Final Regular Season Power Rankings

September 13, 2013 by Ultiworld in Analysis, Rankings with 11 comments

As we gear up for Regionals, here are Ultiworld’s final regular season Power Rankings in all three divisions. 

MEN’S

1. Austin Doublewide: Recovered from strange Saturday at Pro Flight Finale to make the finals. Yes, they lost to a hot GOAT team, but the fundamentals are sound for this team. They get up for big games, like their quarters win over Revolver. When it counts at Nattys, they will be very hard to beat.
2. San Francisco Revolver: Clearly not the same Revolver team as two years ago, but their systems and incredible depth continue to make them one of the country’s elite. They were still tinkering at the PFF; they know how to peak at the right time.
3. Toronto GOAT: Despite a very thin roster, GOAT won the Pro Flight Finale and looked great doing it. Their defensive line may be the stingiest in the game after the turn. The question for this team will be how they can gel when adding in so many pieces this late in the season. Northeast Regionals will be a good test.
4. Denver Johnny Bravo: The best team not to play at the Pro Flight Finale, Johnny Bravo will be one of the most feared teams at Nationals. Some of the team’s biggest stars have hardly played yet this season. Chemistry still an uncertainty.
5. Chicago Machine: Ranked #2 by the USA Ultimate algorithm, Chicago Machine continues to prove naysayers wrong with big wins. Two wins over Sockeye and a pool play win over Doublewide at the PFF show that they can hang with anyone.
6. Seattle Sockeye: Sockeye is still depleted by injuries — it shows in their inconsistency. They played one of the great games of the year against GOAT in the semifinals (they lost 15-12 but by the thinnest of margins). Their small ball offense is great when it’s clicking, but struggles at times.
7. Boston Ironside: An 0-3 Sunday at the PFF may be the low point of the past few years for Ironside. This is a team accustomed to winning during the regular season. Despite the fact that they were missing personnel, something isn’t quite right with the team this year and they only have a few weeks to figure it out.
8. New York PoNY: PoNY hasn’t played since the Chesapeake Invite, where they went 6-1. One of the big surprises this season, they have continued to beat top teams at every opportunity. Their games against Ironside and GOAT at Regionals should be a great indication of where they stand.
9. Raleigh Ring of Fire: Ring pulled out of their Chesapeake tailspin at the PFF but missed out on some huge opportunities. They fell to Revolver by one in pool play and then blew a late lead against Sockeye in the quarterfinals. The team is deeply talented, but mentally weak. Can they pull it together in October?
10. Michigan High Five: High Five came away with a big comeback Sectionals victory over Columbus Madcow to continue their outstanding first season. Despite all their success, getting a bid to Nattys will still be a battle.
11. Minneapolis Sub Zero: A brilliant Chesapeake performance was tempered by a terrible Heavyweights one. Which Sub Zero will show up for the Series?
12. Atlanta Chain Lightning: Chain salvaged a tough PFF performance with a win over Ironside in the final game on Sunday, but the team didn’t look like they belonged with the other teams at the tournament. Could the changes to the Club Championships format benefit this athletic team?
13. Madison Club: Madison’s only quality win this year came against a sluggish Sub Zero at Heavyweights. They’ve been ‘right there’ with teams earlier this season, but struggle to close out games.
14. Washington DC Truck Stop: Take Truck’s 0-4 Saturday at Chesapeake with a grain of salt. This is the best Truck team of the past few years and they are likely to cruise to a Regionals win and challenge teams at Nationals.
15. Vancouver Furious George: Furious, after sending a skeleton crew to Terminus, didn’t play on US soil again until a strange four game scrimmage against Seattle Voodoo (they split the games 2-2). Then Furious laid down a beating on Voodoo twice at Sectionals last weekend. They will be gunning for the bid that Rhino earned at Regionals.
16. San Francisco Boost Mobile: Boost Mobile hasn’t played a tournament since Terminus in mid-July. There, they beat Sub Zero, Rhino, and Johnny Bravo. One of the biggest wildcards heading into the Series.
17. Portland Rhino: Rhino came up with a miraculous second bid for the Northwest after a single point score correction gave them the edge over Streetgang for the final strength bid. Now they’ll have to earn their spot at the Club Championships. They’ll have their work cut out for them.
18. Florida United: The revamped Florida United team played well at Colorado Cup and looks likely to earn a spot in Frisco with three bids headed to the Southeast. They’ve played very little elite competition this year, however — they only have one game against a top 16 ranked opponent (PoNY).
19. Seattle Voodoo: Voodoo has to feel like this is one of their best chances to get a spot at the Club Championships. Rhino and Furious are both a big step down from years past. Getting blown out twice by Furious at Sectionals, however, may have dimmed their prospects.
20. Denver Inception: Inception was just a couple points away from a top 16 ranking after losing by two to both Madison Club and High Five at Heavyweights. Inception’s problem, though, is that they’re stuck facing off against Doublewide and Johnny Bravo at Regionals.
21. Amherst Dark or Light: Hard to make much of an undefeated regular season for the non-practicing team. Last year, though, Dark or Light put a scare into GOAT in the game-to-go and definitely has the talent to play spoiler this year at Regionals.
22. Pittsburgh Oakland: Oakland likely doesn’t have the firepower to take down Truck Stop at Regionals, but they’re good enough that the game won’t be easy for DC. Oakland dominated their section and played close against top teams at Chesapeake.
23. Santa Barbara Condors: The Condors will once again be right in the mix for the second bid out of the Southwest this season. They beat Boost Mobile in June and Streetgang in July. They also got a good win over Florida United at the Colorado Cup.
24. San Diego Streetgang: San Diego lost a third bid for the Southwest by the slimmest of margins. The way they’ve played at the end of the season, though, may mean they won’t need that third bid. They beat both Madison Club and Sub Zero at Heavyweights. They lost to Boost Mobile in June.
25. Kansas City Prairie Fire: Prairie Fire has some great wins this year, and their 13-9 victory over Madison Club has to give them some confidence heading into North Central regionals. They dominated their Sectionals and now has to prepare for their one shot in the game-to-go.

