It's the beginning of the college 7s season, and it's time to rank the best teams in the country.

We have looked carefully at not only the teams' 2011-2012 performances, but who they are returning.

It's a tough call. Life University won the national title, and finished 4th at the CRC, so could well be #1. Dartmouth is always strong, but lost some really outstanding players.

Cal didn't have the best year, although they did finish 3rd at the CRC. However, they have some very strong 7s athletes, are making a bigger push toward their 7s training this year, and return virtually everyone.

In the end, we have Kutztown at #1 because the program takes 7s very seriously, is always good, and returns most of their best players from last season. We think Kutztown is primed for a run at the national title and a qualification spot in the CRC.

What is really exciting about this, is that the top 15 or so are potential national champs. The competitive balance within this group, and the 10-15 teams we could have listed but didn't, is quite good.