Boyds, Maryland - The Wheeling University Men's Rugby 7's team (13-1-1) heads down to Boyds Maryland with the #1 overall seed for the 3rd consecutive year. As we know the last two years ended with a Wheeling national championship. This year is again a Wheeling vs. the field type of outlook again. Wheeling is the clear favorite this year but teams like one-seeded St. Bonaventure, two-seeded Dartmouth, and one seeded Walsh are favorites from the other half of the bracket

The West
Wheeling is the one seed in the west region and will have a first round matchup against Indiana Tech. Indiana Tech is 4-7-2 this year in 7's play and will really look to slow things down against Wheeling, as most teams do. Wheeling has beaten Indiana Tech 113-5 in their two matchups ever, both being last year. Wheeling's second matchup will be against either four seed Utah State or five seed Siena. Siena has played a couple top teams tight this year and has beaten Fairfield and Harvard who are in the tournament. The two and three seeds in the west are Southern Virginia who many believe are a strong sleeper team and Belmont Abbey who beat Wheeling once this year. It was a 14-12 defeat in their fourth game this season, but Wheeling later beat Belmont Abbey 26-5 at Ruck the Rock. Wheeling also beat Southern Virginia at Ruck the Rock 24-10. 

The Rest
If Wheeling advances to Saturday, their final four matchup will be the winner of the Midwest region. Indiana is the one seed in that region and is the favorite on paper. Kutztown is the two seed, Brown is the three, and Fordham is the four. Rugby Hawk ranks Brown 8th, Indiana 12th, Kutztown 14th, and Fordham 18th. This is probably the deepest region in the tournament and really anyone could come out of it. The big names on the other side of the bracket are one seed St. Bonaventure, one seed Walsh, and two seed Dartmouth. St. Bonaventure is considered by some to be the biggest threat to win it all, but being in the same region as Dartmouth is going to cause them trouble. Dartmouth is ranked four by Rugby Hawk and St. Bonaventure is ranked five. Walsh, though, is ranked three by Rugby Hawk. All three of those teams are legitimate contenders. 

Wheeling's first game will be at 10:20 am Friday April 24th, and they will play three total games on Friday. If they win all three they will be one of four teams left, and will play two games Saturday with a chance for a National Championship. Wheeling is an extremely talented team, probably the most talented in the tournament. Their comradery though, is what has separated them from other teams in prior years. If Wheeling is to get the job done for a third year in a row it will not only be done through talent but this team really coming together and playing as one. 

All matches will be streamed live on NCR TV with a $19.99 All Access Pass. You can also follow along by downloading the National Collegiate Rugby app. This is a link to the tournament page of the website where you can learn more about the tournament and even make a bracket.