We have reached the halfway point of the regular season, and now have a good look on almost every team in every division after a heavy hitting weekend.
March 3, 2025 by Calvin Ciorba in Preview, Recap
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Throughout the spring season, we’ll publishing a bite-sized weekly recap of the action across the college division. This will serve as a supplement to our standard tournament reporting and offer a high-level look at the latest happenings and the biggest stories of the week.
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D-I Women’s Division
Tufts Still Tough, and Stanford Are Soooo Back
#13 Stanford Superfly played host to the biggest tournament of the weekend for the women’s division, at the Stanford Invite. After a winning Queen City Tune-Up, #2 Tufts EWO traveled across the country and proved the West Coast doesn’t have all the talent, winning the whole tournament to remain unbeaten on the season. Their opponents in the final, Stanford, finally had a bounceback weekend after a rough two tournaments to start the season. Tufts proved to be a clear step ahead, though, winning the final by a decisive 12-9 margin.
#8 UC Santa Cruz Sol had a Southwest-Teams-Cannibalizing-Each-Other loss to #15 UC Davis Rogue in pool play, which actually gave #21 Northeastern Valkyries the pool win and set up their own quarterfinal loss to Tufts. #11 Cal Poly SLO SLOMotion continued to impress with a semis appearance.
Check out our video page to relive the best games, read reporter Kiana Hu’s Oscars-themed Saturday thoughts, and stay tuned for the full tournament recap later this week.
Around the Division
- Colorado College Zenith ultimately took over Snow Melt this year, but in close contention were D-I’s Denver Hype with only one loss and a +42 point differential.
- Midwest Throwdown went to chalk. The state of Missouri was well-represented in the final, where WashU Iron Horse beat Missouri Terror Mizzou, a reversal of their Saturday power pool play result.
- Rochester EZ Women took a [checks notes] 4-3 victory over Wellesley Whiptails to win Garden State
- Montana Pillowfight came out ahead of some local competition at Big Sky Brawl.
- The windy East Coast this weekend didn’t stop #25 American Dirty Ladies from winning the Cherry Blossom Classic, although they apparently took a loss to Brown Cosmic Rays. Yes, folks, that would be Brown’s B-team, not their A-team. Yikes.
- D-III teams came out on top at Huckleberry Flick, with the only D-I team making the semifinals being Cincinnati Toxic.
Looking Ahead
No headline events on the near horizon, but there will be plenty of below-the-fold action at The Only Tenn I See, Cash Me Outside, Too Hot to Handle, Gnomageddon, and PACcon.
D-I Men’s Division
Revenge of the Darkside
14 teams from our power rankings faced off for an exhilarating weekend of ultimate at Smoky Mountain Invite. #4 UNC Darkside washed away any residual early season doubts by going undefeated to win it all in Knoxville. They won back-to-back universe point games in the semis and the final against (respectively) #8 Colorado Mamabird and #5 UMass Zoodisc.
To reach the final UMass beat the previously undefeated #2 Carleton CUT. Meanwhile, the other undefeated team heading into the weekend, #1 Oregon Ego, lost to both UNC and Carleton. They finished the weekend in fifth place. No major teams remain undefeated in 2025, and with Stanford Invite and Easterns still approaching, it’s shaping up to be one of the best college seasons in a while.
Check out our video library to relive the best games, read reporter Edward Stephens’s Saturday Stock Watch, and stay tuned for the full tournament recap later this week.
Around the Division
- Although the tournament was dominated by D-III teams, Montana State Rum Runners were the highest D-I finishers at Snow Melt, placing fourth.
- Missouri won the border battle over Iowa IHUC, winning Midwest Throwdown.
- Huckin in the Hills saw Ohio Trout reach the finals but lose on universe to D-III’s Butler Big Dog.
- Rhode Island RIUT made it to the championships at Garden State, but lost to D-III’s Bowdoin Clown, who they defeated in pool play.
- In a tightly contested Oak Creek Challenge, Rutgers Machine defeated regional rivals Cornell Buds, and then Case Western Fighting Gobies in universe point games to win the title.
- Big Sky Brawl
- D-I teams didn’t fair too well at UMass Invite, with two D-III teams in the finals (see below). Vermont B finished the highest for D-I schools.
- No way DUDE – Dayton FLUD took their home tournament, beating Miami (Ohio) Boogiemen in the final at the Dayton Ultimate Disc Experience.
- Central Florida Dogs of War made the trip up to Clemson, taking down UNC-B BatCH in the Joint Summit final 15-12
- Ave Maria ended up defeating their B team in the Florida Warm Up Weekend 2 finals, finishing a dominant weekend.
