One region, one bid: spotlight on the Great Lakes!
April 16, 2026 by TJ Lee in Preview
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2026 college ultimate 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.
There are few more exciting portions of the ultimate calendar than spring College Regionals. For some, these events will be the culmination of a season — or even college career — while for others it’s just another step on their path toward the D-III College Championships in just over a month. Count on plenty of dramatic action and unexpected results along the way as every team fights to ensure they fall into the latter group.
In contrast to a jam-packed opening postseason weekend, this weekend features just one region, with only one bid up for grabs; the rest will be decided next week. We’ve got you covered on the teams and storylines to watch!
Great Lakes
Score Reporter
Location: Bourbonnais, IL
Number of Bids: 1
Expected Qualifier: #6 Davenport
In the Hunt: Knox, Butler
Potential Spoilers: North Park
Excitement Level: 🔥
Ending the regular season as the definitive one seed is Davenport. The Panthers have only given up double digit scores three times all season1, all against top 25 ranked teams, and there is a very high chance that does not change this weekend. Lanie O’Neill’s new role as a coach seems to have helped keep the team in a good position, and Davenport’s scholarship program has bolstered the ranks with experienced new Panthers in grad students Aiva Zoldan and Elleythea Smith and first years Charlee Tannahill and Kira Straub.
Normally the only concern for a weekend like this is giving up a few too many goals in a win and losing algorithm points (which don’t even matter in the postseason). But with their most recent performance at Spring Skirmish where they notched three bagels and gave up a total of six goals across seven games, Davenport knows how to put teams away.
Butler Hot Dawgs are the only other team in attendance this weekend that has two lines worth of players on the roster. The defending region runner-ups will be looking to claim that title, although they will once again have to break seed to do it.
Knox Alley Cats and North Park Allihopa are the only other teams to have played even one tournament this year, Corny Classic. North Park, however, forfeited their Sunday games, leaving just one win between the two teams. Knox does have one player from their last Nationals attendance in 2023 in Sarah Strauss, but barring some heinous weather — and the forecast does predict 15+ mph wind all weekend — neither look like they will have what it takes to make the push against the divisional juggernaut on Sunday.
In their first three games of the season, in fact ↩
