Division 1 Men’s Club Playoffs, April 27, 2013.
Round of 32:
Round 1 of the Division 1 Club National Playoffs is scheduled for April 27th, with a wide variety of contests on order. The brackets can be found at various locations including usarugby.org and rugbymag.com. Here are some predictions, going in the order they are listed at usarugby.org.
OMBAC at Sacramento Lions: Sacramento has the top seed in their division, helped by San Francisco deciding not to proceed in the playoffs and Old Puget Sound not being eligible to capture the top seed. Sacramento struggled against the likes of those two teams, but was solid otherwise. OMBAC has always been a force in California, and if this game was at OMBAC we would expect an OMBAC win, but we are going with Sacramento.
Provo at Dallas Harlequins: Who knows how strong Provo will travel? That is always an unknown with that team. Dallas Harlequins has the experience and have had a lot of games in preparation, but Provo may cause enough problems here to come away with a win on the road.
Austin Huns at Denver Barbarians: Denver looks to be in position to make a good run this year, and at home should not have many problems.
Maryland Exiles at Boston: Boston is as good as they have been in a couple of years, and they should have no problems here, taking advantage of tough competitive games to be in a good position for a run at the D1 playoffs.
BYE at Palmer. Palmer takes advantage of not having to get play in this round.
Chicago Lions at Life University: Another juicy match-up here. It would be a shock to have a team as strong as the Lions not make the round of 16, but that’s the way this is shaping up. Life is tough at home, and the Lions would have to fire on all cylinders to take this. We don’t see it happening this time.
Schuylkill River at Old Blue: Schuylkill has been knocking at the door on the D1 level for a few years, but got a tough draw against Old Blue in this round. It is not a long drive for Old Blue, and they should take the road win.
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Chicago Griffins at New Orleans: New Orleans got bounced at this stage last year by the Chicago Lions. Can the Griffins do the same? New Orleans seems to have sought out a tougher schedule this year, so should not be surprised at this fixture. Can the Griffins travel strong? Maybe, but we will stay with the home team this time around.
BYE at Metropolis: A week off for Metropolis.
Norfolk at Middlesex: Norfolk is a solid team with good experience at this level. Middlesex continues to improve, and bring a level of fitness and tenacity that Norfolk will not be able to match.
EPA Razorbacks at Belmont Shore: 2012 Champions Belmont Shore should be to strong here, especially at home. The Razorbacks benefit from tough everyday competition, but Belmont should prevail.
Dallas at Glendale: We cannot see Dallas bothering Glendale here, despite some good results recently. Glendale will want to make another good run at a title, and they won’t slip up here.
KC Blues at Austin Blacks: Another interesting game here. KC is capable of playing good rugby, and they are in a very tough division so high seeds are hard to come by. Knocking off Austin though might be too much to ask, so we will go with the home team again.
San Diego Old Aztecs at Old Puget Sound Beach: Despite some decent performances, the Aztecs have struggled against the top teams in SoCal. This will be no different, and a full strength OPSB side could run riot here.
So out of fourteen games, we are going with the home team in all but two. Provo and Old Blue are the two road wins we are picking, and honestly we waffled on Provo. If you are looking for more upsets, the two Chicago teams and maybe KC Blues are ones to look for. It should be a great playoff series this year, too bad San Francisco Golden Gate and NYAC will not be part of it.
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