On the ninth day of Christmas Ultiworld gave to me...nine tournaments that will define the college season!
December 20, 2025 by TJ Lee, Kiana Hu and Aidan Thomas in Preview
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2026 college season 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.
It’s time to unwrap some presents as we introduce the 12 Days of College Ultimate. For the next 12 days, we will be releasing one gift per day, though don’t count on getting any holiday fowl: it’s all college ultimate. From highlight videos to player chatter to a season predictions, we’ve got a little something for everyone.
On the ninth day of the 12 Days of College Ultimate, we’re taking a birds-eye view of the tournament calendar and highlighting the weekends to watch!
Santa Barbara Invite
The first stop on the unofficial Southwest College Triple Crown Tour, SBI is always a highly anticipated tournament if for no other reason than being the first major debut of the college season. As if the slate of Southwest contenders isn’t enough (especially in the women’s division)1, the crop of power ranked teams at SBI has steadily increased in recent years, with teams like Carleton and UBC in the women’s division and Oregon and Washington in the men’s division making the trek to sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny Santa Barbara.
For many rookies, it’ll be their first experience of the razzle dazzle of college ultimate: Ultiworld streams, observers enforcing offsides, and real bracket elimination games. For parents and supporters, this will be their first opportunity to get a glimpse of their favorite players on the big screen. After all, SBI is where storylines are created (or in rare cases, where they go to die).
Plus, SBI = See BYU In action. It’s always hard to predict what might happen in those Friday night showcase games, since BYU’s regular absence from Nationals makes them a bit of a dark horse going into the following season. Just take a look at their results from the past few years, where upsets and close games abounded.
Smoky Mountain Invite
The Smoky Mountain Invite provides an early-season barometer test that sometimes exposes potential contenders as fraudulent and sets up other teams as title favorites heading into the second half of the regular season. In each of the last years, we’ve seen some breakouts and flops in Knoxville that hinted at results yet to come. In 2024, 13th-seeded Colorado and 15th-seeded NC State both went 4-2 with a series of upsets. Colorado went on to make semifinals at Nationals, and NC State pulled one of the most shocking upsets in recent Nationals history with a prequarters win over UMass, one of 2024’s title favorites.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows however – Smoky Mountain Invite is a harsh wake-up call for some teams. Last year, tenth-seeded Pittsburgh went 0-3 in pool play, and sixth-seed Georgia flamed out in bracket play, falling to a 15th place finish. Jojah later needed a huge regionals comeback to make Nationals, where they couldn’t make it out of pool play, while Pitt didn’t make the field at all. In 2024, seventh-seeded Tufts crashed out to the tune of 1-5 at SMI and then failed to make Nationals.
Good or bad, Smoky Mountain will provide many of 2026’s title contenders and Nationals contenders a chance to take a look in their mirror and get an honest assessment of their potential in the months to come.
Northwest Challenge
There’s a reason why Northwest Challenge – specifically the women’s division – has a reputation for being something of a “mini Nationals.” Usually one of the last tournaments before the post season, Northwest Challenge tends to draw the best of the best, with nine out of the top ten ranked teams in attendance in 2025. Since it’s right around spring break, it’s also a great tournament to tack on at the beginning or end of a week-long trip, for the teams that have to fly all the way across the country anyways.
All that provides the perfect backstage for some of college frisbee’s most iconic moments. Remember when Carleton ended the infamous UNC streak in 2024? How about when the seemingly invincible 2025 UBC squad showed their first signs of mortality in a 13-7 loss to Colorado? Who’s to say what could happen in 2026. But whatever happens, Northwest Challenge is the tournament to pay attention to if you’re looking to get an early scoop on 2026 College Championship predictions.
As for me, I’m waiting for the Seattle showdown between Washington and Carleton to find out which team is really the hometown favorite (just kidding, it has to be Washington. Right?)
Presidents’ Day Invite
Buckle up folks, this year’s Presidents’ Day is going to be a SHOW. The three-day tournament in beautiful San Diego already has a lot going for it: (usually) nice weather, a whole extra day of frisbee, and arguably some of the best post-tournament chows. The long weekend means an extended format with power pools, which will also test the depth of every team in attendance. What’s not to like about more match-ups, more frisbee, and more beach time?