WOMEN’S

1. Seattle Riot: They beat Fury. They beat Scandal – twice. They beat the field to win the Pro Flight Finale. It adds up to outweigh a double game point loss to open the weekend.
2. San Francisco Fury: The battle between Fury and Riot rages on, and despite a surprise loss to Nemesis, they still went 4-2 and got Sunday revenge on Chicago.
3. Washington DC Scandal: A big win over Nemesis in the Pro Flight Finale semis looks great for them. A top tier contender. They will be in action at Virginia Fusion this weekend.
4. Chicago Nemesis: The Fury win was huge, as was a solid weekend on the whole. They don’t move since they lost to both Scandal and Fury, but Nemesis has turned the top 3 into a top 4.
5. Boston Brute Squad: Brute may have missed out on California, but still have to be scary. Matching up with Phoenix and Scandal at Fusion should prove illuminating.
6. Atlanta Ozone: Really did not look their best in California, strangely out of sorts this late in the season for a team with great veteran presence. Tough to separate them from this second tier.
7. Vancouver Traffic: Like Brute Squad, without being at the Pro Flight Finale, tough to judge where they sit. Northwest Regionals is going to be good, though.
8. Madison Heist: Their 13-9 Colorado Cup win over Showdown now stands as their only signature victory, but have plenty of good wins behind that.
9. Austin Showdown: One of the strongest 1-5 weekends ever at PFF! Beat #1 Riot, and four of their five losses came by 2 points or less.
10. Denver Molly Brown: Able to salvage Pro Flight Finale weekend with wins over Ozone and Capitals on Sunday.
11. Toronto Capitals: The potential for a Quarters team is here, but nobody suffered more blowouts at the Pro Flight Finale than the Caps.
12. New York Bent: Are looking to cruise through upcoming Sectionals.
13. Portland Schwa: A great weekend in California for Schwa, going undefeated and winning the tournament, 12-11 over Nightlock.
14. Bay Area Nightlock: Somewhat quietly came a point away from winning the Labor Day Championships, but added good wins over Pop and Safari.
15. Raleigh Phoenix: Virginia Fusion gives Phoenix a chance to play more elite competition and see what a regional opponent is up to. Now is too late in the season for excuses.
16. Quebéc Nova: Locked up a 4th bid for the Northeast Region and have a good shot at qualifying for the Championships in their first year.
17. San Diego Safari: Came away from Labor Day Championships with no signature wins and losses to Pop, Schwa, and a 15-9 thumping from Nightlock.
18. Seattle Underground: Still have head to heads over Green Means Go and Pop.
19. Philadelphia Green Means Go: The talk of Sectionals weekend was there 16-15 win over rival Hot Metal. Regional Champion and giant Scandal looms large.
20. Minneapolis Pop: A solid showing at the Labor Day Championships included a win over Safari. Tough to put them over Inferno with a H2H loss there, but the ceiling for this team looks higher.
21. Houston Inferno: Sectionals was a breeze for Inferno, still riding a good weekend in Illinois at Heavyweights.
22. Pittsburgh Hot Metal: Now it is all about Regionals, where they’ll need a Herculean effort to qualify for the Championships again. They fell to Green Means Go, 16-15, in the Sectional final.
23. Nashville DeSoto: Cruised through Sectionals, but hard to forget how they struggled at Heavyweights.
24. Chicago Dish: Dish asserted themselves over crosstown competitor Spicy Tuna, beating them to win Central Plains Sectionals, 15-13.
25. Virginia Rebellion: Closing the season with a strong streak of 13 straight wins and dominating Capital Women’s Sectionals. 

