College Power Rankings, Presented by NUTC [May 7, 2026]

The last set of rankings before Nationals! Plus, our writers predict what the future has in store for each team.

May 7, 2026 by Ultiworld in Rankings

Ultiworld’s College Power Rankings, presented by the National Ultimate Training Camp. NUTC is celebrating its 26th Anniversary this summer!

While our College Power Rankings can always be found on our permanent rankings page, every week during the season we will post the current edition here on the front page to serve as a permalink for each week’s rankings.

D-I Women’s Division Power Rankings

D-I Women’s Division Discussion

• With five bids on the line, Northwest Regionals brought the heat. UBC move up into the top three with a dominant 15-7 win over Washington to claim the region, while Oregon edged out both Western Washington and Victoria to claim third. With two wins over Washington on the season, Stanford gets the order of effects call up into the final four.
• Despite being the bid-earners this year, Notre Dame’s season ended in heartbreak to Michigan yet again, flipping the two in the rankings.
• History was made at New England Regionals, but at Northeastern’s expense. The Valkyries took losses to Vermont and unranked Brown to miss the game-to-go, paving the way for Vermont B to claim the region’s last bid.
• Washington University claim the last spot in our rankings thanks to an electric run through South Central Regionals that saw Iron Horse upset Texas, Arkansas, and Colorado State to make the final.

 

D-I Men’s Division Power Rankings

D-I Men’s Division Discussion

• UMass gets the call-up over Oregon State after a scorching run through New England Regionals, where no team scored more than nine points on Zoodisc. Vermont, however, tumbles out of the rankings altogether after losses to Tufts and Northeastern barred them even from the game-to-go.
• Pittsburgh rockets into the top 10 after spanking Penn State in the Ohio Valley final, making Nationals after a year away.
• Oh, Canada. Overall three seed Victoria drop seven spots as back-to-back universe point losses to Washington University and UBC kept them from getting to defend their bid.
• Staying in the Northwest, Washington jumps into the top 15 while Utah re-enters the rankings as both pulled off upsets — Washington over Victoria and Western Washington, Utah over UBC twice — to steal bids to Rockford.
• After what feels like years of hype, Maryland is going to Nationals, upsetting UNC Wilmington on universe point to take their bid and send the Seamen to the backend of the rankings.
• Cal and Utah Valley’s regionals struggles open the door for Davenport, who played Michigan to universe in a nailbiter of a Great Lakes championship, to end their first season in D-I in our Top 25.

 

D-III Women’s Division Power Rankings

D-III Women’s Division Discussion

• Regionals wrapped up last week, so no changes this iteration. On to Nationals!

 

D-III Men’s Division Power Rankings

D-III Men’s Division Discussion

• Colby overtook Brandeis on universe to make New England Regionals’ game-to-go and knock UNC Asheville and Portland out of the rankings, who couldn’t pull off upsets of their own at their respective regionals.
• Hillsdale is the surprise Great Lakes Nationals representative, pulling off an upset victory over top seed Asbury and definitively avenging a pool play loss to Butler in the championship game. The Chargers’ ability to throw in the notoriously windy Great Lakes should serve them well in Waukegan.

Just for subscribers, we’re taking a look into our crystal ball and predicting each team’s future!

