Seattle plays host to a mini-Nationals for the best women's division college weekend of the year!
March 19, 2025 by Bridget Mizener 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.
With this much power in one place, you could probably see the University of Washington turf glowing from space. Just look at this year’s field — all but two teams are in the Top 25 Power Rankings, including nine of the top ten (#2 Tufts EWO are the exception, taking their undefeated season record to East Coast Invite). Nuclear doesn’t even begin to describe it. Buckle up, folks. This is shaping up to be one of the division’s most electric weekends of ultimate in recent memory.
And as an added bonus, there’s a pretty good field in the men’s division, too.
Full Northwest Challenge 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 Northwest Challenge 2025 Event Page. Or get access for your entire team and coaching staff with a 2025 College Team Pack!
The event begins March 22, LIVE on Ultiworld.com. All broadcasted games will be available on-demand for viewing immediately following the live broadcasts.
Full Broadcast Schedule
Women’s Division Tournament Preview
Can Anyone Stop UBC?
The no.1 seed #1 UBC Thunderbirds are undefeated and will look to put the finishing touches on their “title favorite” resume, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t play the role of ATS screener this weekend. Among the top contenders, #7 Vermont Ruckus get first crack at them in pool play, and #3 Oregon Fugue, #4 Carleton Syzygy, and #5 Colorado Quandary are surely eagerly awaiting their chance too. NWC is the final shot for their challengers to land a blow before the postseason. Whether the T-Birds escape the weekend still perfect or not, we’re about to get a much clearer picture of the title race.
Last Chance for UNC, Vermont
Two preseason semifinal picks, both now outside the top five. It’s been a slow start for both squads: #6 UNC Pleiades have been without Erica Birdsong, and Vermont, our preseason #1, haven’t quite found their groove. This weekend is their last chance to notch quality wins before the Series, and with this tournament field, they’ll have that chance essentially every round. Saturday’s marquee matchups? Vermont vs. UBC and UNC reigniting their rivalry with Colorado.
Who’s Top Dog in the Southwest?
The Southwest currently has six bids1 and no clear frontrunner… let’s get ready to rumble. Three of the region’s top four teams are all here: #9 Cal Poly SLO SLOmotion have been playing inspired ultimate, #8 Stanford Superfly have shaken off an early-season slump, and #10 UC San Diego Dragon Coalition are close on their heels. The stakes aren’t massive here — with so many bids, it’s unlikely any of them miss Nationals. But this weekend will reveal where they stack up against each other heading into the postseason.
Are They For Real?
Three teams, same question. #13 Michigan Flywheel got shut out of Queen City Tune-Up semis on a scheduling technicality, so this weekend they’ll look to prove they belong among the top-tier teams. Similarly, Cal Poly have been climbing steadily, but their best wins have been squeakers. With margins so thin, can they keep the momentum going and prove they’re a serious Nationals threat? And is this the weekend when all of the latent talent of host team #11 Washington Element coalesces into a unit who can take down one of the top contenders for a game or two?
Men’s Division Tournament Preview
Capstone for BYU
When we last caught up with #6 BYU CHI, they were running through their Florida Warm Up schedule like locusts. That was a long time ago, though. How will they stack up against several of the West’s top sides, all of whom have played tournaments since then? The answer will come to them on Friday’s showcase, when they get a crack at #8 Oregon State Beavers, #11 Washington Sundodgers, and #20 Western Washington Dirt in consecutive games. A clean run through that formidable group, which would include avenging their only loss of the season (Washington), will put the finishing touches on another excellent year for a team unlikely to take their place in the latter stages of the postseason.
Last Bastion of the Southwest
Roughly eighty rankings points ahead of the line and with a handful of teams separating them from the cutoff, #13 UC Santa Cruz Slugs’ Southwest strength bid is probably safe. The same cannot be said about regional compatriots #17 Cal Ursa Major, who are right on the bubble. That means the Southwest is right on the line between having two or three bids. While Cal will have the chance to play their way to safety at Easterns to end the season, the region’s best defense would be a strong weekend from the Slugs at NWC. They’ll get two teams within striking distance during pool play on Saturday: UBC Thunderbirds (just outside of a strength bid) and Utah State Scotsmen (lower down but with few enough games under their belt that a strong weekend could throw them into the mix). Both Northwest opponents are punchy enough to steal a win, but if the Slugs can sneak past them unsquished, they’ll have done their part #ferda.
per the unofficial but indispensable information at www.frisbee-rankings.com ↩