MIXED

1. San Francisco Polar Bears: Picked up best win of their season at PFF by beating Slow White, 13-10. Also picked up worst loss, 15-9 at the hands of Cosa Nostra. Their tournament win vaults them into the #1 spot heading into Regionals.
2. Ames Chad Larson Experience: Despite finishing second with an underwhelming game against Polar Bears, they beat Slow White in semis and went 5-1 at the Pro Flight Finale.
3. Boston Slow White: Only Pro Flight Finale losses were to tournament winner PBR and #1 overall CLX.
4. Philadelphia AMP: Did not play.
5. Montréal Odyssée: Did not play.
6. San Francisco Blackbird: Their weekend in California was dramatically improved by getting a 15-14 quarters win over Mischief.
7. San Francisco Mischief: A mixed bag at the PFF for Mischief, who went 1-1 with American BBQ and 3-3 overall, good for 7th place.
8. Minneapolis Drag’N Thrust: OK weekend at the Pro Flight Finale was a point away from looking much brighter, with their 14-13 quarters loss to Slow White. Finished 5th.
9. Boston Ghosts: A 7-0 weekend at Sectionals was expected, and the only hiccup was a 13-10 win over Mixed Nuts.
10. Austin Cosa Nostra: If you’re going to go 1-5 in a weekend, might as well make the win over the eventual champion.
11. Boston Wild Card: Did not play.
12. San Francisco American BBQ: They did as expected at the PFF, going 1-5, but nice to have that win be over Mischief. Every team they played was in the Top 10.
13. San Francisco Groove: Going 0-2 against BW Ultimate – who won the Labor Day Championships – isn’t great, but a 13-12 win over 7 Figures is a nice consolation prize.
14. Seattle The DOH Abides: Not a great Sectionals, but they did win it undefeated.
15. Portland Engine 45: A 5-0 record at Sectionals doesn’t say much, but they took care of business.
16. Raleighwood: Coming on strong in the late season, they beat Cahoots on double game point in the Sectional final. That’ll make Raleighwood the favorite to take the lone bid to Texas.
17. New York SHUYAMOUF: Did not play.
18. Asheville Cahoots: A close loss to Raleighwood was not the kind of result Cahoots was looking for. They are 2-2 against Raleighwood, so Regionals should be pretty exciting.
19. New York 7 Express: Did not play.
20. Washington DC Ambiguous Grey: Did not play.
21. Missoula Mental Toss Flycoons: Did not play.
22. Los Angeles 7 Figures: Took a loss to Groove at the LDC, but went undefeated in Sectionals win.
23. Washington DC Ant Madness: Mostly unchallenged as they won their Sectional Championship without Ambiguous Grey in attendance.
24. Indiapolis Interrobang!: Winning every tournament they’ve attended, Interrobang sits at 19-1. Underhaul, Steamboat, and Santa Maria will make Regionals wild, but Interrobang! has a very real shot at qualifying.
25. Atlanta Bucket: Two wins over crosstown rival Southern Revival at Shawn Adams and a tournament win are nice.