College Power Rankings, Presented By NUTC [May 8, 2024]

The Nationals field is set

May 8, 2024 by Ultiworld in Rankings with 0 comments

 

Ultiworld’s College Power Rankings, presented by the National Ultimate Training Camp!

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.

—

D-I Women’s Division Power Rankings

D-I Women’s Division Discussion

• It is only a two spot change, but at the top, the margins are slim. UBC’s loss to Western Washington is the worst loss of any of the elite teams, so they fall. Western Washington reaped the rewards with a jump up five spots.
• Brown’s backdoor win over Northeastern got them a spot in the game to go, and pulled Brown ahead in our Power Rankings, too.
• Utah swapped spots with SUNY Binghamton after handling their business at Northwest Regionals. We had our eye on Utah even prior to the tournament, so their tournament showed us enough.

D-I Men’s Division Power Rankings

D-I Men’s Division Discussion

• Mirroring UBC in the women’s division, UMass dropped two spots, although their loss came in the regional final to Brown. Still, a 15-11 score just isn’t good enough.
• Meanwhile down the NE ladder, Vermont came dangerously close to getting knocked out with loses to Northeastern and McGill. They delivered down the stretch, but it was a concerning lull.
• UBC’s backdoor victory over Washington put the Sundodgers down behind the T-Birds’ new #21 position.
• A deep hole was almost surmounted by UNC Wilmington, but they ultimately fell to UNC Charlotte in the second place bracket, knocking them out the Top 25.

D-III Women’s Division Power Rankings

D-III Women’s Division Discussion

• New England Regionals shifted a lot around. The winners, Wellesley, entered the top 10. Mount Holyoke busted into the top 25 all the way at #12 with a second place finish. Bates dipped a handful of spots after missing the cut. Dartmouth finished a long way from bid contention and fell out of the top 25.

D-III Men’s Division Power Rankings

D-III Men’s Division Discussion

• Not much to note, just some New England tweaks that dropped Williams a pair of places.

Ultiworld Subscribers, read on for what we learned from Regionals!

D-I Women’s Division

Contributions from Grace Conerly, Edward Stephens, Felicia Zheng

1. Vermont – With a decisive win over #9 Tufts Ewo, Vermont are primed and ready for Championship Monday.
2. Carleton – The North Central barely registers as a speed bump for this high-ceiling team.
3. UNC – Pleiades’ reign over the Atlantic Coast continues with decisive wins over all challengers. They’ll be looking to do the same with the division come Nationals.
4. UBC – The Thunderbirds showed signs of late-season wear and tear in their loss against Western Washington, marring an otherwise perfect weekend. They’ll need to recharge before the big dance.
5. Oregon – Kicking the can down the road when it comes to Fugue lessons from Northwest Regionals: we’ll learn everything we really need to know about them in Madison.
6. Stanford – Superfly continues to be the team to beat in the Southwest despite a challenge from UCSB Burning Skirts.
7. Colorado – Even under a multi-player sanction, Quandary are easily among the division’s best. Look at those South Central scorelines!
8. UCSB – Don’t sleep on UCSB. Though their top players get most of the recognition, Burning Skirts’ whole roster has stepped up in a major way this season. If you take your foot off the gas pedal in a bracket game of nationals, your tournament might be over.
9. Tufts – EWO fell short of the top tier after a loss to UVM in the regional finals, but they proved their status as a top 10 team with a decisive win over a resurgent Brown team. They have the athleticism and talent to contend for a semis spot.
10. Washington – More of a confirmation than a learning: this is a good team whose ceiling is likely quarters, if their Oregon and UBC scorelines are any indication.
11. BYU – All of the hard work in the world doesn’t mean a thing in a red tape situation.
12. Michigan – If the upward trajectory continues as it has all season, Flywheel could be a sneaky pick for quarters or even semis.
13. UCSD – It ain’t over til it’s over. Folks were writing off D-Co’s season — they began it ranked #13 and dropped out of the Power Rankings after a gnarly SBI early this spring. Now look at ‘em.
14. Western Washington – Snake-in-the-grass plays are possible on a team/game level. How else do you explain Chaos’ ambush of UBC?
15. Colorado State – This town (Madison) was always big enough for the two of ‘em (the Coloradoes).
16. Victoria – It was hard to see in a crowded Northwest (not to mention UBC’s shadow) but the Vikes have belonged in the Nationals field all season long.
17. UC Santa Cruz – Adding a Fury player to a college roster is going to have an immediate effect. Go figure.
18. UPenn – Venus have the systems, the talent, and the nerve to hang with most of the Nationals field.
19. Georgia – The Southeast is Georgia’s house. How they’ll fare against Nationals-level competition is yet to be seen.
20. Notre Dame – We learned not to go to Tally Classic. Echo pushed a Michigan team who will likely be ranked right in the middle of the Nationals field
21. Brown – Pride matters. Down-ballot results matter! Brown doesn’t have the horses to hang with a team like Tufts, but they’ll happily leapfrog Northeastern and claim their highest ranking in over a year.
22. Northeastern – Northeastern has shown flashes of a Nationals-level team but their performance was volatile this season. After falling to Brown to miss the game to go, it’s back to the drawing board this offseason for the Valkyries.
23. Pittsburgh – After two years of heartrending game-to-go losses, it’s clear that legacy doesn’t mean anything anymore in the Keystone State.
24. UC Davis – All signs point to Rogue having the core of a Nationals team next season, in spite of missing out this time around.
25. Utah – Spiral Jetty were clearly a cut above the rest of the teams contending for the last bid out of the Northwest. Their close results against Western Washington show they have what it takes to make a run to the bracket.