- Gonzaga GURU placed second at PLU BBQ, losing to Parkland-PLU Alumni on universe in the final.
Looking Ahead
Stanford Invite will host some of the best West Coast teams including #6 Cal Poly SLO SLOCORE and #15 Cal Ursa Major, as well as long distance travelers Virginia Tech Burn and Northwestern Lake Effect. First State Invite and Cash Me Outside round out the division’s action.
D-III Women’s Division
A North Central Preview
At Midwest Throwdown, #2 St Olaf Vortex and #3 Macalester Pursesnatchers both made valiant runs before losing in the semifinals. Vortex won 10-6 in the third-place game in a likely preview of North Central Regionals. #21 Michigan Tech Superior Ma’s went 4-3, losing to good D-I teams on Sunday. It may not be enough for the Superior Ma’s to earn a bid, but they still have a month left to try and earn the NC’s fourth.
Around the Division
- Windy conditions and short rounds lead to low scores at Garden State, where #21 Rochester EZ Women avenged their pool play loss with a 4-3 victory against Wellesley Whiptails in the final.
- Haverford/Bryn Mawr made a run to the Cherry Blossom Classic final where they experienced their only real competition, losing on universe to American. The other D-III teams in attendance, #19 Lehigh and Catholic, matched up in quarterfinals, with Catholic scoring a large upset victory.
- #10 Colorado College Zenith washed away every team at Snow Melt, not letting up more than five scores to opponents all weekend.
- Hosts Claremont Greenshirts were the class of the D-III field at Claremont Classic.
- #5 Middlebury Pranksters went 3-0 in a small Bam Bam Bonanza! field.
- #7 Whitman Sweets were undefeated at Big Sky Brawl, fending off close contests from D-I’s Montana and Utah State.
- Huckleberry Flick saw Kenyon Blu-Ray comfortably take the win over Butler Hot Dawgs in the final.
Looking Ahead
Claremont take the field for the second straight weekend at Gnomegeddon. Without any posted schedules, it’s hard to say which other events will have D-III representation, though plenty of East Coast tournaments brings hope we’ll see the final few ranked holdouts take the field this weekend.
D-III Men’s Division
Fatal Finale and Mudpuppy Mayhem
The first ever D-III River City Showdown, held in Richmond, VA, was this year’s biggest D-III tournament so far. In classic D-III fashion, it was a doozy. Pool play led to chalky results, but bracket play brought fireworks as the unranked, 16th-seeded UNC Asheville Mudpuppy reached the final. Their Cinderella run stopped with a loss to #6 Franciscan Fatal, but Mudpuppy shocked #5 Carleton CHOP in quarters
UNC Asheville’s win was not the only shocking quarters result, where #16 Rochester Piggies came back from down 9-6 to #9 Richmond Spidermonkeys to win 13-9. Richmond had a Sunday to forget, losing to #17 Oberlin Flying Horsecows and CHOP in consolation play.
Meanwhile, Richmond’s regional rivals #10 Elon Big Fat Bomb proved themselves as possible Atlantic Coast favorites, dominating every game but their universe point semis against Fransiscan. Still in the AC, #19 Davidson DUFF played themselves completely out of bid contention getting bounced by #25 Puget Sound Postmen in prequarters.
Around the Division
- #7 Lewis and Clark Bacchus easily took down Snow Melt, defeating #25 Colorado Mines Entropy for a second time. Notably, Mines took down #12 Colorado College Wasabi in pool play, bumping Wasabi to Bacchus’s side of the bracket.
- The 2024 champs #15 St Olaf Berserkers only suffered one loss at Midwest Throwdown but played a soft-ish schedule. Meanwhile, the hype train for #14 Macalester Flat Earthers is no longer chugging, after they lost four games on the weekend, placing 8th overall.
- Bowdoin Clown left Garden State as the last team standing, winning a pool play rematch 11-6 over Rhode Island in the final.
- The 2024 New England Regional rematch occurred at UMass Invite, where #2 Middlebury Pranksters defeated to #4 Williams WUFO 10-7 in the final. Middlebury went undefeated in the tournament. #21 Wesleyan Nietzsch Factor went 3-4, playing close to Middlebury in their first game of the season.
- Portland Uprise placed fifth, the highest of D-III competition at PLU BBQ, which included the likes of lower-tier Northwest teams.
- After an off year in 2024, Butler Big Dog had great results at Huckin in the Hills, winning the whole tournament.
Looking Ahead
#8 Whitman Sweets are making the trip down to Stanford Invite, trying to test themselves against strong D-I competition. Without published schedules, it isn’t clear if or where any other D-III teams will be in action.
