The biggest college fall tournament gets even bigger.
November 6, 2024 by Edward Stephens in Preview, Video with 0 comments
College ultimate is back on the menu! With the 2024 club season officially the books, it’s time to look ahead to collegiate competition in 2025. The season proper will not start until January, but unsanctioned fall events have been taking place for more than a month. The best annual spring preview tournament is the University of Georgia-hosted Classic City Classic, and it’s this weekend in Athens. While some players will be missing for tryout commitments – both Team USA Beach and West Coast U24 tryouts are scheduled for this weekend – the tournament will give us a good baseline for expectations.
Ultiworld will be livestreaming the event. Read on to find out how to watch and for a quick primer on what to expect.
How To Watch
You will need an Ultiworld Standard or All-Access subscription to be able to watch games from the Classic City Classic 2024 Event Page.
Full Broadcast Schedule
Tournament Preview
D-I Women’s
The women’s division side of CCC has often been more of an add-on than a feature in recent years because, with the exception of the odd nearby Atlantic Coast program, it has been (unlike the men’s division) more like a preview of Southeast Regionals than a Nationals-oriented affair. That may be beginning to change, as a couple of schools from further afield will be in attendance this weekend.
Top of the list are Vermont Ruckus, who look to bounce back from a heartbreaking semifinal loss at College Nationals last May. One of their stars (Kennedy McCarthy) is gone, but several top players (Caroline Stone, Tatum Cubrilovic, Emily Pozzy) should be ready to pick up the slack as they gear up for another run at the title. Texas Melee are another team making a trek to Athens for the weekend. Melee have been largely out of the spotlight after missing Nationals for the last three years. Could this weekend be the springboard they need to propel them back into the mix?
Hosts Georgia Athena enter 2025 on a five-year Nationals run – winning the Southeast in each of those seasons – that they’d like to keep going. While they lose significant players from the 2024 edition (Fiona Cashin, Sami Chambers), they still have superstar handler Quincy Booth. She’ll have a great connection with Sarah Lang right out of the gate, as well as plenty of players who could potentially develop into stars. The CCC attendees looking to dethrone Georgia in the Southeast include a buzzy Georgia Tech Wreck, Florida Fuel, Emory Luna, and Central Florida Sirens. Beating the reigning champs this weekend would announce serious postseason intentions.
D-I Men’s
The men’s division side of CCC is, as usual, bursting with Nationals-level competition. The 16-team field features 12 of last year’s Nationals attendees and three of the four semifinalists. The conversation begins with Brown Brownian Motion kicking off their 2024 championship defense in earnest. Can Eli Chang, Jason Tapper, and Emmett Young carry the team back to the mountaintop without Leo Gordon, Jacques Nissen, and Cal Nightingale?
If the answer is no, Colorado Mamabird and UNC Darkside are among the programs best-positioned to take the mantle. Darkside, who won back-to-back-to-back championships from 2021-2023, return Ben Dameron, Kevin Pignone, Rutledge Smith, and Grayson Trowbridge – as well as a key transfer: Matt Barcellos, formerly of UCLA Smaug. Mamabird, meanwhile, will continue to rely on their brilliant 2023 and 2024 freshman classes to develop into program-carrying stars. Zeke Thoreson, Ryan Shigley, and 2024 Rookie of the Year Tobias Brooks will be some of their top performers (though they may not be in attendance this weekend due to U24 west tryouts).
The list of intriguing Nationals-level teams beyond those three is immense. Here’s a passing glimpse at the rest of the field. Hosts Georgia Jojah will enjoy a sixth year out of star Aidan Downey, as well as the performance of emerging star Scotty Whitley. Carleton CUT continued their recruiting rampage this off-season, adding several high potential pieces (Axel Olson, Thomas Shope, Nate De Morgan) to what they already have in Declan Miller, Daniel Chen, and Tej Murthy.
The list goes on. Texas TUFF have a powerful duo in Xavier Fuzat and Owen Smith. NC State Alpha crashed quarters at Nationals partly thanks to defensive standout Henri Lessard. Penn State Spank bring back most of the crucial members (Logan Piercy, Ethan Pigeon) of their breakout 2024 campaign and add freshman Michael Maroon. Vermont Chill have a pair of tremendous playmakers in Casey Thornton and Zack Watson-Stevens. America’s Team 2024 Alabama-Huntsville Nightmares lose a significant chunk of their core but maintain a strong pipeline of Alabama talent. Aaron Bartlett, fresh off of his second consecutive1 club title with Ann Arbor Hybrid, will attempt to lead a Michigan MagnUM charge to the top of the Great Lakes once more.
As if that weren’t already a crowded enough field, the final four teams could easily barge their way into it. Georgia Tech A Tribe Called Tech have been building up a strong roster for the past few seasons, and they now have both Philadelphia youth stand-outs Adam and Sam Grossberg. UNC Wilmington’s core, built around Stewart Kelley and Christian Belus, could bring the storied program back to Nationals in 2025. Finally, what can Texas A&M Dozen accomplish in phenom Mark Henke’s second season with the team?
Bartlett also won with Washington DC Truck Stop in 2023 ↩