D-I Men’s Division

Contributions from Alex Rubin, Edward Stephens

1. Georgia – Regionals taught us nothing new. Jojah are the juggernaut they’re advertised to be.
2. Pittsburgh – No offense to Penn State, but En Sabah Nur have bigger fish to fry.
3. UNC – This Darkside team can and will turn 0-1, down a break into a huge halftime lead in the blink of an eye.
4. UMass – If they play without some key pieces at Nationals, it will be difficult for them to reach their ceiling.
5. Oregon – Ego did well to stay above the backdoor fray and win the Northwest outright in just four games. That’s efficiency!
6. Cal Poly SLO – Everyone else in the Southwest is playing for second place.
7. Brown – Forget Leo Gordon and Jacques Nissen, the guy everyone needs to worry about at Nationals is Jason Tapper.
8. Colorado – Mamabird won the region without any close games–and those results might earn them a top seed in Madison. The real test will be avoiding another disappointing early exit once there.
9. Minnesota – With a 15-10 thumping of CUT in the regional final, Grey Duck is peaking at the right time and their final form is deadly.
10. Carleton – A no-nonsense win over Wisconsin in the backdoor game sends CUT back to Nationals, but losing the regional final dampens expectations for these semifinal hopefuls.
11. UAH – For this veteran team with big tournament experience already this season, regionals merely confirmed that UAH is ready for the big show.
12. Vermont – Chill are still trying to raise their floor back to 2023 levels.
13. Oregon State – The Beavers cashed in on the promise they showed back in February with a run to the Pres Day semifinal. Knocking off strong teams in Washington and UBC along the way, OSU is a team nobody in the Nationals field will look forward to playing with their size and playmaking ability.
14. California – When the going gets tough, you can trust Dexter Clyburn to get the job done.
15. Texas – TUFF took care of business at regionals without much difficulty, though I’m sure they would have liked to play Colorado closer as a warm up to the more difficult Nationals field.
16. NC State – A 15-5 pasting in the game to go is simply professional for a program that has now cemented its place at Nationals. Their 15-11 result against UNC is encouraging as well-sleep on Alpha at your own peril.
17. Penn State – Fluke schmuke. Spank’s regular season success was no mirage.
18. WashU – Contra cruised in the game-to-go and largely proved with their play all season that they belong in the Nationals field.
19. UC Santa Cruz – Teams really can rejuvenate themselves at a season wears on, and Toby Warren really is all that.
20. UCLA – Heartbreak is an inevitable part of life, especially in a Southwest that perennially has more Nationals-level teams than available bids.
21. UBC – The Thunderbirds had the kind of pop all season long to be able to hang with good teams – they just never found the consistency.
22. Washington – A young team, the Sundodgers just weren’t yet ready for the big show. They’ll be right back in the strength-bid running next season.
23. McGill – MUT are basically at the Nationals level. With a bit more regular season action, McGill might have had enough reps to come out of regionals with one of the tickets to Madison.
24. Ottawa – Ottawa gave up a mere 35 points across six games at Metro East Regionals. Yeah, they’re legit.
25. Tufts – The 2024 E-men, as good as they can be, really miss having 2023’s Zach Burpee in elimination games.

