Which regular season results had the most impact on the way we think about the 2025 college season?
April 18, 2025 by Aidan Thomas 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.
The college frisbee season is a regular season comprised of tournaments. Premier tournaments bring together top programs that clash and help sort out the rankings and provide some level of clarity towards the national title picture. But not all tournaments are made equal, and neither are all games within that tournament. Almost everyone knows that focus (and frequently tightness of line rotations) falters once a team enters the consolation bracket. And other games just mean more for a specific team proving a storyline wrong (or right), or establishing themselves as a true title contender. Entering the season there was plenty to watch for, including how far top players in the division like Dexter Clyburn and Tobias Brooks could lead Cal and Colorado, how UNC would rebound from their failed title defense last spring, Oregon and Carleton’s return to the top of the rankings, and much more. Here were seven individual games that shaped the college frisbee regular season and the storylines that we’ll carry into the postseason.
7. Davenport 9 – 5 WashU, Huck Finn Final
This game didn’t necessarily end up resulting in a bid change, and it was a cross-division game, so you can’t even say it shifted national perceptions of the title race. But the result, and what it potentially means for the sport of ultimate frisbee at the collegiate level, earns a spot on this list. Davenport is a Division III program offering scholarships for ultimate frisbee, one of a select few programs doing so in the country. This has seen teams like Oklahoma Christian develop into powerhouses at the D-III level and knock off some solid D-I programs, but this was another level. Davenport Panthers absolutely ran roughshod over the Huck Finn field, culminating in a 9-5 win over WashU Contra, a team who earned a bid for the South Central in Division I. Per USAU rankings Davenport are ranked No. 11 among all programs; the next highest D-III program is ranked 32nd. The Panthers are reaching unprecedented heights for a D-III program, within a couple seasons of pouring resources into their program. As other schools potentially explore this route, it’ll be intriguing how many can make such a jump in the coming seasons.
6. Washington 13 – 10 BYU, Santa Barbara Invite Pool Play
This was an intriguing early season result between two teams who were both severely underranked entering the season. Washington Sundodgers sat on the fringe of the Nationals picture, and BYU CHI didn’t even crack the top 25. Yet, at the first tournament of the year, BYU started with a 2-0 Friday, toppling last year’s runner-up and eventual Santa Barbara Invite champion, Cal Poly SLO SLOCORE. Meanwhile, Washington, who somewhat surprisingly failed to qualify for Nationals last season, had plenty of doubters themselves. By beating SLO, BYU had already showcased a top-10 ceiling, and on the ensuing Saturday, Washington flipped the script and upended CHI 13-10 to stake their own claim to top-10 status, a ranking which they floated around for the rest of the season.
The early season result was notable, and it became more notable as the season went on. BYU went 18-2, losing twice to Washington and seemingly settling into the rankings as a bridge between title contenders and the ‘best of the rest’, while Washington added two impressive wins to their resume and are hanging onto the back end of that title picture. However, for the No. 17 preseason team, a quarterfinal or semifinals run, following a missed Nationals, would be a win for the Sundodgers.
5. UNC 13 – 10 Oregon, Smoky Mountain Invite Pool Play
It feels like every season, people look for a chance to dethrone UNC Darkside, seeking signs of weakness in the perennial powerhouse. This year, coming off a semifinals collapse last season, those voices from the crowd got louder than ever, especially after UNC dropped their quarterfinal clash in the Carolina Kickoff to Georgia Tech Tribe, their first loss in recent history at their season-opening home tournament. Meanwhile, Oregon Ego, who lost a controversial quarterfinal to UNC at 2024 Nationals, were off to an undefeated start in their season and ranked No. 1.
So why this game? Oregon were still undefeated, but there was signs of cracking; Ego had played several teams very close, escaping a handful of tough games. And UNC hadn’t really faced much in the way of a significant test since losing to Tech, toppling a mediocre Queen City field. Darkside and Ego got placed in the same pool at Smoky Mountain Invite, Ego as the second seed and UNC as the seventh. When the two squads matched up, it served as a fast reminder for everyone watching: forget about that ugly early-season loss for UNC, Darkside are just as much players in the title race as they’ve been for the last 11 years. And for Oregon, Ego were officially knocked off their unbeaten pedestal, eventually dropping a quarterfinal to Carleton CUT and wrapping up the tournament in fifth place. Darkside used the Ego win as a launching pad to win the tournament, part of a midseason 16-game winning streak that put UNC back atop the rankings.
4. Georgia Tech 15 – 14 UNC, Carolina Kickoff Quarterfinals
Now that we’ve given UNC their flowers for overcoming that early season loss, let’s take a look back at that stunning Carolina Kickoff result. There was a lot of preseason hype around Georgia Tech, with brothers Sam and Adam Grossberg looking to lift Tribe back to relevancy and into the Nationals picture. The latter will be determined at Southeast Regionals, but the former started with this result in Carolina.
