In the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference (NCRC), there are exactly three weeks until the Sweet 16 in Palo Alto, Calif. and in these final rounds of games fans will see several intriguing matchups in a full rugby weekend.

Oregon State has the easiest route to the national playoffs. The Beavers (6-0) have been taking care of business this year and are being rewarded for it. With a balanced attack that includes Mitchell Farghar, Mike Gamm, Michael Harnew and league-leading try-scorer Nate Kimmell, Oregon State controls their own destiny.

OSU takes on the University of Washington Huskies this weekend in Montlake and know every team from here on out is going to give them their best shot. UW (2-3) is coming off a bitter to lose to Western Washington that knocked them out of the playoffs, and now are looking to play spoiler to a Beavers playoff berth.

Up next is WSU against Western in Bellingham, Wash. in the Cougars final road league match of the year. WSU (3-2-1) are coming off a loss to Central, but are still sitting in second place because of the ineligibility of the Wildcats, who have their 1^st team in D1-A.

The Cougars are in a must-win situation if they want to keep Palo Alto in their sights. Should they win this weekend, it will set up a huge matchup at home next weekend against the Beavers with the playoffs and league on the line.

The Vikings (2-4) have really turned around their season. After starting 0-4 Western won back-to-back games last weekend against UW and Simon Fraser, with Tom Mumford scoring three tries in those two matches and Spencer Stevenson adding a pair. Now if they can win out they finish above .500.

Down in Eugene, Ore. the Eastern Washington Eagles take on Oregon in a battle of two struggling teams look to finish strong. EWU (1-3-1) has seen a bit of everything this year, but unfortunately the majority has been on the losing side. Flanker Eric Populus is an outstanding talent for Eastern and is far and away their top scorer, but they need more than that.

EWU has had two weeks off since being beat up by UBC and must take a long road trip to face a feisty Duck squad.

Oregon (1-4) has had to sit for two weeks with a very bitter taste in their mouth. Having lost to their rival Oregon State in the Civil War, the Ducks are looking to turn things around and finish the season on a positive note.

The Idaho Vandals, led by snappy flyhalf Phil Vrontamitis, will travel to Ellensburg, Wash. to take on the Central Washington Wildcats. Idaho (1-5) has struggled with their transition from DI to DII this year and must now deal with an on-fire Wildcats squad that is coming off a monstrous win against WSU.

Finally there is the Shrum Bowl matchup of Simon Fraser and University of British Columbia. Since both teams are north of the border, they have different playoff systems and are therefore not eligible for an NCRC playoff seed.

In the overall standings UBC holds the top spot at (6-1) while their Canadian counterpart Simon Fraser (2-5) holds a firm grip on the eight spot. Simon Fraser comes into this rivalry having to forfeit to Idaho last weekend, while the Thunderbirds have been virtually unstoppable leading the league in both offense (44 points per outing) and defense (5 points).

Liam Murphy-Burke leads the team with four tries and 61 points, while Eric Chau, Cam Graham, Brandon Kief, and Alex Mascott all have scored four tries, as well.

SFU have found points hard to come by. Their total points scored in league play is less than UBC’s per-game average.

This weekend's matchups.