D-III Women’s Division

Contributions from Anna Browne and Theresa Diffendal

1. Portland – It’s tight at the top of the Northwest, three universe point games at ConfRegionals can attest to that. UPRoar are battle-tested and ready for the moment.
2. Colorado College – Turning a 7-5 pool play loss into a 13-4 final beatdown against the same team is a hallmark of a squad who can learn from their losses and quickly implement a winning game plan.
3. St. Olaf – They know how to throw games when they have their placement locked up…that’s what that Carleton loss means, right?
4. Macalester – Four one-point wins on the season, two from ConfRegionals, means you best be ready for a battle when going up against Macalester. They will not go gently into that good night.
5. Whitman – Whitman could’ve competed with the best at Nationals, but likely not without Gemma Munck.
6. Union – Crushing lesser ranked teams is a great formula for snagging the one seed going into Nationals. A 30-3 combined ConfRegionals score line means the SE is in Jillz hands until further notice.
7. Carleton Eclipse – Posting 15-single digit results is a return to the Eclipse we know and love, with the 15-2 win over St. Olaf showing the sky¹ is still the limit for Carleton.
8. Haverford and Bryn Mawr – First Bates at NE Classic then Scranton at Regionals, this Sneetch team knows how to bounce back from a loss and learn from their mistakes.
9. Lewis & Clark – Even Greek goddesses go through trials and tribulations. Playing close throughout the regular season, even in losses, created a battle-hardened Lewis & Clark ready to peak when it mattered most.
10. Wellesley – Storied programs know how to win when it counts. Never underestimate the lizard.
11. Middlebury – Storied programs know how to win when it counts, bid earners or no. If you doubted the champs, apparently you don’t know Keziah Wilde.
12. Mount Holyoke – Losses on the stat sheet don’t really matter until the postseason, then it’s how well you can perform to your ceiling – an 11-8 win over Williams and 11-3 thumping of Bates show this Daisy Chain is as strong as ever.
13. Williams – Wins on the stat sheet don’t really matter until the postseason, and one-point losses against tough opponents can be a point of pride, at least until the backdoor bracket.
14. Grinnell – There might be some distance between Grinnell and the top of the North Central, but in proving their pool play wins weren’t flukes the Grinnellephants showed they’re not a team to be taken lightly.
15. Trinity – It doesn’t matter how highly you’re ranked, don’t sleep on Altitude. They can hang wins on the best of teams, just ask Colorado College.
16. Wesleyan – The Metro East felt like a coin flip between Rochester and Wesleyan, but maybe last year’s Nationals experience provided the needed edge for Wesleyan to pull out the universe point victory.
17. Bates – After an up and down regular season, the backdoor bracket was the time for Cold Front to come back down. A one-point win over regional winner Wellesley, the Whiptails’ only loss at Regionals, shows the team’s high ceiling, but an 11-3 semis loss to Mount Holyoke epitomized their volatility.
18. Michigan Tech – It’s a tale of what could have been. An abbreviated season for the Superior Ma’s² means we were likely robbed of a chance to view this squad when they hit their stride.
19. Rochester – Rochester got the universe point win earlier in the season but couldn’t replicate the feat in the regional final. With such small margins, you can bet the EZ Women will be back next year to contend for best in the Metro East.
20. Scranton – Scranton came out swinging and ended Regionals with a universe point win over Lehigh. They could be competitive enough to earn the region a second bid – if only they played the regular season!
21. Lehigh – PA owns the OV. After two universe point showdowns with Scranton, the battle for OV2 next year between Gravity and the Electric City is sure to be…electric.
22. Richmond – Six – count ’em, six – universe points games for Richmond on the season all went down as dubs. The margins are thin at the top of the AC, but the Redhots know how to win and get hot at the right time.
23. Davenport – In their first ever Series, Davenport got it done and closed out the tournament in dominant fashion. We all knew Davenport was the top team in the region, but their dominance on Sunday, where the point differential was 35-5, shows their strength for Nationals.
24. Puget Sound – Clearcut have Pacific Lutheran’s number (to the tune of 41-4 in their three games this season), but it’ll take some work to close the gap with the rest of the strong Northwest.
25. Davidson – It’s tough to beat a team in pool play and lose in the final rematch. With strong wins over the rest of the region, the People’s DUFF should carry the loss as fuel for their ascension to the top next season.

