Home field advantage it is not, but the only South Carolina team left in the USA Rugby Men's playoffs is hoping being the side nearest home will be an advantage.

"We're ready for the trip, we will travel up as a team," said Jason Carnes of Hilton Head.

Hilton Head, who play D3, have had a tremendous season with their only loss coming in the South Finals to Pensacola, Fl. Now, with a pre-season goal of making it to Columbia achieved the Gators from SC's low country are looking to make it all the way to the top of their Division and up the mountains to Colorado and a national championship game.

"Our goal is to win the national championship -- anything less we will fall short, Carnes said. " Our expectation is to win... we are already reserving flights, hotel rooms for May 30th. We expect to be in Colorado for Memorial day!"

Hilton Head are confident, however they are aware of the pitfalls of hubris. After reaching their goal at the South Finals, they admittedly took their foot of the gas and were humbled by Pensacola.

"We just got too excited after the win," Scott Wild said.

"We used it as a learning experience, and it cost us," Carnes said.

Now the Gators come in to Columbia to face a Lexington, Ky team that they know little about. However, the confident side see this as an advantage.

"I think we prefer (going in blind), it lets us use our talent to our maximum," Wild said. "With teams you know, they know your talents -- you can't surprise them."

So what surprises do the Gators have hidden up their sleeves?

In a playoff-style game, Hilton Head have been spreading their game out. Now playing at a higher level, the Gator's experienced pack can no longer "ground and pound" and wait to take advantage of mistakes. Now, they are trying to become a more wide open side.

"We use a wider, spread out game," Carnes said. "We are very fortunate to have pack and back strength. We've got excellent players in every position, all of our pack guys are strong, our back guys -- devastatingly fast."

Along with their physical assets, a quality schedule has helped the Gators.

Arch-rivals Savannah have upped their game this year, Carnes said, and the pair have had some real battles. Along with this, the Gators pre-season saw them face off against perennial D2 contenders Columbia, Charleston and others.

Playing these larger teams and now hitting the playoffs, Hilton Head are enjoying the improved competition.

"It's going to be a faster game, the teams aren't going to miss out on the basics," Carnes said.

But all of this is new territory for the Gators, who have been in a success slump for the past few years.