Seedings Set for USA Sevens College Championship Invitational

Dartmouth and Harvard will represent the Ivies at the USA Sevens College Championship Invitational. Both will compete in Pool A with a challenging first round draw which includes the 2 Ivy teams, recent 15s national champion CAL and Notre Dame.

Dartmouth and Harvard Represent the Ivies

College 7s Championship Launched at Press Conference
USA 7s, NBC, the Columbus Crew MSL team and the City of Columbus officially launched the USA Sevens College Championship Invitational Tuesday at a press conference at Crew Stadium. The event, to be held June 4-6 will feature 16 college 7s teams in the first ever college 7s competition where teams are playing under the official blessing of their respective universities. "We're very excited to be part of this," said Executive Vice President of NBC Sports Jon Miller.

NBC will show live coverage of the event on June 5 and 6 - two hours live on NBC Universal on each day, and two hours live on NBC on both days. "A lot of people think of NBC sports and big events - such as the Olympics just completed ... But we also have a history of creating events." Most recently, Miller said, NBC helped create the Winter Classic, an annual NHL hockey game played in outdoor stadiums. "We're looking to bring the same passion, the same energy to this event that we brought to the Winter Classic," Miller added, noting that the production team will include those who have worked on NBC's coverage of Notre Dame football and Sunday Night Football. NBC will begin heavily promoting its coverage of the College 7s Championships, with a focus on educating new fans about the sport.

Also present at the press conference was Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman. Mayor Coleman said the city is enthusiastic about the event - especially since local college power Ohio State University - is in it. "This will be great for our city," Coleman said. "Rugby is an international sport, and Columbus is the home of the best in collegiate sports. To bring those two together in this stadium makes me proud of our city." And, Coleman added, "I plan on filling up this stadium."

Tournament Director Dan Lyle also unveiled the pools and matchup for the competition, adding: “We’ve brought together the best-of-the-best for the inaugural USA 7’s Rugby Collegiate Championship Invitational,” said Dan Lyle, Tournament Director USA 7’s Rugby. “It’s a great opportunity to expose the sport to a mass audience in anticipation of inclusion in the Olympics.” The teams will play one evening match on Friday, beginning at 5:30 with San Diego State v. Florida and ending at 9pm with Utah against the hometown Ohio State Buckeyes.

On Saturday each team plays two more pool matches, with Penn State v. Ohio State capping off the day. Following that final match, the Ohio state high school title match will be played at the stadium. Sunday will see two single-elimination brackets - a Championship bracket and a Challenge Bracket.

The Pools are: Pool A California Dartmouth Harvard Notre Dame Pool B San Diego State Tennessee Florida Indiana Pool C Army Arizona Navy Arizona State Pool D Utah Penn State Ohio State Bowling Green