The pools for the 2024 D-I College Championships are here!
May 16, 2024 by Keith Raynor in News with 0 comments
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The seeding and pools for both the D-I College Championships were announced yesterday by USA Ultimate. A highly competitive regular season left more doubt than usual about what ordering USA Ultimate would decide upon for this year’s qualifiers. They typically lean heavily on the USAU algorithm, but also consider head-to-head results, non-binding final regional standings, team feedback, and other factors.
Here are the pools and schedules for pool play at the 2024 D-I College Championships!
D-I Women’s Division
| POOL A | POOL B | POOL C | POOL D |
|---|---|---|---|
| UBC (1) | Vermont (2) | Carleton (3) | UNC (4) |
| Tufts (8) | Colorado (7) | Stanford (6) | Oregon (5) |
| Victoria (12) | Michigan (11) | Washington (10) | UC Santa Barbara (9) |
| UC San Diego (13) | Western Washington (14) | Pennsylvania (15) | UC Santa Cruz (16) |
| Colorado State (17) | Georgia (18) | Utah (19) | SUNY Binghamton (20) |
Notes
- The algorithm’s opinion on UBC vs. Vermont favored the former, but Vermont’s head to head win over the Thunderbirds at Northwest Challenge indicated they might get the no.1 seed. While either of the 2023 semifinalists would make a worthy top seed, UBC’s impressive regular season was enough to outweigh both that loss and a shock loss to Western Washington at Northwest Regionals.
- UNC’s ranking was actually a nontrivial amount of points behind Oregon and Stanford, but they vaulted ahead of them in the final seeding. While their ranking seemed suppressed by failing to blow out Duke, it is easy to imagine how Pleiades’ three straight championships could have served as a trump card to get that a top seed.
D-I Men’s Division
| POOL A | POOL B | POOL C | POOL D |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNC (1) | Georgia (2) | Massachusetts (3) | Colorado (4) |
| Brown (8) | Oregon (7) | Pittsburgh (6) | Cal Poly SLO (5) |
| Texas (12) | Carleton (11) | Minnesota (10) | Vermont (9) |
| Alabama-Huntsville (13) | NC State (14) | California (15) | Penn State (16) |
| Oregon State (17) | Washington University (18) | Ottawa (19) | Michigan (20) |
Notes
- The main question posed on Charlie Eisenhood’s annual predictions (and on the Deep Look podcast) was about where Colorado Mamabird would be seeded. They were both the no.1 ranked team and had head to head losses to many of the other teams at the top of the division. Landing at no.4 offers a middle ground, where they are the top seed in a pool but not all the way at the very top.
- Carleton got the nod at no.11 over Texas, a curious choice: Texas was the higher ranked team, both finished second in their region to a higher seeded team, and both have losses to no.10 Minnesota and no head-to-head result. Team feedback may have played a role in this otherwise tough to explain choice.
- Brown was placed at no.8, ahead of a no.9 Vermont team they are 0-2 against, a nod to the value of winning a region that Vermont narrowly escaped at New England Regionals. It also may have been considered that Brown played much of the regular season without a full-fledged performance from star Leo Gordon.
