We reveal our preseason Top 25 for the 2026 D-I college season, finishing with the top five contenders.
January 16, 2026 by Ultiworld in Rankings
Ultiworld’s College Power Rankings, presented by the National Ultimate Training Camp!
We are excited to present the 2026 preseason College Power Rankings! As we head into a new season, we’ve looked at past performance, roster changes, preseason results, and more to figure out how we think the team could stack up this season. Take a look at our first rankings set of the spring college season and read up about each Top 25 team.
We will be counting down our rankings in three parts:
- #25 to #16
- #15 to #6
- The Top 5
D-I Women’s
Contributions from Bridget Mizener, Kiana Hu, Laura Osterlund, and Edward Stephens
1. British Columbia Thunderbirds
2025 Finish: #1 in Power Rankings, 1st at Nationals, 33-2 record
Scanning the reigning champs’ roster has to be disheartening for the rest of the division. Mika Kurahashi is back, as are Ella Bolan, Amelie Marshall, and Claire Weng; in all, the Thunderbirds’ top seven assist-throwers and top nine goal-scorers from last year’s College Championships will suit up again in 2026. Talk about continuity. Plus, they add U24 stud Grace Liu. No reason UBC should start anywhere other than #1.
2. Carleton Syzygy
2025 Finish: #2 in Power Rankings, 2nd at Nationals, 29-3 record
Carleton’s bountiful Seattle pipeline has already been talked about plenty, but besides adding household name Chloe Hakimi, they also pick up ROTY candidates in Helen Burruss and Emily Kretschmer. Adding to a disciplined, proven team which was devastatingly close to a title in 2025, Carleton’s biggest problem for the 2026 season may just be figuring out what to do with too many cooks in the kitchen.
3. Washington Element
2025 Finish: #3 in Power Rankings, T-3rd at Nationals, 24-11 record
Element’s young core powered them to the semifinal last year — could they go all the way in 2026? The time is now for Washington, with vets Sophia Palmer and Savanna Tucker in their final years of eligibility. If Lauren Goddu makes the leap from great to dominant and second-year phenoms Rowan Lymp and Isabella Pharr continue to develop on pace, Element’s ceiling is a championship.
4. Oregon Fugue
2025 Finish: #7 in Power Rankings, T-5th at Nationals, 23-13 record
With no official announcement, it’s hard to tell how the Fugue roster will look. But it’s safe to bet that with Trout Weybright, Syris Linkfield, and Acacia Hahn entering their senior years, not to mention the talents of Miko Magnant and the addition of Lilly Hodges, Oregon is in the perfect position to make a deep Nationals run. With their eyes on the prize, there’s no doubt Fugue will be a massive force to be reckoned with.
5. Stanford Superfly
2025 Finish: #8 in Power Rankings, T-5th at Nationals, 25-15 record
Welcome back, Esther Filipek! The sparkplug handler returns for a final season after a year of roaming the sidelines with an injury. She and fellow southpaw Harper Baer form one of the most imposing batteries in the division, and they’ve got plenty of extra talent around them – Shevaun Yip, Dora McCotter-Hulett, Sage McGinley-Smith, Amelia Hawkins – to return Superfly to their traditional place in the highest spheres of college ultimate.
D-I Men’s
Contributions from Graham Gordon, Josh Katz, Alex Rubin, and Edward Stephens
1. Carleton CUT
2025 Finish: #1 in Power Rankings, 1st at Nationals, 34-3 record
CUT feel very primed to be among the division’s best again after a 2025 where they peaked at the right time to win the title. They lose Daniel Chen, Cullen Baker, and Bobby Eleveld, but their core led by reigning PoTY Declan Miller, an extremely talented sophomore class, and three rookies on the USA U20 team hasn’t gone anywhere.
2. Colorado Mamabird
2025 Finish: #2 in Power Rankings, 2nd at Nationals, 30-6 record
Any other year, you’d think the talent Mamabird have would make them an easy title favorite. Tobias Brooks, Zeke Thoreson, Ryan Shigley, and Sam Kilgore all made awards podiums last year, to say nothing of the skills of Nanda Min-Fink, Elliot Hawkins, Tucker Kalmus, and many others. And yet, Mamabird enter the year looking up at CUT, as they go in search of their first title in over a decade.
3. Oregon Ego
2025 Finish: #5 in Power Rankings, T-3rd at Nationals, 37-6 record
Oregon brings back most of the talent that led their roster to their best season of the post-COVID era. Mica Glass, Raekwon Adkins, and Aaron Kaplan all have club titles to their names and they’re hoping to lead Ego to a college championship too. Since 2022, Oregon has improved every year, so they’ll at least have their sights set on advancing to the final this time around if not outright winning it.
4. UMass Zoodisc
2025 Finish: #4 in Power Rankings, T-3rd at Nationals, 32-5 record
No school – not Carleton, not Colorado, not Oregon – has recruited better this decade than UMass. So far the fruits of that labor have been great – a championship appearance and a semis appearance – but have fallen short of the ultimate goal. Wyatt Kellman, Gavin Abrahamsson, Ethan Lieman, and company will be on a mission to clear that final hurdle this spring.
5. North Carolina Darkside
2025 Finish: #3 in Power Rankings, T-5th at Nationals, 37-5 record
Last season, Darkside were literal centimeters away from extending their decade-long semifinal streak. This season, they’ll have the chance to start a new one. With Josh Singleton charging through the lanes and Matthew Barcellos handling the backfield pace-setting, UNC has a very, very high ceiling. For a team that always seems to unearth key role players, we might need to wait until March or April to determine this team’s potential.
