See what's at stake in each region for the 2025 College Championships.
April 4, 2025 by Keith Raynor in News
Following the conclusion of the regular, USA Ultimate has released the final bid allocation, locking in the strength bid allocation for the College Series across all divisions.
The final bid picture for each division:
| Region | D-I Women's Div. Bids | D-I Men's Div. Bids | D-III Women's Div. Bids | D-III Men's Div. Bids |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Coast | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Great Lakes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Metro East | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| New England | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| North Central | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Northwest | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Ohio Valley | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| South Central | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Southeast | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Southwest | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
The race for bids in the D-I Men’s division came down to the final weekend, with some regions looking for extra strength bids and others looking to put one or even two teams into the safe zone and get out of the autobid basement. The end result was Wash U gripping a third South Central bid with a run to the final at Huck Finn, while New England mustered three but have the two lowest ranked strength bid earners (Brown, Northeastern) and two highest ranked teams (Tufts, Vermont) after that, too. That means NE Regionals will feature five teams ranked in USA Ultimate’s top 18 playing for three bids. This is all assuming that BYU, who finished 8th, will play in the Series before forfeiting during the postseason and keep a fifth bid in the Northwest.
Who would have thought that when our staff picked the Northwest and Southwest to combine for 10 bids in the D-I Women’s division that we were undershooting? A staggering 9 of 10 available strength bids are following Horace Greeley’s encouragement and going west. The last stand for the eastern regions took place at East Coast Invite, with Northeastern leading the charge and quickly ending the conversation with an 0-4 Saturday. The other contenders had too much ground to make up, despite a commendable showing from Notre Dame, who finished 19th, a few points shy of the cutoff and just missing on a strength bid for the second year in a row.
In D-III Men’s division, D-III Easterns gave the bid picture a shake-up. Richmond did enough to earn a strength bid for the Atlantic Coast while Wesleyan’s run to the final vaulted them in comfortable position while Rochester clung to a bid, doubling the Metro East’s haul. The only division with no 3+ bid region, all of the AC, OV, SC, and NE were in the mix to pull in an additional bid down the stretch; that means all of those regional championships carry some unpredictable intrigue. St. Olaf was the first team out by 18 ranking’s points.
Everyone can raise their hands if they had Kenyon claiming the second spot in the rankings and bringing the Ohio Valley a second bid in the D-III Women’s division. Now put those lying hands back down. A late push from Middlebury and Wellesley at Northeast Classic also secured New England a second bid, as the region looked like they could hold just the autobid if things went awry, a far cry from recent seasons’ success. Likewise, Rochester’s 5-2 NEC showing jumped them high enough to land a second bid for the Metro East, saving them and Ithaca from having to go through Wesleyan to get to Nationals. Macalester finished 24 rankings points behind Wellesley, leaving the North Central with just two bids despite having three teams in the top 11 in our Power Rankings.
