College Power Rankings, Presented By NUTC [March 1, 2023]

March 3, 2023 by Ultiworld in Rankings with 0 comments

Ultiworld’s College Power Rankings, presented by the National Ultimate Training Camp! Registration for 2023 is open! Scholarships available. More info at www.NUTC.net

While our College Power Rankings can always be found on our permanent rankings page, every week during the season we will post the current edition here on the front page to facilitate discussion in the comments and serve as a permalink for each week’s rankings.

Ultiworld Subscribers have access to team-by-team coverage in the Breakdown sections.

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D-I Women’s Power Rankings

D-I Women’s Discussion

• Commonwealth Cup powers this week’s changes, including finalists Yale debuting at #18 and champion Northeastern moving up one spot to #14. Yale’s top 20 position is the highest a Metro East team has been in the rankings since Ottawa at the start of the 2014 season. Northeastern’s lack of dominance keeps them from a lot of upward momentum, showing how hard it is to crack into the upper tiers.
• A banged-up Virginia recovered from a rough showing in pool play to beat Pittsburgh and go down to the wire with Northeastern in semifinals, showing characteristic grit. That limited their fall to just three spots to #15. Fellow semifinalist Pennsylvania won five straight before getting run off by UVA and Yale, and enter the Power Rankings at #21.
• Other new additions are SUNY Binghamton and South Carolina. The former beat Virginia on Saturday in a statement upset, while the latter split with Notre Dame and beat Ohio State.
• Michigan, Duke, Tennessee, and Ohio State all dropped off, a sizable set of cuts. Michigan’s 2-6 weekend left onlookers wanting, while Tennessee and Ohio State failed to score wins over any ranked teams, including the new inclusions. Duke was at the edge, and is holding a loss to South Carolina from earlier in the season.

D-I Men’s Power Rankings

D-I Men’s Discussion

• There were no changes to this week’s rankings.

D-III Women’s Power Rankings

D-III Women’s Discussion

• The first update of the spring sees loads of movement as teams start building their 2023 resumes. Teams that have played so far this season were largely rewarded, and as such rankings this week were heavily influenced by Bring the Huckus, which saw the Haverford/Bryn Mawr Sneetches cash their check over D-I Boston College Flix and subsequently jump up the rankings to #6.
• Regional rivals Lehigh Gravity, meanwhile, succumbed to the earth’s pull, falling several spots after bowing out in the semifinal in a rematch against Haverford/Bryn Mawr, who they’d beaten in pool play.
• SUNY-Geneseo Escargot had the biggest drop of any active team, sliding three spots after going just 1-5 on the weekend, though the lone victory came overly newly D-III Dartmouth Daybreak.
• Several teams made their 2023 Top 25 debut, including the aforementioned Dartmouth who notched wins over 2022 Nationals attendees Haverford/Bryn Mawr and Lehigh in pool play. Dartmouth fell in quarters to fellow-debutant Ithaca Kweezy who had one of the more impressive weekends, dominating their pool before ending up on the wrong end of two universe point games against higher-seeded Boston College and Lehigh.
• Another team making the move from D-I to D-III, Whitman debuts at #10 after a decisive Snow Melt showing, including a tournament final victory over D-I — though D-III eligible — program Colorado College.
• The South Central adds another team to the Power Rankings this week as Trinity slot right behind #15 Rice after a one point loss to Torque at Antifreeze.
• The Claremont Greenshirts also hit the rankings, coming in at #21 after beating Occidental WAC at Santa Clara Rage. That result pulled Occidental down six spots. Mary Washington experienced a similar drop to make room for the many debutants; despite a decent showing at Commonwealth Cup Weekend 1, have not played teams higher in the rankings yet.
• Connecticut College make their first-ever appearance in our Power Rankings at #25 after picking up a pair of victories over D-III opposition at Bring the Huckus.

D-III Men’s Power Rankings

D-III Men’s Discussion

• Ugly Dome took a bite out of some of the best teams in Minnesota. St. Olaf fell off the #1 perch after losing to Minnesota B, while Carleton CHOP’s showings at both that event and Carolina Kickoff aren’t as rosy as we’ve come to expect from Northfield’s D-III outfit. St. Olaf lands at #3 and CHOP drops seven spots to #20.
• John Brown had the biggest rise this week, moving up seven positions and into the top 10 at #9. A tight loss to Oklahoma Christian and win over Missouri S&T are the best pieces of evidence for Ironfist’s strength.
• A second place finish at Commonwealth Cup pushed Elon Big Fat Bomb into the rankings. That #18 rank is the highest they’ve climbed since the end of the 2016 season.
• The two finalists at Bring the Huckus, Connecticut College and Rochester, both earned spots at #21 and #22, respectively. Conn College was the only team to beat Rochester, doing so twice, although they fell 9-8 to Ithaca in pool play.
• Christopher Newport, Occidental, and Ithaca fell from the top 25 to make room for the newcomers.

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