Club Power Rankings [9/26/23]

Post-Regionals rankings!

September 26, 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

• Kicking Regionals rankings gains off, New York BENT wrapped up the second bid in the Northeast by kicking the #8 Toronto 6ixers to the backdoor bracket with a 12-8 semis win. BENT also notched solid results against #5 Boston Brute Squad, taking a 15-13 loss in the crossover and 14-11 in the final. BENT’s strong showing moves them up three spots to #7, right above 6ixers. #19 Quebec Iris also get a small bump for playing 6ixers within four in the game to go, and beating #20 Northampton Starling on universe on the way there.
• Little went as expected in the Northwest, where Seattle Riot knocked off no.1 seed Portland Schwa 15-12 in semis to advance to the final, while Schwa had to battle through Seattle END and Utah Dark Sky to claim the third bid. Though Riot went on to lose to #9 Vancouver Traffic in the final, and Schwa smothered competition in the backdoor bracket, Schwa fall four spots to #11 while Riot rise four spots to settle just above at #10. Schwa’s earlier wins against Nemesis and Parcha keep them from falling any further. Dark Sky also receive a three spot bump to #22 for making it to the game to go.
• Over in the Southwest, #18 San Diego Wildfire missed out on Nationals by the thinnest of margins, falling on universe point to #13 San Francisco Nightlock in a fantastic turnaround from a 15-5 score line in Nightlock’s favor during pool play the day before. Wildfire’s run, which led them through #21 Oakland LOL, is rewarded with a four spot rise to #18. Said Oakland LOL drop three spots after losing two games in a row at the hands of Flipside in semis and Wildfire in the game-to-go to the game-to-go and falling out of Nationals contention.
• Welcome to the rankings #24 Seattle Underground and #25 Denver Small Batch! #3 Denver Molly Brown were basically a near lock to win the South Central, but Small Batch proved they were a worthy second seed, battling to the final and keeping Molly to their lowest score of the weekend. And back in the Northwest, Seattle Underground took down formerly ranked Seattle END in the fifth place final and so take their place in the rankings.

Men’s Discussion

• Starting at the top, Raleigh Ring of Fire rise three spots to #5 after beating Atlanta Chain Lightning 15-13 to win the Southeast Region. Both teams had already locked up trips to Nationals, but this is a solid showing for a Raleigh team it feels we’ve only seen bits of up to this point. While a close loss, Chain slide five spots to #7.
• In another regional final, Austin Doublewide took down Denver Johnny Bravo 12-8 to become repeat South Central champs. It’s certainly nothing we haven’t seen before from the reigning national champs, but Bravo still fall three rankings to #10.
• The biggest rise of the week belongs to Eugene Dark Star, up eleven spots to #12. They were a noted challenger for one of the Northwest’s three bids, and indeed nabbed one for themselves by winning in semis against Vancouver Furious George.
• Said George are up six spots to #13 after taking the final bid out of the Northwest in one of the most stunning results of the weekend. They raged over Seattle Sockeye to the tune of 15-8, sending the fish down seven spots to #18. Sockeye will miss Nationals for the first time since 2011, when they were also eliminated by Furious.
• Yet Sockeye were not the biggest drop of the week, or even second. Second-most belongs to Cincinnati Omen, who fall eight spots to #23. Sure, getting knocked out of Nationals contention by Chicago Machine was fairly inevitable. But many expected this to happen in the Great Lakes final, not quarters, where Omen found themselves after losing to tenth-seeded Grand Rapids Beacon 13-9 in the first round of pool play. Beacon went on to play a more competitive game against Machine than Omen had, losing 15-9 versus Omen’s 15-7. Paired with close results against Sockeye and Temper that haven’t aged well, and Omen slide to the backend of the Top 25.
• Claiming the very last spot in the 25 are Toronto GOAT, who plummet twelve spots after losing to Boston DiG and Amherst Sprout in consecutive games to miss out on Nationals. We made this bold claim in the Regionals preview and it seems apt to repeat it here: “Northeast Men’s Regionals 2023 is the deepest region there has ever been at the USA Club level.”
• Fittingly, the two new additions to the Top 25 also hail from the Northeast. Amherst Spout jump back into the rankings at #24 after beating GOAT 14-11 in the game-to-go to the game-to-go. And a hearty congratulations to #21 New York Blueprint, who make their Top 25 debut after taking down Red Circus, #22 Ottawa Phoenix, and finally Sprout 14-11 in the game to go and qualifying for Nationals for the first time in program history.

Mixed Discussion

• A lot of movement in the mixed division as all but the three top ranked teams change position.
• #4 Seattle Mixtape defended their Northwest Regional title with a universe point final win over #5 Seattle BFG in a reversal of a universe point loss to BFG in crossover play the day before. While #15 Vancouver Red Flag fell to Mixtape in semis, they still rise four spots in the rankings by claiming the final bid out of the Northwest with wins over #23 Oregon Scorch and a surging #18 Montana MOONDOG in the game to go. MOONDOG also receive a bump for making it to the game to go and emerging on top of Scorch in clipped pool play. Scorch, to their credit, lost by just two to both Red Flag and BFG and also move up two spots.
• The Southwest produced one of the most shocking finishes of Regionals Super Sunday, as #21 Polar Bears lost in the semis to #7 San Francisco Mischief (not too shocking) but from there failed to even make it to the game-to-go to the game-t0-go (shocking), losing on universe to new Top 25 entrant Sacramento Tower. Tower went on to lose to #19 Bay Area Sunshine, who lost to #16 Arizona Lawless in the game for the second and last bid. Polar Bears take a tied-for-largest plunge down to #21, while Sunshine receive a two spot bump. Lawless move up six for their finals showing, while Mischief rise five spots to #7 for winning the region.
• Over in the Great Lakes, region winners Ann Arbor Hybrid move up two spots to #8 while fellow finalists Cleveland Crocs rise four spots to settle just behind them at #9 after playing Hybrid to universe point. Chicago RAMP fall out of the rankings after losing 15-9 to Chicago Parlay, who proceeded to take RAMP’s spot in the game to go.
• The Northeast provided fireworks in every division, and mixed was no exception. #10 Boston Slow empathetically announced their presence with a 15-12 win over New York XIST, the first seed overall, in crossover play. Slow backed up this play with a universe point win in the final over Boston Sprocket, and consequently move up seven spots in the rankings to #10, the biggest gain in the mixed division. Sprocket take a three point slide for their loss against a team previously ranked lower, but can hold onto a 15-11 Northeast semis win over XIST, who fall six spots to #12.
• #14 Nashville ‘Shine receive a four spot bump for winning the Southeast Region, but perhaps the bigger story is who they didn’t meet in the final. #17 Huntsville Space Force were the no.1 seed and placed higher in the official rankings, but fell to new Top 25 team #22 Charlotte Storm on universe in semis, leaving Storm to advance and play ‘Shine for the region’s sole bid. Space Force fall ten spots to #17, but missing out on San Diego likely hurts more. Congrats to Charlotte Storm on a hard-fought Regionals and deserving Top 25 slot.
• The South Central was never going to be particularly interesting with one bid and arguably the number one team in the nation, but #20 Denver Love Tractor and #24 Dallas Public Enemy still slide back after playing close with unranked teams and not-so-close with #1 Fort Collins shame.