2019 Arkansas State vs Life

Massive D1A Weekend: Notes And Picks

Massive D1A Weekend: Notes And Picks

A look at this weekend in D1A rugby.

Feb 16, 2019 by Alex Goff
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We've already made it plain that this is a pretty exciting weekend for D1A college rugby, and so it is. 

We've got two top-10 meetings LIVE on FloRugby, plus plenty of other interesting matchups.

Defending D1A champion Life University takes on top-10 Arkansas State University.

Arkansas State vs Life University LIVE on FloRugby Feb 16. KO is 1pm ET, Noon CT

Saint Mary's, 2017 D1A Champion, take on Top-10 rival BYU in Moraga.

Saint Mary's vs BYU LIVE on FloRugby Saturday, Feb 16 1pm PT, 3pm CT

There's also the matter of the Arizona-Arizona State clash. ASU has been looking fairly improved of late, but the Wildcats are very solid, coming off a strong outing against Grand Canyon.

"We've been improving on our defense, and defense has been a big part of what we've been working on," said Arizona head coach Sean Duffy. "Arizona State is always an important game for us and we're not quite sure what we're going to see."

The Red River games are all interesting, but won't have any effect on the major standings as Oklahoma and Texas A&M have clinched spots in the final.

Cal hosts Cal Poly and is heavily favored. Why? In seven 15s games this year (some shortened), Cal is 7-0 (not a surprise) and averaging 81 points per game (maybe a little surprising). Even more impressive, the Bears have given up six points, and no tries.

After snow canceled last week's game against BYU, Central Washington hosts a very tough Utah State game. This game actually has a huge effect on whether either (or both) of these teams make the D1A playoffs, and where they might be seeded.

CWU head coach Todd Thornley praised his team's attitude despite the disruption to the schedule, and added they "are excited to compete against someone other than themselves. We are looking forward to taking Utah state on up front and putting in a good performance."

The tightest game aside from the two on FloRugby will likely be UC Davis at San Diego State. We've picked SD State simply because the Aztecs are at home. This is another game that has D1A rankings and playoff implications.

Here are the games, and our picks:

ArizonaatArizona StateArizona by 21
Santa ClaraatGrand CanyonGCU by 12
Arkansas StateatLifeLife by 13
UC DavisatSan Diego StateSD State by 4
Utah StateatCentral WashingtonCWU by 20
ClemsonatLindenwoodLindenwood by a lot
Texas TechatArkansasArkansas by 30
TexasatBaylorBaylor by 35
Texas A&MatLSUA&M by 12
North TexasatOklahomaOklahoma by 15
Cal PolyatCaliforniaCal by 50
BYUatSaint Mary'sSaint Mary's by 5