October 15, 2012 by Charlie Eisenhood in Analysis, News with 0 comments
The wait is over! Teams now know exactly who they will be playing on Thursday in Sarasota after USA Ultimate released the seeding and schedules for all four divisions today.
Here’s a look at each division, how our predictions played out, and which pools and early games to watch for. We will have much more team and tournament analysis to come this week and next.
OPEN
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ironside (1) | Revolver (2) | Sockeye (3) | Doublewide (4) |
| Furious George (8) | Machine (7) | Chain Lightning (6) | Johnny Bravo (5) |
| Rhino (9) | Ring of Fire (10) | Sub Zero (11) | Truck Stop (12) |
| Boost Mobile (16) | Madison Club (15) | GOAT (14) | PoNY (13) |
How did we do: OK. We had Revolver at number four because of late season losses to Sockeye and Doublewide, but their pedigree and 2012 Worlds win got them the number two spot behind the obvious number one, Ironside. We guessed right that Boost Mobile would end up at #16, but were far too generous to Madison Club who ended up at #15.
What to watch for: If we had to pick a pool not to be in, it would be Pool C. With the dangerous GOAT as the #4 seed because of their Regionals meltdown, an inconsistent but good Sub Zero team at #3, and two powerhouses in Chain Lightning and Sockeye filling out the top, I can’t imagine any of the teams feel they have an easy path into power pools.
It will be fun to watch the Furious George / Rhino rematch (Furious got a one point victory at Regionals to take 2nd out of the Northwest). They will be fighting for a spot in power pools.
Ring of Fire could cause headaches in Pool B. They had a rough season, but they are a very good team. They will be gunning for the upset.
MIXED
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polar Bears (1) | The Ghosts (2) | Chad Larson Experience (3) | Drag'N Thrust (4) |
| Overhaul (8) | Odysseé (7) | Mischief (6) | Slow White (5) |
| Bucket (9) | 7 Figures (10) | Blackbird (11) | American BBQ (12) |
| Cosa Nostra (16) | AMP (15) | Wild Card (14) | Mental Toss Flycoons (13) |
How Did We Do: Pretty well. Picked the top eight seeds correctly. Bucket, who we had at 13, actually fell at number 9. That’s not really a surprise, though. As we mentioned in our predictions, because of the Southwest Region’s 5 bids and 7 Figures’ big upset, #9 was the other logical spot for Bucket. Mental Toss Flycoons didn’t show USA Ultimate enough with their Northwest Regionals win, so they end up at #13 (we had them at #10). The rest of the bracket looks the same.
What To Watch For: Pool D looks pretty scary. American BBQ had a rough Regionals, but had been playing excellent ultimate for most of the year. They are underseeded. The Flycoons lost very close games to many of the Southwest Regionals teams that made it to Sarasota — they have the potential to beat anyone. And Slow White and Drag’N Thrust both had great seasons. It’s a tossup as to who comes out of that pool in the top two slots.
How will 7 Figures stack up against the East Coast teams? We’ll get to find out in Pool B.
Mischief and Blackbird should be a fun game to watch. In their only meeting this season at Labor Day, Mischief won 15-11. But the 2011 champs will be looking to defend their title. A top two finish in pool play is a good way to start.
WOMEN’S
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fury (1) | Riot (2) | Scandal (3) | Traffic (4) |
| Brute Squad (8) | Ozone (7) | Capitals (6) | Phoenix (5) |
| Heist (9) | Molly Brown (10) | Nemesis (11) | Showdown (12) |
| Hot Metal (16) | Underground (15) | Schwa (14) | Nightlock (13) |
How Did We Do: Great. Missed just one pick, the very marginal 8/9 choice between Heist and Brute Squad. We had Heist at #8; USA Ultimate put Brute Squad there. USAU also liked the Capitals and gave them the #6 seed, despite the team not playing at all during the regular season. Their historic strength earned them respect.
What To Watch For: Last year, all of the top two seeds in each pool moved on into the winners power pools, except for one — 9th seed Brute Squad who upset 8th seed Nemesis. We expect to see similar results this year — very few upsets early.
However, Heist will have a chance to do to Brute what they did to Nemesis in Pool A. We will get a good sense of just how good Heist is (after their undefeated season so far against mostly lower tier teams) in pool play.
The Capitals should have no problem holding seed, but it will be a battle between them and Scandal in the 1 v. 2 game in Pool C. Should be fun to watch.
MASTERS
| Pool A | Pool B |
|---|---|
| Surly (1) | Reckon (2) |
| Boneyard (3) | Johnny Encore (4) |
| Burnside (6) | Wasted Talent (5) |
| Tejas (7) | No Country (8) |
| Chesapeaked (10) | Figjam (9) |
| Crawl (12) | GLUM (11) |
What To Watch For: With two big pools, anything can happen. Last year, pool play results were all over the map; only the one seeds stayed true to seed. We expect more of that this year. The Surly v. Boneyard matchup should be a good one. The top two seeds last year, they never faced each other after Boneyard had an early exit in quarterfinals.
Expect a lot of upsets.
