First, viewers can watch Air Force take on Navy in Glendale, Colorado, using the USA Rugby Ustream site on Friday (1 October) in a traditional service academy clash starting at 6:20 p.m. local time (5:20 p.m. Pacific, 8:20 p.m. Eastern).

After that, viewers can watch new college powerhouse Life University (who has long had a top side made up of their chiropractic school’s players, but it unveiling an undergraduate side for the first time this year) host Virginia Tech on Saturday (2 October) in Marietta, Georgia, using Life’s video site.

If you want to see more matchups like this, get online this weekend and start generating traffic!

The drama of March Madness, of course, is a great lure for television viewers, so it’s fitting that America’s rugby union version now has extensive live coverage as well. Given rugby’s niche status in the United States, though, the feed isn’t on the networks, but can be found on the UStream Internet site.

The producton values aren’t quite what you’re used to with broadcast television, but you can certainly follow the matches. There are two channels showing this weekend’s Men’s DI matches (here and here; there will also be some women’s matches on the first channel and a third channel is showing women’s matches and matches from Division II). Four of the weekend’s 16 men’s DI matches were already played today, but there are 12 to go as well as the women’s and Division II matches. Fill out your bracket, check the schedule, and log on to enjoy some spirited American rugby.

This Saturday is a pleasant exception to that trend, as Brigham Young University will play the University of Utah Saturday in a match that will be broadcast live worldwide on BYUTV. The match should be a big one, as BYU are the defending Collegiate Division I national champions and Utah are perennial national contenders. BYU and Utah will kick off at 1:00 p.m. local time (Noon Pacific U.S. time, 3:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time).

To see the match, check whether your television provider has access to BYUTV or watch it live online on BYUTV’s online streaming site.

In the meantime, here are some highlights from BYU’s 2009 season to give you an idea of what’s in store for Saturday:

This year, the Division I, II, and III playoff formats were all arranged such that in each division, 16 clubs played in Eastern and Western regional brackets with two teams from each region advancing to the semifinals. This meant that each semifinal match at level of play featured an Eastern Side versus a Western side. In those semifinal matches, played today, not a single side from the East survived. Six semifinal matches, all won by the Western representatives.

That mean that not only will all of these competitions be won by a Western side, but an Eastern side won’t even appear in the final at any of these levels.

Although other American competitions used different playoff formats, they also point toward Western dominance. The Collegiate Men’s Division I championship match last month featured a pair of Western sides, as did the Boy’s High School and Under-19 age-grade competitions from two weeks ago.

Tonight’s Rugby Super League final and last month’s Girl’s Under-19 final were also won by Western sides, though the runners-up were from the Eastern side of the country in both cases. The 2009 Women’s Club final has yet to be played, but a Western side bested an Eastern side in the 2008 tournament. The only exceptions to this pattern of Western dominance are the Women’s Collegiate Division I and II tournaments and the Men’s Collegiate Division II tournament, which were all won by Eastern sides in May.

Of twelve national champs, then, that means nine are from the West. Again, perhaps just as telling is that more than half of those championships didn’t even feature an Eastern side in the final. More Western dominance next year? We’ll see …

Typically, a yellow card–or in this case, enough of them for a good start to a poker hand–hurts the offending side’s chance to win, so it amy be a surprise that BYU got by despite the number of players temporarily sent off. On the other hand, a look at the nature of the offenses tells a bit about what BYU had to show Cal on the night. The cards were given out for a tackle in the air, a high shot, a hit with no arms, and repeated offenses. Ten minutes an offense is a tough fine to pay, but might be worth the price for the intimation that can come from hitting hard and pushing the limits of the law.

Given the outcome of the match, one wonders if BYU’s championship offers a hint at the future of the American game. American football allows, even encourages, most of the offenses that got BYU players sent off, so there is a nation full of potential players out there who are suited to test the physical limits of their opposition. No one should encourage cheating and dirty play, and no one has claimed that’s what BYU was up to. They just offered hard hits, even at the expense of strict penalties, and it paid off with a win despite the personnel disadvantage. If this is the way forward in American rugby, this year’s college final might be recalled as a turning point in the U.S. game.

Some of these whippings point to the gap betweenthe best and the also-rans in American college rugby. California, for example, cruised in their two matches as a reminder of their perennial dominance in the competition. On the other hand, a few of the blowouts said as much about the competitiveness of the competition as the tight matches did. One side who won big in the opening round, Louisiana State, was appearing in the tournament for the first time and spanked Navy, a fairly regular national title contender. Another big winner in the first round, Arkansas State, was making only its second appearance and beat Utah, another regular title contender. Both sides lost in the next round, but not a bad start!

There were plenty of closer matches as well, but to see newcomers arrive at the tournament and roll over established competitors seems to be as promising sign a sign as any for American college rugby. After all, everyone loves the upsets, Cinderella stories, and so on as much as they love a dynasty, and a tournament where a newcomer can come in and give a stalwart a hiding is an exciting tournament. Meanwhile, we’ll wait for the semifinals and final on the first weekend of May to see if the tale of the year is about the continuing Cal dynasty or a surprise from of of the other semifinalists (BYU, San Diego State, and Army)

Think again. The first nationally televised American collegiate rugby match wasn’t on a specialist sports network, but on BYU TV, the network run by Brigham Young University that airs nationwide on satellite providers cable networks.

