My hope is that after today's column I can talk to you about the great individual performances, the on-field drama, and the potential shake-up of D1A's elite teams that we might see in these playoffs.

But first, I have some final comments on the D1A Rugby Executive Committee's decision to change the semifinal matchups.

1) The fact that the changes benefit Cal isn't really relevant. 

Basically, the Bears were given a home game when they were supposed to be on the road and Lindenwood has to play an away game when it wasn't going to be at a neutral site. I have been told by several officials within the D1A leadership that this wasn't a decision influenced by Cal head coach Jack Clark—other than Clark was happy to stay home, and, I have been told, is having Cal Rugby pay for the Lions' hotels.

The effect of the decision is that Cal gets a benefit, but that wasn't the purpose. More, D1A is using the Bears, not trying to help them. In addition, USA Rugby isn't trying to screw over Lindenwood.

Now, is Clark such an imposing personality in the game that people might do something to get on his good side even without asking? Sure. I've seen people do it. But I have no evidence of someone at D1A thinking that way.

2) The argument that D1A wants to save money, and wants to save teams money, is a legitimate one.

We all know that it's expensive to take a rugby team somewhere at the last minute, and if you can avoid a plane and bus it, all the better. So Penn State busing instead of flying? Saves money. Cal not traveling to Georgia and staying in Northern California? Saves money.

There's no doubt that that is true.

3) The argument that crowds at the event look better on TV is, of course, true and correct.

It's going to look a lot better with fans in the stands at Saint Mary's Stadium in Moraga, CA. I kind of feel like those reasons are reasonable. Are they enough to change a bracket?

4) D1A explained further in a Facebook post here and also said that "crossing over the bracket was a built-in procedure, in case it was required." 

And also said, "D1A has always included in its competition guidelines the ability to change seedings."

This is where we've got a problem. First of all, seeding is not a fluid thing. You seed the competitors before the competition, and then the competition plays out. You don't say, partway through, "We're going to re-seed this." 

Saying that D1A has always had the ability to change the seedings is not telling the whole story, because the seeds were set on April 8.

Did teams know that the bracket could be changed mid-stream? I don't know that, but according to some sources it was discussed, if not put down in the rules. However, more than one D1a coach was shocked to hear this switch could happen. I would say this—it seems like a last resort, right?

5) This happened before at the CRC, which is a private competition and not connected to D1A.

At the CRC, the semis were changed either because the organizers screwed up at the beginning or they wanted to guarantee a name school in the final—depends who you ask. But that wasn't D1A's decision so don't blame it for that one.

6) Everyone talks about growing the game and looking good in front of general sports fans. 

I thought I'd take an informal poll in the offices of FloSports, which covers over two dozen sports of all kinds. Many of those sports have bracket-based competitions or tournament formats. The idea that you would change a bracket matchup once the competition has begun was anathema to the people I talked to—they were outraged.

7) Notre Dame College should not be punished for not being in the playoffs. 

NDC wanted to be dropped two spots in the rankings, in order to play at Life University (instead of to Cal) in the round of 16 and make travel costs cheaper. In that situation, the Falcons were asking for the arguably tougher game but were told that the rules are the rules. You can't move up or down more than one seed (NDC wanted to drop from No. 13 to 15).

Now, D1A offered Notre Dame College a lot of money to help defray costs, but the team said no, in part because half of a $20,000 airplane bill is still $10,000, while a bus rental can be much, much less.

Now, fine, tell the Falcons that you won't budge. But hopefully, NDC won't now get hit with further sanctions, not when changing the semifinal matchups is deemed acceptable in the name of saving travel costs.

8) Whichever team wins D1A will have had to play and beat some excellent college rugby teams. 

In the end, you've got to pitch up and get the job done. I want to see Lindenwood and Cal play their best. I want to see Penn State and Life play their best. Think on this—Lindenwood beat Saint Mary's at Saint Mary's. Penn State beat BYU at BYU. These are monumental events and good for the sport.

9) Next time tell us.

If it had just been put in the guidelines and stated outright beforehand—"we're going to play to a final four and re-seed that final four"—then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Personally, I have a real problem with changing the rules in the middle of the game. I actively hate it. The rules should be the rules, and you should stick with them. Otherwise, we have anarchy. 

However, I am also not the one making these decisions. I get to complain about them, but I'm not on the front line balancing this stuff.

And I am also reminded of former World Rugby head Mike Miller's response when I asked him how he felt about the USA 7s having four games in a day to accommodate NBC. He said they were willing to do a lot to ensure rugby is on American network television.

He's not the only one.