D-I Women’s Division

Contributions from Kiana Hu, Aidan Thomas, and Keith Raynor

1. Carleton – Syzygy complete their revenge tour and their undefeated season with a universe point victory in the final, on the backs of a near-perfect game from Chagall Gelfand that solidifies her as the Player of the Year.
2. UC Santa Cruz – Being at the top of the pool causes some jitters for this up-and-coming Sol squad, but the Fury experience of Rachel Chang and Kai Agueros is enough to get them through prequarters and quarters.
3. British Columbia – Mika and Co. bring the Thunderbirds back to the final for a rematch of last year’s instant classic championship game.
4. Stanford – Windy conditions and inclement weather will propel Superfly to a reprise of their 2024 final appearance, benefiting from yet-to-be-created zones and gritty plays from up and down the roster.
5. Washington – At Nationals, Anna Pettis and Lauren Goddu will go head-to-head for most layout Ds at the tournament while the Element rookies—Annika Huliganga, Joyce Hui, and Rachel Joy Rocha—will shine on offense.
6. North Carolina – Veteran leaders Alli Reilly and Bella Russell lead UNC to two universe-point victories in pool play, returning to the bracket in triumphant fashion after a year away.
7. Tufts – Tufts breaks the curse, as Annabel White skies someone on double game point to send Ewo to semifinals after four straight years of quarterfinal exits.
8. Colorado – Ranked no higher than 7th but no lower than 8th in our power rankings all year, Quandary performs just about to seed, reaches quarterfinals and bows out there to one of the top seeds.
9. Pennsylvania – Penn’s talented throwing corps headlined by Grace Maroon pulls at least one pool play upset and returns to bracket play.
10. Oregon – Fugue continue their rise and peak at Nationals, reaching a double-game-point situation in quarterfinals for their opportunity to match preseason expectations and reach semis.
11. Western Washington – A yet-to-be recognized player will have a breakout game for WWU against Fugue in prequarters, giving them a chance to even the scorecard against their regional rivals.
12. UCLA – Sabrina Belkin leads the division in assists and propels BLU to a pool play upset.
13. Victoria – The Vikes will once again be the most fun team to play at Nationals and win the spirit award back-to-back.
14. Cal Poly SLO – ZsaZsa Gelfand will mount a credible rookie of the year campaign¹ by sending Cal Poly SLO to quarters with her deep pulls and unstoppable flick hucks.
15. UC San Diego – The elite trio of Margot Nissen, Sanam Rozycki-Shah, and Mars Bau is able to power D-Co through all sorts of defenses and scare some higher-seeded teams in their pool.
16. Vermont – A revitalized Ruckus team, returning nearly all their players from injury, is able to easily notch an upset to make the bracket.
17. Michigan – As usual, Flywheel will look extra polished come Memorial Day Weekend and put up good games against the top seeds in their pool. Previous Team USA experience will help Calliope Cutchins and Vivian Hakimi anchor a Michigan outfit that has a lot of new faces.
18. Notre Dame – Echo, who have done well to make contributors of players relatively new to the sport, develop more young talent to keep them in the Great Lakes title conversation despite saying good-bye to Lili Hobday.
19. UC Santa Barbara – Even though the Burning Skirts ultimately fell short in the game-to-go, their 2026 season has proven to be excellent training grounds for up-and-coming players that will help UCSB be a contender next year in a constricted Southwest field.
20. Georgia – Quincy Booth will once again have the most assists in the division, leading to three universe point games across the weekend.
21. Minnesota – Minnesota will continue to benefit from the burgeoning youth pipeline to take a second bid to Nationals next season.
22. Wisconsin – Bella Donna continue the momentum built in 2026 with a deep corps of capable and confident throwers and earn a second bid for the North Central in 2027.
23. UC Davis – Rogue will send more players to Tower to build the experience and toughness that will be needed to get through a Southwest region that will only get more competitive, not less.
24. Washington University – Iron Horse will accidentally get invited to a high-profile tournament in confusion with University of Washington but will prove their mettle by playing well and notching a second bid for the South Central.
25. Georgetown – 2026 might just be setting the table for the DC crew, who profile to be stocked with returners next season. Don’t be surprised if they are one of the early season’s surprise teams with eyes on a bid.

