The college season begins.
January 26, 2026 by Alex Rubin in Preview, Recap
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.
Throughout the spring season, we’ll publishing a bite-sized weekly recap of the action across the college division. This will serve as a supplement to our standard tournament reporting and offer a high-level look at the latest happenings and the biggest stories of the week.
Want your tournament listed? Submit a recap of what happened right here.
D-I Women’s
Round 1 to the Challengers
#2 Carleton Syzygy started their 2026 season by taking home the Santa Barbara Invite title; last season’s runners-up overcame #1 British Columbia Thunderbirds 12-10 in the tournament final, the first of what could be several rematches of the 2025 title game. Rookie sensation Chloe Hakimi made her much anticipated debut, and she closed a fantastic weekend with the tournament-winning throw.
Syzygy and UBC were a class above the rest of a strong field, winning their semifinals by identical 13-4 margins. At times #7 Colorado Quandary, #11 UC Santa Cruz Sol, and #5 Stanford Superfly stood out, but none of them could really challenge the top two teams.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the event. Reporter Kiana Hu was on the ground sending live updates in the Ultiworld Discord; you can read her Day One Recap here. Ultiworld recorded ten games from the weekend that subscribers can watch in the video library.
Weather Delay
Carolina Kickoff was cancelled as freezing weather enveloped most of the Eastern United States. Unfortunately, that means we won’t see #6 North Carolina Pleiades or #23 American Dirty Ladies until later this season.
Around the Division
- Nobody went undefeated at New Year Fest, but Grand Canyon FalLopes pulled out the tournament win, taking down Arizona State Caliente in a close final to avenge their loss during Saturday’s pool play. It is the second straight season GCU has reached the final at the event.
Looking Ahead
Stanford Open, Antifreeze, and Winta Binta Vinta (rescheduled due to inclement weather) are all on the schedule for this upcoming week.
D-I Men’s
Oh! Canada!
To the shock of many onlookers, #22 Victoria Vikes won this year’s Santa Barbara Invite with a 13-10 victory over #15 Utah Zion Curtain. Max Pettenuzzo and Nyle Lebbell each had weekends to remember as UVic swept through the tournament undefeated. The game ended with a layout callahan.
The most shocking result of the weekend is surely Stanford Bloodthirsty’s 13-12 quarterfinal upset over #6 Cal Poly SLO SLOCORE. Stanford benefitted from the stellar play of Alex Belfiore and McGill transfer handler Fritz Rehmus. This is the first Santa Barbara Invite since 2018 that did not feature SLO in the final1 though they were able to take down #8 BYU CHI during their annual Friday night showcase game.
CHI also suffered through one of their worst SBI showings in recent memory, winning just two games (their fewest since 2016). BYU are as exciting as ever with Everrett Saunders and Mitchell Burt targeting each other in the deep space to much success, but did not play with the kind of consistency seen in years past.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the event. You can read Edward Stephen’s Day One Recap here. Ultiworld recorded ten games from the weekend that subscribers can watch in the video library.
Last Week’s Action
There was only one tournament to take place last week, which did not merit its own full College Update, but I’d be remiss not to mention it now. #3 Oregon Ego, reportedly shorthanded, won PacCon with a 15-9 victory in the final over #9 Oregon State Beavers. Ego already beat #7 Western Washington Dirt 15-12 in pool play. Oregon State took down Western Washington 14-13 in a tight semifinal to set an early pecking order in the Northwest (though, strong performances at SBI from UVic and Utah surely puts them into the regional conversation as well).
Around the Division
- Arizona State Prime beat Colorado-B CUCU 15-10 to win New Year Fest.
Looking Ahead
Fans are treated to two premier tournaments next weekend: our cameras will be streaming from Florida Warm Up (featuring #1 Carleton CUT, #4 Massachusetts Zoodisc, #8 BYU CHI, #10 Texas TUFF, #11 Michigan MagnUM, #14 Georgia Tech Tribe #16 Brown Brownian Motion, #17 Vermont Chill, #19 Pittsburgh En Sabah Nur, #21 Minnesota Men’s Ultimate, and #24 Tufts E-Men), and there’s also Carolina Kickoff (featuring #5 North Carolina Darkside, and the D-I debut of the Davenport Panthers). Regional events on the schedule include Marsh Madness, Big D in Little D, and Mid Atlantic Warmup (rescheduled due to inclement weather).
D-III Women’s
No Games This Week…
…but we still have coverage! Stay tuned for Ultiworld’s College Primers later this week. Reporters from each division will cover all of the major storylines for this season, top players to watch, and offer bold takes ahead of the 2026 season. Can’t wait that long? Our preseason Power Rankings are published, setting the scene ahead of a competitive season.
D-III Men’s
Colorado Mines in Action
In the first D-III action of the season, Colorado Mines Orediggers went undefeated during pool play at New Year Fest, including a win over eventual tournament champions Arizona State. However, they fell in the semifinal to D-I’s Colorado-B CUCU.
Looking Ahead
There are no D-III specific events this weekend, but #1 Middlebury Pranksters, #5 Ave Maria Gyrenes, #6 Oklahoma Christian Eagles, and #21 Berry Bucks will be in action at Florida Warm-Up. #2 Carleton CHOP are set to make their annual trip down to Carolina Kickoff as well. Additionally, #13 Richmond Spidermonkeys will play at Mid-Atlantic Warm Up alongside fellow AC teams Christopher Newport Skymaul and Mary Washington Mother of George.
or de facto final in the case of 2022’s power pool format ↩