The result was made even more stunning by Georgia Tech’s start to the tournament, where they lost to Virginia Night Train in the opening game. They rebounded to make the bracket, but drew Darkside in the quarterfinal. One game can shift the perception of a season, and that’s what this result did. Had Tech lost, particularly if it was by a few points, they would have fallen to the fifth-place bracket, and the overarching takeaway from the tournament for Tribe would have been that they were a talented squad but still rough around the edges, putting things together. Instead, Tribe stunned the college ultimate world. They broke for half and added a pair of second-half breaks to get up 14-11 before UNC stormed back to force universe. There, Tribe, the far less experienced team in these situations, facing a sea of bad momentum, buckled down, earned a clean hold and knocked off Darkside, starting a wild set of storylines for the ensuing weeks about the ceiling of this rising squad in the Southeast, as well as the status of Darkside.
3. Oregon 15 – 12 Carleton, Easterns Quarterfinal
It’s hard not to overreact to Easterns. It’s a major tournament played on the final regular season weekend, and it really does dictate how the majority of the country will view the field entering Nationals. Starting in the quarterfinals, this one was about Oregon regaining some of their early season mojo with a big win. Ego had underperformed at Smoky Mountain Invite and then put together an underwhelming 3-1 pool play record at Easterns, losing by three to Colorado and eking out a universe point win over Georgia Jojah.
All-in-all, Oregon were facing a regular season with just one win over a top-eight opponent, which had come all the way back in mid-February. However, Ego turned it around with a 15-12 win over Carleton CUT, a six-point improvement over their Smoky Mountain quarterfinal loss. Oregon need to continue to find production from beyond the top end of their roster, but led by Mica Glass and Raekwon Adkins, Ego managed to showcase how good they can be, and why they are title contenders when on their A-game.
Oregon went on to beat UNC in the third-place game, and say what you will about consolation games, adding a pair of top-five wins to your resume on the final day of the regular season is a big boost for Ego.
2. Colorado 15 – 12 UMass, Easterns Final
Now for the late season storyline that was Colorado Mamabird. Colorado underwhelmed with a 5-3 performance at Presidents’ Day Invite. Improvements at Smoky Mountain Invite saw Mamabird go 6-1 and beat Carleton, but also lose to UNC in semis and play Brown Brownian Motion and Georgia tight in pool play. Then came Easterns. This list features two games from a seven-game Mamabird rampage at the season’s final premier tournament. Starting with their final – Colorado faced UMass Zoodisc, a team poised to take the No. 1 ranking after UNC’s loss and playing in their third championship game of the season. Colorado, who in previous tournaments faced struggles with notching breaks in big games, especially without crossing over Tobias Brooks, opened with five straight breaks against Zoodisc. To that point in the tournament, UMass had not won by less than four points all weekend, yet they went down 5-0 to a surging Mamabird squad.
That game not only cemented Colorado’s first Easterns title since 1998, it sent Mamabird into the postseason on a tidal wave of confidence. With arguably the best player in the country1 in Brooks and a D-Line that was nothing short of terrifying down the stretch, Colorado may have made themselves the title favorite.
1. Colorado 15 – 14 UNC, Easterns Semifinal
Before getting to that UMass game, Colorado had to defeat the No. 1 team in the country, a UNC Darkside squad that hadn’t lost since Carolina Kickoff. And yes, UNC are that good that their two bracket play losses this year both make the list of seven defining games of the season, because it elevated their opponent to a new level.
Colorado had taken UNC to universe at Smoky Mountain Invite, but played most of the game from behind, and couldn’t generate key breaks down the stretch to complete a comeback. The story couldn’t have been more different for the vastly improved defensive unit at Easterns. While the O-line struggled to gain rhythm, Mamabird went down 8-4 at half, even 10-6 in the second half and struggling to gain momentum. But with a balanced effort that saw more contributions up and down the roster than Colorado had got all year, Mamabird began closing the gap. Zeke Thoreson, Levi Tapper, Ryan Shigley, Elliot Hawkins and others all made key plays in big moments, as Colorado methodically marched all the way back, leveling with Darkside at 13-13. There, Hawkins secured bookends, and Brooks launched a trademark huck that was perfectly weighted for the lead. One point later, Brooks toasted fellow Player of the Year candidate Ben Dameron deep and secured the win for Mamabird.
Colorado have Tobias Brooks, they have the supporting cast, they have an O-Line that can be lethal, and they have a D-Line that can break open games and cover a rare off-game by the offense. They’ve got momentum and now, after this Easterns bracket runs, they feature wins over the each of the other potential top six seeds at Nationals (UNC, UMass, Oregon, Carleton, Cal Poly SLO).
Anyone want to see this team on the opposite goal line at Nationals?
At Ultiworld, you can be sure we will be arguing both sides of this coin during the top-25 ↩
