Boston College has declined its automatic bid to the inaugural USA Rugby college 7s national championship, which the Eagles earned by winning East Coast 7s. Like most teams who’ve declined invitation, Boston College did so because of final exams.

“Our athletic department and club sports were all for it. They gave us the go ahead, but the final say came down to individual professors,”  said BC coach Jeff Monfett.

“At first we started getting good response, and then some of our key guys, their professors were either going to give them like a 15-point reduction, or weren’t willing to let them rearrange schedules. We started with a good core of 13, 12 guys, but over the last couple days, several of the guys had to drop out, so we just made the decision instead of going down there with nine guys or bringing a couple guys up who really weren’t up to par, it really wasn’t worth putting all the money and effort and all that stuff forward, and asking some of the other guys to give up study time and all that.”

Boston College’s women’s team has accepted an invitation to the women’s event, but will likely be traveling with less than a full roster.