- News by: John Lance

In what has almost become routine, UCSD and UC Irvine have triumphed over their week 6 and 7 opponents to set up an undefeated showdown for the division title during the final week. However, while UCSD can relax during their bye week, UCI must be careful not to look past UCLA, a team that has shown great talent but has posted disappointing results this season. In Division 1, University of Michigan has remained undefeated, trampling Ohio State 3:0 and separating themselves from the pack with only 2 weeks left. The top spot in Division 2 is held by 6-1 Texas A&M, who will head into their bye week crossing their fingers that 5-1 Rice will be unable to catch up. (Rice plays 2-3 South Dakota State) Also in Division 2 with only one loss is 4-1 University of Tennessee, which sets up an interesting situation among the top teams, as UT has defeated Rice, while Rice beat A&M and A&M is responsible for UT's only loss.
In division 3, 4-1 University of Washington and 4-1 University of Victoria will clash next week, in a match that will all but decide the division champion. On their heels, however, are University of Southern California (4-2), University of British Columbia (4-2), and UC Riverside (3-2). Any of these teams winning the rest of their games will make playoffs, although Riverside needs a little help from the other results to do so. Division 4 is dominated by UCSD and UCI, who will face off during the final week to determine the division champion. Meanwhile, the third spot in the division is still up for grabs, as Berkeley and Caltech are both within striking range of 4-2 Harvey Mudd, a team that has only lost to the two UC juggernauts.
During the upcoming week, it could be worth keeping an eye on 2-3 South Dakota State and 2-3 Carleton College, as both may be able to sneak into the playoffs with a series of fortunate match results over University of Tennessee. Carleton needs wins over UT and University of North Texas, and needs South Dakota State to give UT a third loss, while SDSU needs to win out and outrank Carleton on the final standings. However, this is largely a situation to speculate about during the final week, while the upcoming week 8 has a great set of matches to watch in the meantime.
4-2 Purdue will battle 4-2 Ohio State in an attempt to claim the second spot in Division 1 and secure a playoff berth. UC Berkeley plays Harvey Mudd in a match that will eliminate the loser from playoff contention. 4-3 University of Chicago will play their final match against 3-3 Northwestern in a division that is far from completely decided. While many of the placement-defining matches are going to be next week, there's no way you're going to want to miss some of the games this week. Stay tuned!