Celebrating one of college ultimate's best (and quirkiest) traditions.
April 11, 2025 by Alex Rubin and Bridget Mizener in Analysis, Opinion
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2024 college ultimate season are 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.
The Line brings together lists of sevens from our reporting staff.
As club sports offices at schools around the country reign in control over their teams (we see you UBC Thunderbirds) and force some teams to comply with strict name and uniform standards (RIP Minnesota Grey Duck), most schools allow their club ultimate teams to pick and choose their own monikers. Some teams keep their options simple (Carleton Ultimate Team or Oregon State Beavers for example), others explore the bounds of creativity. Some of the sports iconic programs have names that are unique to ultimate and are enriched with deeper meaning; UNC Pleiades (named for the constellation of seven sisters matching the seven players on an ultimate field) or Oregon Fugue (representing differing voices, pitches, and keys musically come together much as a team of players with different strengths works together on the field) are two of the best examples.
Ultimate programs who are blessed with enough players to form a developmental team are presented with another naming opportunity. Not only is there a second team upon which to bestow an identity, but there is the opportunity for the two identities to playfully mingle.
And do you know what? We wouldn’t be Ultiworld if we didn’t celebrate those developmental teams and the garden of nomenclature that has grown up around them… with a ‘definitive’ ranking. Here are the seven best B-team names in all the land.
We also offer some expert advice for B-team branding below.
Texas A&M (M): Dozen (A) / Dozen Matter (B)
Texas A&M also earns bonus points for their third team: Dozen Exist (C) though only Dozen and Dozen Matter will be competing at South Texas D-I Men’s Conferences this weekend.
Pennsylvania (M): Void (A) / Null (B)
I’m sure the Penn Law students would have something clever to say about this set of team names.
UCSB (W): Burning Skirts (A) / Mini Skirts (B)
It should be noted that UCSB has a flame-decorated skirt that they give to a different player to wear at each tournament.
Pittsburgh (W): Danger (A) / High Voltage (B)
Pitt’s program combining Danger and High Voltage also shows one of the best team name/uniform design combinations in the game.
UC Irvine (M): Nightlife (A) and Bedtime (B)
This seems like a good place to note that most of the Southern California men’s teams are named after something less-than-desirable in their area. (USC Lockdown, UCLA Smaug, UCSB Black Tide, Cal Poly SLO SLOCORE for example). Though not everyone would agree that Nightlife is a bad thing, the addition of Bedtime as something somehow worse really adds to the magic.
Cal (W): Pie Queens (A) and Tarts (B)
What’s a tart if not a pastry that wants to be a pie?
Dartmouth: (M) PainTrain (A) and Discomfort Trolley (B), (W) Princess Layout (former A) and Princess B-Ride (B)
Using the women’s team’s former name here1, we’re able to give you a two-for-one entry with Dartmouth’s stellar penchant for nomenclature. The folks on Disco Troll as the men’s division B team goes by have created their own identity by tweaking the A team’s name just enough while the women’s division team effortlessly connected their A team’s former identity to one of the most popular movies ever made.
Suggestions
While the teams above clearly understand the assignment, some other teams are leaving great comedic opportunities on the table.
- Ohio State Fever’s B team is currently listed as Fever-B. I hope one day we can see a future where the team leans into the pun and goes by Beaver. I doubt they’ll be confused with the Oregon State men’s team.
- Penn Venus’s developmental team is likewise listed as Venus B. They have a great opportunity to rebrand as Flytrap to spell out the name of the popular plant. Alternatively, the B team could go by Aphrodite to be the Greek counterpart to the Roman god Venus.
- Oregon Ego do not always put together a B team, but when they do they’ve gone by the name Bucks. Comparing that to the school’s varsity level Oregon Ducks makes sense, but to be a real developmental team to Ego, I think they should be called “Id”
- Georgia Tech A Tribe Called Tech is a really creative name. The team often just goes by the abbreviation “Tribe” and their developmental team is listed as Tribe-B. But, given the prominent “A” in the full name, a B-team called “B Tribe Called Tech” would at the very least get a good laugh
They’re called Daybreak these days ↩
