Twelve teams converge on Tallahassee, Fla. to decide the top college 7s team in the South Independent Conference, and while it is a field of 12 (everyone hopes), it’s likely to be a two-horse race, with another contender hoping to make a surprise move.

Leading the field are Arkansas State and Life University. ASU came 3^rd in the 2011 national championships, and Life won it all before finishing 4^th at the CRC. Both teams are well-funded, deep, and powerful.

“Things are looking good,” said Arkansas State Head Coach Matt Huckaby, a former USA 7s player. “Sevens isn’t as new as it was for us last time. I think that’s true for everyone, of course. But we’re able to identify better what are 15s habits and what are 7s habits, and how to get out of those when we need to.”

Arkansas State is coming off a D1-A season where they finished exceptionally well, winning two road playoff games before pushing BYU to the limit in the final. The team, said Huckaby, took a lot of confidence from that spring. The Red Wolves will go into the weekend with Dean Gericke and Zach Mizell in their squad – both were named to the USA Selects team set to go to Canada next month.

However, perhaps the biggest name is the smallest player. Dylan Carrion is back after a year of frustrating injuries, and is 100% and scampering all over the field. Huckaby is high on Gavin Brown, a recruit from North Central High in Indiana, and Michael Baska out of St.  Thomas Aquinas school in Kansas City. Both look to get playing time this weekend.

The Life Running Eagles, for their part, know that even qualifying for nationals will be tough. Only the conference tournament winners get a guaranteed spot at USA Rugby’s championship event at Texas A&M in November.

“We are worried about qualifying first off, and we’ll worry about the rest after that,” said Life captain Colton Cariaga.

The top Life college players have spent August and September training with a group of top club players in an elite group that beat the Bermudan national team in Georgia and the Glendale Raptors in Colorado.

“They were good victories, but they weren’t flawless,” said Cariaga. “But it’s been great training with the Super League guys and working on skills, fitness, weights. Now it’s time to focus on 7s.”

The Running Eagles will be coached by Dan Payne and Tui Osborne, and will also be welcoming back Gerson Blaise, the football crossover prospect who has been in several USA 7s team camps. Blaise was hurt last year, but is back, looking very fast, and is in good form, said Cariaga. Also with Life will be USA Selects pick Cam Dolan, who is a force in the air, and playmaker Joe Cowley.

“He looks good, and the guys look good – we’re excited,” he said.

So those are the front-runners. The dark horse? Central Florida. They won the 1^st and 3^rd tournament in the Florida 7s Series, and finished a close second in the other event. The Knights are smart, fit, and have been playing good team rugby. They will have a difficult time against the physicality and fitness of ASU and Life, but teamwork can undercut a lot of other advantages.

Also expected to participate are: Florida State (probably the third-best team in Florida), South Florida (young and still development), Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee State, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech (another potential dark horse), Kennesaw  State, North Florida, and University of Memphis.

Those last two are non-conference teams invited to participate.

Teams will play pool play early on Saturday, and then be split into three groups of four to decide Cup, Plate and Bowl.

SIRC 7s Pools