D-III Men’s Division

Contributions from Bix Weissberg and Calvin Ciorba

1. St Olaf – Olaf has yet to face a challenging weekend all season. Regionals was no exception.
2. Oklahoma Christian – For the first time in two years, The Eagles have reclaimed South Central dominance.
3. Middlebury – The Pranksters are good as ever, and look to be title contenders again this year.
4. Whitman – As long as Whitman brings their full squad to Nationals this year, they will be a scary team to face.
5. Williams – Semifinals is definitely still in contention for WUFO, but they will need to work harder than we thought to earn that spot.
6. Richmond – The Spidermonkeys remain the kings of the Atlantic Coast jungle, even if their game to go against Davidson was a little too close for comfort.
7. Lewis & Clark – Not much to learn here, as the bottom of the Northwest did not provide much competition at all to Bacchus.
8. Carleton CHOP – After a two-year hiatus, the historic powerhouse CHOP is back to the big show
9. Berry – Collin Hill owns the Southeast Region.
10. Ave Maria – The Gyrenes are a very talented squad, but cannot get wins when it counts.
11. Oberlin – They’ve struggled for months, but when their season was on the line, the Horsecows pulled it together. Conferences be damned.
12. Franciscan – This iteration of Fatal was rolling until last weekend. Evidently, they too are mortal.
13. Bates – Doubts have been swirling around the obscure O-Whip ever since they latched on to a third NE bid. A convincing Regionals cleared such doubt. Welcome to your first Nationals!
14. Davidson – DUFF have potential to make waves at future Nationals. But unless the Spidermonkeys begin to falter, they’ll need a second bid to get them there.
15. Elon – This is a very young Big Fat Bomb team, and in the next two years they could end up being deadly postseason time.
16. Davenport – With a committed roster and supportive administration, Davenport is already leaps and bounds ahead of their GL competition. It’ll be their bid to lose going forward.
17. Missouri S&T – After struggling against out-of-region competition, S&T turned a new leaf last weekend and stole a bid in dramatic fashion. This is a team that can make the most out of the talent they have.
18. Cedarville – Swarm notched wins against Nationals-bound Oberlin and Fransican at Conferences, but they struggled to replicate these results when push came to shove. Worry not, for this program has made great strides and holds a bright future.
19. Macalester – It’s only Flat Earth’s second season since reformation, and they are already posing a serious threat to CHOP and St. Olaf, the NC’s most well-established programs. Don’t call it beginner’s luck.
20. Messiah – It was a pretty uninspiring regular season for the Falcons, but they turned it around when it mattered and had a great postseason performance.
21. Rochester – In a region that is always fickle, the Piggies have cleaned up nicely this decade.
22. Bowdoin – Bowdoin did what they were expected to do, won games against the teams they were supposed to beat, and lost to the teams they were supposed to lose to. What we thought would be a Pennywise season, ended up more as a Fizbo season for Clown.
23. Michigan Tech – It’s fascinating to think what would’ve happened if their game against CHOP that they were leading in, wasn’t postponed till the next day, where they lost a three point lead. Instead, they let Carthage beat them in a devastating way to end their promising season.
24. Colorado College – The prophecy goes that thee who wins a Men’s D-III championship is fated to miss the following Nationals. ‘Twas OC who introduced this tragic pattern, and CC has now confirmed it.
25. Claremont – This time around the Braineaters got the better of Occidental, in a dominant fashion nonetheless. Their eternal conflict is alive and well, and the ball now lies in Occidental’s court.

---

1. Moon? ↩

2. Boo North Central weather ↩