After all the talk about the D1A brackets, maybe it’s time to look at the actual matchups taking place this Saturday: Life University vs. Penn State and Cal vs. Lindenwood.

Last week’s quarterfinals were almost perfect in how they showed the potential for American college rugby to be more than about just a couple of teams. Fourth-seeded BYU, which during the last 10 years has won a D1 national title, a D1A title, and three Varsity Cup finals, lost at home on the final play of the game to No. 5 seed Penn State.

That, in itself, would have made the 2018 playoffs one to remember. But No. 11 seed Navy almost beat three seed Cal in Berkeley, CA, and then No. 9 seed Lindenwood beat top-seeded Saint Mary’s in Moraga, CA.

That last game was notable in part because the Gaels went into the match with injuries. The team’s best defensive back, Liam Cotter, was not in the lineup, and Saint Mary's powerhouse center, Tavite Lopeti, was also out. Head coach Tim O’Brien decided to start lock Anthony Rodriguez even though he wasn’t 100 percent back from injury—a decision that O’Brien acknowledged was an error. Not because Rodriguez played poorly, but he just wasn’t healthy enough.

And then, Lindenwood took advantage. The center pairing of Gabe Romero and Lorenzo Thomas outweighed and outplayed their opposites, as you’d expect.

“Lindenwood played very, very well,” O’Brien said.

As they have all season. It was an upset in the seedings but maybe not that surprising in retrospect. The Lions are physically more powerful than almost every team they’ve played.

“We made a lot of errors,” O’Brien said. “But that’s because Lindenwood brought the pressure. When we played Cal, they made a lot of errors, because we brought the pressure.”

#3 Cal vs. #9 Lindenwood

Saturday | 4:30 PM ET | Moraga, CA

So can Cal handle the physicality and pressure of Lindenwood? Of course, the Bears can. Cal has been handling big, bad teams for generations. The Bears handled a very physical and unfazed Navy side last week en route to a 33-27 win.

"No question Lindenwood is a very accomplished team," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "They are a challenge to compete against for all the teams and certainly will be for us."

Key matchups: The battle in the front row will be massive. Kevin Sullivan is superb at loosehead and Damon Wiley gets back in the lineup at tighthead. Against those Bears will be Lions Corey Harmann and Chance Wenglewski. All of these players can scrum. All can play in the open field (although Cal might have the edge there). And all are physical.

In the midfield, Lorenzo Thomas is a capped Eagle who really is just getting started. The Rugby Missouri product is a handful for any defense. Romero is underrated, while flyhalf Nick Feakes is a Scholz Award finalist.

For Cal, injuries forced some movement—scrumhalf Keanu Andrade started at center last week. Health is a key concern here.

#2 Life vs. #5 Penn State 

Saturday | 2:30 PM ET | Marietta, GA

Penn State shocked everyone in its 48-46 win over BYU by playing a unique brand of physical, open rugby. Despite being without freshman sensation Brian Stella (suspended due to a tip tackle—he won’t play this weekend, either), PSU showed it can play out wide and can battle in the trenches. 

Lock Ryan McNulty has had a bit of a coming-out party, but we’ve known about him for a while. Malcolm May at lock has been a revelation. His true position is at flanker, but he’s strong enough to get the job done in the second row—and really, the Nittany Lions have five back rowers on the field now.

Everything hinges, though, on the 8-9-10 combination of Rob Irimescu, Jimmy Ronan, and Mike Dabulas. If these guys sing, Life may have to face the music.

Except, no one thinks the Running Eagles will have too many problems. Life is strong all the way through the lineup. Duncan van Schalkwyk is as dependable as anyone at flyhalf. Alex Maughan, Brian Muntanga, and Matthew Harmon are as good a front row as there is in the college game.

And how about that back row?

There’s talent everywhere. Mitch Wilson, who can play anywhere in the backs, is tough, elusive, smart, and a good leader. Harley Wheeler is just a baller.

But if you want to see what really makes the Running Eagles’ motor run, look at the pack. Their maul was excellent. Their scrum crumpled a very big and effective Army front eight in a 44-10 win last weekend. Maughan is quite the master of the dark arts, and he controlled that part of the game.

Predictions

For all the prior drama, these are two very highly anticipated games. On FloRugby’s latest Miss Pass episode, I picked Lindenwood and Life; Adam Armstrong picked Lindenwood and Life; Michael Cramer picked Lindenwood and Penn State.

It’s a surprise to see Cal not get any love, but, as I said in the podcast, Cal vs. Life would be gold for D1A, as those teams have the strongest alumni following.

The point of those picks is more that everything is up in the air now. There are no locked-in games. That’s what everyone wanted.