla Rugby High School showcase attached to the event and domestic MLR star Seth Smith a.k.a Thicc Thor, a Houston native, will serve as the honorary captain for the tournament.
This is the inaugural edition of the Showcase, which means there are plenty of strong contenders who will be looking to etch their names into the history books as the first-ever winner. In the Men’s Premier Division, Texas A&M enters the tournament with a slight edge as the de facto home team. The Aggies finished 22nd at the CRC’s last year, but that was without the legendary Tui Osborne leading the charge as head coach. Osborne’s first full XVs season with the club resulted in a DI-AA National Semifinal berth, and the team is expecting a similar Tui Takeoff here in his first Spring season at the helm. Andres Lasala and Neel Menon are the names to know for the Aggies who looked sharp in their tune-up tournament last weekend, outscoring Texas, Baylor, and the University of Dallas by a combined 130-0.
Indiana has also seen some action this Spring, finishing third at Sunshine 7s in Florida last weekend against much stiffer competition than A&M went up against at UD. That makes the Hoosiers, who return 14 of the 15 players on last year’s 13th place CRC squad, a definite threat to plunge a knife deep into the heart of Texas this weekend. Look for Tommy Hannon, Matt Chevalier, Parker Wall, and Joey Ries to be difference makers for their club.
While Indiana and Texas A&M are the prohibitive favorites, you can’t count out Southern Nazarene or the University of South Carolina, who will also be competing in that bracket along with Drury University and the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (whose mascot is named Mortarmer McPestle, which is awesome). SNU has made it to the CRC’s two out of the last three years and had a strong finish to their XVs season this Fall. The Gamecocks made it to the Elite Eight round at last year’s CRC and were two points away from advancing to the Final Four, albeit at the DI-Club level. South Carolina played well at Sunshine 7s, blowing out Clemson and Virginia Tech, but they drew Aquinas and lost to Indiana 19-26.
At the DI-Club level, it’s anybody’s guess as to who will come out on top as none of the teams competing qualified for the CRCs in 2025. Sam Houston State are the early frontrunners, though, as the BearKats actually won a CRC Championship back in 2022. They have also been Lonestar Conference Champions four times since 2019.
There are plenty of teams from Texas with incredible 7s pedigree in the bracket, though, like University of Texas - San Antonio and the University of North Texas who have been national contenders in the past. The University of Texas has also won back-to-back conference titles in 7s, winning the Lonestar Conference over Sam Houston last Spring, and should not be counted out. Rice University is also a wild card contender this year as they boast an incredible coaching staff featuring international stars Danny Barrett and Marno Redelinghuys.
Last year’s National runners-up, Montana State, headline the competition at the DII level as they look to return and finish the job they started last Spring. The Bobcats’ Holden Howe, who was fourth in total scoring at the CRCs in 2025, and Rex Muldoon should boost Montana State to an early qualification, unless Tennessee Tech and last year’s top try scorer Lane Travis have anything to say about it. Texas Christian University (TCU) is also a dark horse contender as the Horned Frogs are coming off a DII conference championship win in the Fall XV’s season.
And finally, in Men’s DIII, it’s the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire versus the field as the Blugolds look to win back-to-back National Championship titles. UWEC will go from the hunter to the hunted after they surprised plenty of people with a dominant run at last year’s CRCs. There are two teams from the High Peaks Conference that could be thorns in the side for Eau Claire, however, as they both made plenty of noise at last year’s national tournament. New Mexico Tech finished fourth in the Nation in XVs this Fall and have one of the country’s top players in winger Akongwi Chungong. And the University of Denver, coached by former USA Eagle Cody Melphy, played an epic game against the Blugolds at the 2025 CRCs, losing by one score. Denver will be without the tournament’s top scorer, Anthony Rice, however, due to graduation.
Frostbite 7s
The second huge tournament held this weekend is in a completely different weather climate, but should still carry plenty of heat on the pitch. The aptly named Frostbite 7s tournament, held in Pittsburgh, PA, will allow teams from both the Men’s and Women’s Premier Divisions to punch their tickets to Maryland if they can survive the rest of the field.
2025 XVs National Champions, and runners-up at the 2025 CRCs, St. Bonaventure will get their first crack at qualification this weekend after looking sharp during a tuneup tournament at the Buffalo Bills’ practice facility earlier this month. While they won’t have their leading scorer from last year’s tournament, Raphael Lansonneur, the Bonnies are still stacked with plenty of dynamic playmakers like ICCC transfer Koen Webb and human wrecking ball Manulua Taula, among many others.
St. Bonaventure will butt heads this weekend with some other talented teams who made the cut last year like Babson, AIC, and Rio Grande. Kutztown is always a dangerous, physical opponent who, this year, are also carrying a chip on their shoulder after a disappointing XVs season. But none may scare the Bonnies as much as Belmont Abbey, who they beat by just one score in last year’s Final Four matchup. The Abbey looked sharp winning Deacon Duel 7s earlier this month and seem to always be just a whisker away from winning these top-tier matchups.
On the Women’s Premier side, the winner will set the tone as the first team to qualify in that division. The AIC Women’s team, who won this tournament last year and are fresh off their third NIRA DIII National XV’s title in five years, are the favorites to lock up the spot as they look to get back to Maryland to avenge their semifinal loss to Army. Naomi Dodd, the leading try-scorer from last year’s tournament, is back for her junior season and will be a headache for any opposing defense, though she is joined in the bracket by a number of standout players.
Can DI Player of the Year nominee Natalie Lamar be the difference maker for St. Bonaventure? Will Long Island University’s Sayler Russell, who earned an All-NIRA honorable mention nod, carry the Sharks to victory? What about Walsh University All-American Charlee McCormick? Maybe DII All-American Elizabeth Crawford, from SUNY Binghamton, or DIII All-American MacKenzie Addley, from Niagara, can lift their schools to a potential upset? Phew! That’s a lot of talent in just one bracket and it should make for plenty of fireworks come gametime.
Additional Women’s Qualifiers
Elsewhere on the women’s side, Howard University will be hosting the Bison Brawl tournament this weekend where the winner will secure a DI-Club bid, joining Florida and Iowa. The Lonestar conference will also be hosting a Women’s DII AQ this weekend as the field in the division is taking shape with incredible speed.
Written by Zach Lanning of The College Rugby Show