If the match is remembered for its television coverage, it will be less remembered for its drama, as national contenders BYU walked away 111-3 winners over Utah State. Whenever the second live television broadcast of a college match takes place, we’ll hope it’s more of a thriller.

Those interested in getting a look at the match for posterity’s sake can see a replay at BYU TV’s streaming video site by choosing the “Live TV” section at the botton, then clicking on “Saturday, Mar 28, 2009″ at left and then “7:30pm College Rugby” at right.

For a quicker look at BYU in a more evenly-matched challenge, see these brief highlights from BYU’s win over the Senior Men’s Division I Denver Barbarians in February (though the amateur video is a far cry from the BYU TV production quality, of course):

That fable pertains to Cal’s alleged supply of athletic scholarships for rugby union players. There is plenty of reason to believe such a story, as Cal has won the national collegiate Division I title all but five of the 29 times it has been contested since its 1980 foundation. The last time someone else won was 2003, and before that 1990. In addition to its stranglehold on the college game, Cal boasts not one, but two former U.S. national coaches and players on the U.S. national side and professional European club contracts.

They also have symbolic varsity status, which affords them some access to special advising and training resources, but what they don’t have is player scholarships. Although the varsity status has been raised as an excuse for Cal’s dominance by some, Cal raises its money and recruits its players without the benefit of the athletic scholarships that feed American varsity teams in most sports across most campuses nationwide (including many other Cal varsity teams).

Now and again, one hears talk of scholarships at Cal, but it’s a tale. Cal emphasizes its lack of scholarships in its own promotional material. If you don’t believe that, you can consider the case of touted American football prospect Cole Huntley, who recently decided to turn away college scholarship offers in the gridiron game for a chance to play rugby at Cal sans athletic scholarship.

There’s plenty of great things behind Cal’s success, but scholarships are not among them. Armchair Playmaker reckons the winning has a lot more to do with what the players are choosing to do (and not do, especially in terms of some leisurely rugby union “traditions” ) at school than how they’re being brought there. In any case, the results come out well, as in the below highlights from the 2007 grand final:

From the West:

• Women’s Club: Berkeley All Blues (Berkeley, California)
• Men’s Collegiate Division I: University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, California)
• Women’s Collegiate Division I: Stanford (Palo Alto, California)
• Boy’s U-19: Highland (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Boy’s High School: Jesuit of Sacramento (Sacramento, California)
• Men’s Division II: Red Mountain (Phoenix, Arizona, area)
• Men’s Club Division III: Reno (Reno, Nevada)

From the East:

• Rugby Super League: New York Athletic Club (New York, New York)
• Men’s Club Division I: Life University (Marietta, Georgia)
• Girl’s U-19: Divine Savior (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Men’s Collegiate Division II: Radford University (Radford, Virginia)
• Women’s Collegiate Division II: Shippensburg University (Shippensberg, Pennsylvania)

That’s seven championships in the West and five in the East, though two of each region’s championships are lower division titles (Men’s Club Division II and III in the West, and Collegiate Division II Men’s and Women’s in the East). Also the Women’s Club champions listed are from 2007, as that competition doesn’t end until November.

Remember, though, that the top side in the top comp (NYAC in the Rugby Super League) is an East Coast side.

In the semi-professional Super League, the highest level of domestic rugby union in the United States (and yes, we are aware of the confusion caused by giving a rugby union comp in the United States essentially the same name as the top European rugby league competition), 2007 champions Belmont Shore will take on New York Athletic Club on Saturday at Infinity Park (the only dedicated municipal rugby stadium in the United States) in a grand final match in Glendale, CO.

The senior men’s Division I and II semifinals will also be held Saturday at Infinity Park, followed by grand finals on Sunday. In the first division, the Glendale (CO) Raptors get to play (on their home ground, no less) against the Pearl City (Muscatine, IA) Black Bears, while Olympic Club (San Franciso, CA) takes on Life University (Marietta, GA). The second division semifinals pit Brandywine (Philadelphia, PA area) against Detroit (MI) and Wisconsin (Madison, WI) against Red Mountain (Phoenix, AZ area). In addition to the Sunday grand finals, both competitions will have a consolation final Sunday as well.

Infinity Park will also host the senior Men’s Division III grand final Sunday between Reno (NV) and Michiana (South Bend, IN area).

While all of that action is taking place in Colorado, Pittsburgh, PA will be the site of the boy’s high school and boy’s and girl’s U-19 national tournaments from Friday to Sunday. Each of these events will feature eight entrants from across the nation, and quarterfinals, semifinals, and a grand final will be played along with consolation bracket matches ensuring that every side plays three matches on the weekend. In case you’re wondering what separates the boy’s high school and boy’s U-19 tournaments, the former is for sides from only one school and the latter is for sides representing more than one school. A club can only compete in one competition, though the distinction is murky as a one-school side can slide into the U-19 comp by adding a token player from outside of the school.

In case you missed the collegiate championships earlier this month, you can still watch full-match video online free of charge on the USA Rugby Network. Featured matches include the men’s and women’s Division I semifinals and finals and the men’s and women’s Division II grand finals.