February 21, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in Other, Rankings with 5 comments
With two of the biggest early/mid-season tournaments going off this weekend in Warm Up (O) and the President’s Day Invite (O, W), there were lots of shakeups in the Ultiworld Top 25 this week.
Here’s a look at who’s in, who’s out, and who made big moves this week:
D-I OPEN
There are just four undefeated teams among those with at least 5 games played: Wisconsin, Arizona, Oregon, and North Carolina. All four are in the top 10.
– Wisconsin, with an impressive performance this weekend in Tampa at Warm Up, jumps up two spots to take clear control of the number one spot. After dominant wins over three top 10 teams, including last week’s #1 ranked Pittsburgh (twice — video of their showcase game is available here), Wisconsin is the best team in the country right now.
– Pittsburgh didn’t have a great weekend, but they still got wins. They did have an early Friday loss to Florida, but they came back with more focus to beat them on Monday on universe point. We drop them only to #2. It’s simple: this team has the weapons and the depth to make the finals again this year. They showed some rust this weekend, but their cheer sums it up: “Who are we? PITT! What do we do? WIN!”
– Texas (#3) jumped up three slots this week after impressive play this weekend with just two losses, both to Wisconsin. Their zone was fearsome for most teams and their offensive line didn’t give up many breaks. We’re not at all convinced this team is a Nationals semifinalist this year, but they’re off to a great start.
– Arizona (#5) showed that their Santa Barbara win was no fluke as they continued their undefeated season with a President’s Day Invite title. They did it the hard way, with wins over the two top seeds in the tournament, Colorado (#11) and Minnesota (#9). It’s going to be exciting to see them match up with top East Coast teams at the Stanford Invite next month.
– Florida (#13) is back! After a forgettable Fall, Florida made waves this weekend with a huge upset over Pitt which they followed up with a quality win over Georgia Tech and close losses to Carleton (#9) and Pitt. They only lost to top 10 teams this weekend.
– UC Davis (#17) joins the top 25 after a much improved performance in San Diego. With just two losses (to Colorado and Minnesota), they showed they will still be one of the teams to beat to get out of the Southwest region this Spring.
D-I WOMEN’S
– Oregon (#1) didn’t stay undefeated, with a loss to British Columbia on Sunday, but they showed they are still the country’s team to beat after getting revenge in the finals with a 15-10 win over UBC. Aside from the lone loss, they rolled the competition this weekend, winning all of their games by at least three points.
– British Columbia (#2) has made it clear that they won’t be going down easy in the uber-competitive Northwest region. Their only loss came in the finals to Oregon. With wins over Colorado, California, and Washington, they have shown they are the second best team in the game right now.
– UC – Santa Barbara (#3) made the biggest move of the week (+8) after a one-loss weekend with big wins over Sonoma State, Washington, and Texas. They look like the top Southwest team right now.
– Colorado is back on the scene! Unranked last week, Kali had an excellent weekend, with wins over California (#16) and Texas (#10) and close losses to Washington (#4) and British Columbia (#2). The win over Texas — a South Central rival — must have been particularly sweet.
– Washington (#4) didn’t move this week, but they had a very good weekend, with losses just to the two teams ranked directly above them (UCSB and British Columbia). Considering their roster turnover, they are in an excellent early season position.
D-III
No movement this week in Division III, with no significant results in either Open or Women’s.
