March 6, 2025 by Edward Stephens in Preview, Video
Ultiworld’s 2025 college coverage is presented by Spin Ultimate; all opinions are those of the author(s). Find out how Spin can get you, and your team, looking your best this season.
Unlike last week’s high-powered women’s division event of the same name, the men’s field this weekend at Stanford Invite will feel a bit muted. This is not only due to the fact that fewer of the California teams who are staples of the event are top contenders in the men’s division (which is the case this season). The other key factor suppressing potential top-level play will be the lack of U24 players among the top seeds, since the weekend overlaps with a U24 training camp. Kyle Lew and Anton Orme of #7 Cal Poly SLO SLOCORE and #12 Cal Ursa Major’s Dexter Clyburn — all three of them legitimate Player of the Year candidates at this point in the season — number among those missing out this weekend. The silver linings, though, are that it opens the door for more potential tournament champions.
Full Stanford Invite Competition Schedule & Results
How To Watch
We’ve got you covered for all the exciting action this weekend. You will need an Ultiworld Standard or All-Access subscription to be able to watch games from the Stanford Invite 2025 Event Page. Or get access for your entire team and coaching staff with a 2025 College Team Pack!
The event begins March 8, LIVE on Ultiworld.com. All broadcasted games will be available on-demand for viewing immediately following the live broadcasts.
Full Broadcast Schedule
Tournament Preview
Next Up in the Golden State
No Lew, Orme, or Alex Nelson for Cal Poly. No Clyburn for Cal. That is a lot of production that will need to be replaced if those two teams want to keep up the level of play they’ve shown so far in 2025. The good news? Both have plenty of options. Cal’s depth has turned heads this year. Even without the full-field throwing and deep-deep excellence of Clyburn as a foundation, Ursa Major have a good stock of firepower in the armory. Carter Lankford in particular has emerged as a game-changing force. Ridge Huang (near the disc) and Bernie Wang (in the deep space) are sure to pair up with him frequently for scoring connections.
Cal Poly are a touch deeper so far, though. James Whelan, Max Gade, Joseph Thachet, and Oliver Faase are poised to do a lot of the heavy lifting. It’s fair to wonder how ready they will be for the big time, given how much the offense has seemed to rely on the Lew-Orme-Nelson trio so far. The ace in the hole, both in terms of playmaking and being a steadying presence, is sure to be Keaton Orser, one of their best returners for 2024. If Orser is fully healthy, which at times so far in 2025 he has not been, look to him to steer the ship. Don’t be surprised if both of these teams reach the final without their biggest stars…
Stealing a Win: The Contender Class
… But also: don’t be surprised if someone else emerges to take the Stanford crown. The prime candidates to pick off the top two seeds in their somewhat weakened state are #14 UC Santa Cruz Slugs and #22 UBC Thunderbirds. Both have been nipping at the heels of the division’s upper crust early in the year and could sweep up the crumbs this weekend. The Slugs, unlike Cal and Cal Poly, are not missing their ace, Toby Warren, who has productive players like Kien Warren, Mario Ambrose, and rookie Cole Mires around him. They’ll be potent as long as they keep up the focus that allowed them to have a bounceback performance at last month’s Presidents’ Day Invite. Meanwhile, the T-Birds boast perhaps the best player of anyone at the tournament in Justin Podnar, who was a star for Team Canada mixed at last year’s World Ultimate Championships and is on the short list for selection to the Canadian World Games roster. He is a matchup nightmare as a tall, assertive backfield force. And there is plenty of latent talent throughout the rest of the roster that could activate at any moment to produce a dominant team. Will they, finally, become that dominant team?
There are a couple of interesting outfits a tick below the top set. UC San Diego Air Squids, led by Max Gibson, have given tough tests to a lot of more highly-ranked teams this season. They will be looking to get over the hump and convert some of those close losses to wins. And then there is Western Washington Dirt. While superstar rookie Cedar Hines will be among the players with a U24 weekend commitment, they still have his Seattle Sockeye teammate Elijah Diamond on hand to help them score some upsets.
