Seventh-seeded Colorado State hosts No. 10 seed Army in the first round of the D1A playoffs on Friday night, and at first glance, the home side might have some trouble.

Winter hasn’t been kind to much of the northern part of the country, and Colorado State University is no different.

Games have been hard to come by for the Rams, and when they’ve happened, they have not always gone well—witness Colorado State's triple-digit loss to Central Washington earlier this season.

Preparation has been difficult for the Rocky Mountain Conference champions, but at their best, the Rams can play some rugby. Colorado State has a very useful back row, talent in the midfield, and, led by Jaron Beerline, a tough front row.

But hosting Army is going to be very difficult for the Rams. The Blacks Knights have been in some very difficult games this spring, losing 50-41 to Cal, beating Navy 18-15, and losing to Penn State 41-40.

Certainly, Army would have liked to have won all of those matchups, but those close games against D1A playoff opponents did exactly what was expected—prepared West Point for what was to come.

“We have been on a continuous path of improvement and we feel pretty good about where we are and where we’re going,” Army head coach Matt Sherman said. “At the end of the fall semester, we felt really good about where we were going. But we’re also putting pressure on ourselves to get to that next level.” 

With a backline led by Jake Lachina and flyhalf Jon Kim, and a hard-nosed and unified forward pack, the Black Knights should make it to the next round.

FloRugby Pick: Army