If you’re not already excited, this year’s team list is shaping up to have some thrilling match-ups. In the women’s division, we may just get a rematch of the 2025 College Championship final between UBC and Carleton. And the stadium at the RIMAC fields certainly make for a great final viewing! But don’t write those two teams into the PDI final too quickly. 2025 semifinalist Washington and quarterfinalists Colorado, Oregon, and Stanford might just have something to say in a surprisingly crowded field. The men’s division is looking just as promising, with perennial attendees and perennial top programs Colorado, Oregon, and Cal Poly SLO leading the pack amidst a strong Southwest contingent.
Easterns
Easterns is an intriguing tournament because it’s the last major tournament before the postseason, and the field starts too look similar to what that Nationals field will look like. In 2025, the top six seeds at Easterns were the same teams as the top six seeds at Nationals, with a slight mix-up in the exact order. In fact, the last time the eventual national champion was not a top-seven seed at Easterns was 2014 – when eventual champion Colorado wasn’t in the field. 2017 Carleton was the last national champion who didn’t win their pool at Easterns. So not to say you can completely eliminate the majority of teams from title contention, but history proves you’re probably down to a core half-dozen contenders or so.
Meanwhile, as one of the final regular season tournaments, this event serves as a crucial clash in the bid-earning picture. Last year, New England entered Easterns with some potential at earning five bids for their gauntlet of a region. After Vermont scuffled to a 2-5 record and 16th-place finish, while Tufts also failed to hold seed, New England dropped to three bids in a region with five Nationals-caliber teams, so look for key bid storylines to rule the day in the Carolinas in late March.
East Coast Invite
This tournament’s intrigue has been longstanding, but for two completely different reasons. This tournament brought top east coast women’s teams in 2024, with eventual national champion UNC falling in the tournament final to eventual national semifinalist Vermont. However last year, with the tournament falling just one week after the Northwest Challenge, many of the elite squads opted out of ECI, leaving a weaker field, headlined by the no.1 team in the country in Tufts and backed up by a whole lot of teams searching for an opportunity to earn their way to Nationals.
Last year, Notre Dame Echo was the major story of this tournament, as the eighth-seeded Great Lakes squad went on a furious run to the title game in an effort to earn their region a second bid. They fell decimal points shy via the rating system after a championship loss to Tufts. Along the way, bid-earning hopes went by the wayside for Virginia Hydra (after a blowout loss to Echo), second-seeded Northeastern (who went 0-4 in pool play) and Ohio Valley squads UPenn and Ohio State, both of whom suffered damaging bracket play losses.
Ultimately, in 2025, there was a lot of teams that were left just out of the bid-earning pictures after the chaos in Frederica – expect similar drama in 2026.
D-III Grand Prix
As entertaining and intense the Lewis & Clark Bacchus vs. Whitman Sweets matchup is in the men’s division, it’s the women’s side of Portland’s premier round robin tournament that really shines. Last year four different regions were represented (Northwest, North Central, Southwest, and the South Central) and four of the teams that went to Grand Prix went on to qualify for Nationals. Carleton Eclipse finished last year’s Grand Prix with a dominant 7-0 record, only giving up double digit points twice. Colorado College Zenith and Portland UPRoar finished more in the middle of the pack.
But one thing all three teams have in common is a postseason performance that ended earlier than many expected (Carleton lost in prequarters, while Colorado College and Portland missed Nationals all together). Mirroring the opening statement, the battle for Northwest supremacy continues with Lewis & Clark Artemis vs the Whitman Sweets, but keep an eye out for upstart Puget Sound Clearcut, who got a taste of Nationals last year after a shocking regionals run.
And you can’t forget the oddball of this primarily D-III tournament, the Oregon State Dinos. The D-I team from Corvallis is not the same kind of juggernaut as other Oregon schools are, but their consistent appearance in tournaments across Oregon, Washington, and California will act as a vital piece of connectivity between the West Coast and Midwest teams.
D-III Easterns
Easterns is a great tournament to preview how title contenders shape up when pitted against each other, and last year was the first time in a while that D-III got to really see what that looks like. This was the tournament where Elon Big Fat Bomb showed they were one of the teams to beat after taking down Middlebury, defending runners-up Williams, and got revenge over Wesleyan after a day one pool play loss.
Five of the fourteen teams in attendance went on to Nationals, four went on to make bracket play, and the two eventual finalists also had respectable runs. With strength bids becoming more and more important in D-III with a bevvy of teams showing they have what it takes to fight for the championship, expect everyone to be going all out in this classic end-of-season showdown.
See 12 Days of College Ultimate 2026: 5 Captivating Regional Rivalries ↩
