USA Rugby had been mismanaging their College tournament for years. They did everything on the cheap. They used the College Rugby as a cash cow to fund all their other activities. Since they were the only game in town, they felt they could simply say, "It's our way or the highway".

It all came to a head in 2011 when record breaking numbers of people paid to see the finals between BYU and Cal. USAR refused to share any of the purse with any of the teams, not even to compensate for travel. Cal, the top team in the country up to then withdrew from the 2012 post-season in protest. The lack of sharing rubbed BYU the wrong way, too, but they stayed in and played Ark State in the finals.

The last straw for BYU was when USAR announced changes in eligibility where you had five years to play five years -- no exceptions for anything. At that, BYU and Cal got together and created the Varsity Cup, the idea being that it is a college tournament run by colleges for colleges with the colleges' best interests in mind.