Club Power Rankings [8/10/23]

US Open gave greater insight into the pecking order among top teams

August 10, 2023 by Ultiworld in Rankings with 0 comments

Each week, we’ll post an updated edition of our Power Rankings here on the front page to facilitate discussion in the comments and help us share each week’s rankings via social media. The most up-to-date version can always be found on our permanent rankings page.

Women’s Discussion

• There’s a new #1 in the women’s division! In addition to tearing through all comers at US Open, Washington DC Scandal beat San Francisco Fury not once, but twice, including in the final where Scandal took a dominant 8-2 halftime lead.
• Denver Molly Brown, the former #1, slide down to #4 after a disappointing quarterfinal exit at the hands of an ascendant Brute Squad.
• All other movement is the result of Vancouver Traffic’s performance. After a fantastic PEC West showing where they split results with Molly Brown, all eyes were on Traffic to see if their strong results would continue. Their early tournament losses to Scandal and Brute Squad aren’t too damning, given the two team’s aforementioned excellence, but the final straw was a 14-11 loss to Portland Schwa in the ninth place pool. Traffic slide back six spots to #10 while Schwa are rewarded with a #9 ranking.

Men’s Discussion

• The US Open final between New York PoNY and Washington DC Truck Stop affirmed our preseason #1 and #2 picks, but joining them in the top 3 are Chicago Machine. Machine seem to have shrugged off their day two struggles from 2022, beating Boston DiG on universe in quarterfinals and holding an 8-5 halftime lead on PoNY in semis before succumbing 15-13. Machine then beat reigning champs Johnny Bravo 15-13 in the third place game and subsequently rise above them in the rankings, a nice bit of revenge after Bravo knocked them out of title contention in the 2022 Nationals quarterfinal.
• In contrast to our early season picks, Rhino Slam! had a weaker than expected US Open, falling to the second seed in their pool, DiG, in pool play, Bravo in quarterfinals, and San Francisco Revolver in the fifth place game. Their only wins on the weekend came against international teams, and they drop five spots in our rankings.
• Revolver, meanwhile, seem to be returning to form. Though their loss against Truck Stop wasn’t close – 15-8 – their only other loss at US Open was at the hands of PoNY, while they picked up wins against DiG and Rhino. Only losing to finalists certainly isn’t a bad result, and they move up three spots to #6.
• Honorary shoutout to New England Scoops, who were in contention for the last spot in the Top 25 after winning Vacationland, but a head-to-head loss against General Strike keep them just outside.

Mixed Discussion

• If you haven’t gotten the message, the club mixed division is wild this year, folks. After a massive drop for Philadelphia AMP due to an up-and-down PEC East performance, AMP rocket back to the top with a US Open tournament win. Their only blemish on the weekend was a 15-12 loss to Seattle Mixtape in pool play, and they picked up wins over Fort Collins shame. and Seattle BFG.
• shame. had arguably the best showing, only losing to AMP and defeating top-echelon competitors Minneapolis Drag’N Thrust, Madison NOISE, Mixtape, and San Francisco Polar Bears. They move up to #2.
• Other beneficiaries from the weekend include BFG, who beat Drag’N Thrust and New York XIST each by one and split with Madison NOISE, and NOISE, who notched a win over Polar Bears. The only thing keeping BFG from being #2 is the loss to NOISE, a team shame. beat 15-8.
• On the flipside, Drag’N Thrust’s weekend was a bit of a bust. After coming into the season at #3 in our Power Rankings, they’ve slowly slid back to the very end of the top 10. Even though all their losses at US Open only came by a single point (!), a loss is a loss, and they dropped games to shame., Ellipsis, BFG, and Voltaje U.C. With the loss to Voltaje in the ninth place pool, Drag’N were the only US mixed team to lose to a non-US team not named Ellipsis.
• Two teams that seemed primed for Nationals title runs, XIST and Mixtape, instead found themselves playing each other in the seventh place game. After a strong start to the tournament, winning their first two games including against AMP 15-12, Mixtape lost all the rest, going 0-2 against XIST and taking 15-12 losses versus Ellipsis and shame. XIST played slightly better, winning all three games the first day, including a 14-12 win over Polar Bears, but were knocked out of contention on universe in quarters against BFG. Another loss, 15-11 against Polar Bears in a reversal of day one’s success, found them facing Mixtape for seventh, where XIST eked out a one point victory.