USAU Approximated Club Rankings: A Final Look

The official final rankings should be out later today.

Ironside's Tyler Chan. Photo: Burt Granofsky -- UltiPhotos.com
Ironside’s Tyler Chan. Photo: Burt Granofsky — UltiPhotos.com

Ultiworld’s Cody Mills has put together a statistical tool to approximate the USA Ultimate rankings by using publicly available score data and applying the algorithm that USA Ultimate uses to run their numbers. While the results below are unofficial and could include some scores which are liable to be altered or removed from the official rankings, they are a good representation of the what the current rankings would look like.

Throughout the remainder of the club season, we will be running this USAU ranking approximation and, later, possibly applying different algorithms and/or ranking methods to test alternatives to the existing algorithm.

For more information about the USA Ultimate algorithm, ranking system, and some of its perceived flaws, see this FAQ from last year.

Men’s Division

RankTeamRatingRegion
1Ironside2253.25NE
2Truck Stop2215.62MA
3Revolver2110.04SW
4GOAT2068.87NE
5Johnny Bravo2052.67SC
6Chicago Machine2026.89GL
7Madison Club2011.75NC
8PoNY2000.20NE
9H.I.P1981.45SC
10Doublewide1973.33SC
11Sockeye1940.41NW
12Florida United1897.11SE
13Rhino1885.30NW
14HIGH FIVE1858.60GL
15Patrol1844.35MA
16Sub Zero1823.31NC
17Prairie Fire1812.01NC
18Ring of Fire1787.99SE
19SoCal Condors1774.60SW
20Guerrilla1768.40SW
21Chain Lightning1747.10SE
22Dig1658.39NE
23Mockingbird1616.10NE
24Furious George1609.48NW
25Inception1580.36SC

Implied Bid Allocation

Great Lakes: 2 bids
Mid-Atlantic: 2 bids
Northeast: 3 bids
Northwest: 2 bids
North Central: 2 bids
South Central: 3 bids
Southeast: 1 bid
Southwest: 1 bid

Discussion

Although Prairie Fire did almost everything they could with a stellar weekend at the Pro Flight Finale, they couldn’t crack the top 16 and the overall bid allocation appears that it will remain the same after the final weekend of the regular season. Even if score changes alter the above rankings in the final USAU edition of the rankings due later today, Sub Zero (another North Central team) sits on the bubble, meaning a swap wouldn’t affect allocation.

Perhaps the biggest news from this week is that Sockeye plummeted in the rankings after a very rough PFF and will surely have a tougher road at Nationals now.

Two one bid regions will be left smarting — the Southeast and Southwest. In the former, three perennial qualifiers — Ring of Fire, Florida United, and Chain Lightning — will have to duke it out for the lone bid. In the latter, the SoCal Condors’ plan to start building towards a Worlds qualification may have to wait a year unless they can unseat Revolver with a shock upset at Regionals.

The South Central is flush with bids after H.I.P. continued their strong play at the Bro Flight Finale and will easily earn a third bid for the region. They’ll get their first true test of the year at Regionals when they face off against powerhouses Johnny Bravo and Doublewide. And perhaps the door cracked open for a sleeper team like Inception to steal a bid.

Mixed Division

RankTeamRatingRegion
1AMP2060.62MA
2Slow White2029.20NE
3Drag'n Thrust1925.67NC
4Seattle Mixtape1904.90NW
5Steamboat1827.79GL
6The Chad Larson Experience1775.45NC
7Mischief1758.49SW
8Metro North1755.78NE
9Alloy1708.15MA
10NOISE1701.18NC
11shame.1670.57SC
12Love Tractor1660.88SC
13Bang!1657.53MA
14Cosa Nostra1655.12SC
15Bucket1635.19SE
16Polar Bears1634.16SW
17BFG1621.43NW
18UPA1597.31GL
19Wild Card1589.43NE
20Ambiguous Grey1577.47MA
21Minnesota Star Power1502.28NC
22Charlotte Storm1495.28SE
23Blackbird1490.74SW
24Swing State1490.24SE
25Orlando Friends1490.24SE

Implied Bid Allocation

Great Lakes: 1 bid
Mid-Atlantic: 3 bids
Northeast: 2 bids
Northwest: 1 bid (-1)
North Central: 3 bids
South Central: 3 bids
Southeast: 1 bid
Southwest: 2 bids (+1)

Discussion

While there is definitely the possibility for score changes or dropped results to affect the bid outcome at the bubble in the Mixed Division, it does appear that the Southwest has hit one at the buzzer as the Polar Bears climb to #16 after the Pro Flight Finale. Not only that, but it seems that Blackbird also helped out the region by playing so badly at PFF that they sunk the Northwest’s BFG, whose ranking was inflated by two close games with Blackbird, to #17 outside the bid region. Wild!

Of course, the 13 points of ranking separation means this is a very tentative result. But it is clear that Blackbird’s brutal PFF weekend is going to pull BFG down with them, opening the door for the Southwest to get a second bid.

Otherwise, there are few surprises here. The Great Lakes should be exciting as a strong Steamboat team has to fend off a UPA team that has been waiting in the wings. The Northeast is in a down year with just two bids, but with two very strong teams at the top. And the South Central is going to hang on to three bids after shame. stays put at #11.

Women’s Division

RankTeamRatingRegion
1Seattle Riot2301.00NW
2Brute Squad2213.25NE
3Molly Brown2110.48SC
4Fury2104.16SW
5Scandal2042.08MA
6Traffic1966.92NW
76ixers1859.93NE
8Wildfire1775.97SW
9Nightlock1773.57SW
10Phoenix1745.64SE
11Showdown1660.06SC
12Heist1641.19NC
13Underground1626.54NW
14Ozone1617.71SE
15Green Means Go1531.67MA
16BENT1516.92NE
17Siege1516.82NE
18Iris1513.70NE
19Schwa1471.51NW
20Rival1455.30GL
21Nemesis1444.10GL
22Stella1162.02NE
23Pop1161.52NC
24Colorado Small Batch1154.06SC
25Hot Metal1143.96MA

Implied Bid Allocation

Great Lakes: 1 bid
Mid-Atlantic: 2 bids
Northeast: 2 bids
Northwest: 3 bids
North Central: 1 bid
South Central: 2 bids
Southeast: 2 bids
Southwest: 3 bids

Discussion

No changes in allocation this week in the Women’s Division with little opportunity for anything to change, even in the case of dropped results. The Northeast is the biggest loser, as the region finishes with the first three teams outside the cutoff (#16 Bent, #17 Siege, and #18 Iris)1

Schwa couldn’t make up ground at the Pro Flight Finale, so the Northwest will have just three bids this season. It will likely be a battle between Underground and Schwa for the last berth at Nationals.

The Women’s bid picture has changed little over the last few weeks.


  1. The Great Lakes’ autobid took away the Bent bid. 

  1. Charlie Eisenhood
    Charlie Eisenhood

    Charlie Eisenhood is the editor-in-chief of Ultiworld. You can reach him by email ([email protected]) or on Twitter (@ceisenhood).

  2. Cody Mills
    Cody Mills

    Cody Mills currently coaches New York PoNY, Cal Poly SLO, and the USA men's team. He was a captain then coach at Stanford and has previously coached San Francisco Revolver and Oakland Guerrilla in the club division. He also runs frisbee-rankings.com

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