D-I Men’s Division

Contributions from Alex Rubin, Graham Gordon, and Josh Katz

1. Colorado – Third time’s a charm! Colorado follows up their finals wins over CUT at Smoky Mountain Invite and Easterns with another in the final of Nationals and complete their revenge for last year’s final. Ultiworld reporters tangle over themselves deciding between Zeke Thoreson and Tobias Brooks as the Player of the Year.
2. Carleton – Declan Miller and Nate De Morgan turn on beast mode once again, playing 75% of CUT’s bracket points as Carleton becomes the first repeat champions since 2021-2023 UNC.
3. Oregon – The return of Mica Glass to full health helps Ego finally get their win over Carleton and sets up a rematch with Colorado for the title. There, the Rockford wind makes the Pres Day Invite final look like child’s play, and Oregon crushes Colorado to end their championship drought.
4. UNC – The wheels keep turning, the Earth keeps spinning, more coaches spawn from the Chapel Hill Leadership Tree, and UNC begins another decade long semifinal streak.
5. Cal Poly SLO – The 2024 magic is still coursing through the veins of Anton Orme, Alex Nelson, and Max Gade. SLO ride a wild upset to a higher-than-expected bracket finish and crash into the semifinal round.
6. Santa Cruz – Toby Warren leads the division in hammer completions.
7. UMass – UMass plays more like the team that rolled through Regionals without allowing double digit goals than the team that played .500 ball through Smoky Mountain Invite and Easterns. Wyatt Kellman forcefully inserts himself into the player of the year conversation as UMass finds their way to a third final in four years.
8. Oregon State – Ben Thoennes leads the division in upwind assists and yards per throw, and every single game OSU plays has a scoring margin of two or fewer.
9. Pitt – The Pitt alumni and parents on the sideline will be the loudest fans at the field complex.
10. Penn State – Becker Joseph and Nolan McClintic play with poise beyond their years, cementing their names in the Rookie of the Year conversation and bringing Penn State to another quarterfinals appearance.
11. Brown – Another windy midwest Nationals is music to the ears for Brown. Their smallball offense and zone defense carries Brown far beyond expectations as they make a deep bracket push.
12. Texas – Xavier Fuzat creates enough highlights to fill another seven minute callahan video just during pool play, as Texas goes 2-2 to clinch a spot in prequarters where they give a heavy favorite a legitimate scare.
13. Georgia Tech – The Grossbergs bring the Pacmen vibes to Tribe, leading the team in “waka waka waka” cheers after every goal. They also elicit a sense of déjà vu across the fields in a double game point, comeback victory over UMass in prequarters.
14. Michigan – Aaron Bartlett leads the division in points played and assists as Michigan returns to the bracket once again.
15. Washington – The Sundodgers’ inconsistent season continues, as they manage to cobble together the exact permutation of results needed to create a five way tie at 2-2 in their pool at Nationals, which they somehow win on point differential.
16. Western Washington – Never a team to worry about starting with a low seed, DIRT rekindle last season’s magic and scrape by enough tough wins to return to the bracket.
17. Utah – Will Selfridge one-ups his double-double from last year, becoming the first player since John Stubbs to post a 20-20 statline at Nationals.
18. UBC – Rex Yuen and co. manage to stop the count and will themselves into Nationals somehow, against all odds.
19. Victoria – Upon losing their two program stalwarts in Max Pettenuzzo and Nyle Lebbell, UVic return to relative obscurity as a solid regionals-level team.
20. Minnesota – Minnesota’s connection to the strong local youth pipeline brings them back to the bid bubble in 2027, where they earn the final bid in the algorithm for the North Central.
21. Wisconsin – The Hodags have a wholly unimpressive regular season, but manage to wipe a tired Minnesota team in the G2G to make Nationals in 2027.
22. Stanford – Bloodthirsty snag another couple impressive in-region wins at a west coast tournament, but take some equally confounding losses to UC Davis or Utah Valley or something like that.
23. Maryland – Miles Grovic roofing someone is the key shot in a Nathan Kolakovic highlight reel.
24. Wilmington – Word on the street is that Christian Belus will return for a 5th year. With years of momentum building now complete, the Seamen will comfortably hold a bid position all season and return to Nationals.
25. Davenport – Davenport’s move up to D-I pays off when they announce the commitment of [insert star D-I player] as a graduate transfer, who leads them not only to their first D-I Nationals appearance in 2027, but a quarters appearance once there.

D-III Women’s Division

Contributions from Theresa Diffendal and TJ Lee

1. Haverford and Bryn Mawr – All signs point to yes for another semifinals berth for the Sneetches, and with a dominant win over Wesleyan already in the bag, we’re going a step further and predicting back-to-back championship game appearances, a program-first.
2. Middlebury – Middlebury has not missed semis in the 2020s, and there’s little chance of that changing this year…or the next. A large and athletic rookie class has the Pranksters in position to be title contenders for the foreseeable future.
3. Carleton Eclipse – Eclipse make our soon-to-be-published top player rankings look foolish and land multiple All-American selections off a deep bracket push. At some point they play Middlebury, because they always do.
4. Wesleyan – From struggling to get 10 games in, to having to play ECI with only two practices to go off of, the regular season has not been the prettiest ride for the Vicious Circles. But now that they are in the dance, the outlook is not so good for anyone who has to try and stop Wesleyan from going back to back.
5. Davenport – Despite most of their season being spent blowing out weak opponents, the Queen City Tuneup played perfectly into preparing Davenport for Nationals. A top overall seed launches the Panthers to their highest finish yet.
6. Whitman – The Sweets capitalize on the last hurrah for a full line of seniors that includes Gabbie Campebell and Ollie Fox and avenge last year’s early bracket exit, this time upsetting a higher seed.
7. Macalester – Two words: she’s back. Claire Lee has once again led the Purple Pursesnatchers back to Nationals. Now it’s time to sit back and watch her lead the field in blocks again.
8. Lewis & Clark – If a team that knows how to peak at the right time of the year, is coming off an incredible underdog run last year, and took down their biggest in-state rival en route to qualifying for Nationals again wasn’t scary enough, how about bringing back First Team All-American Amelie Steer? Artemis to make another deep bracket run? Signs point to yes.
9. St. Olaf – Facing the number one seed in pool play instead of quarterfinals this year, Vortex are able to put together a deeper bracket run, and once again take on Eclipse with the season on the line.
10. Rice – You may rely on Ria Stevens. Last year, Stevens took a relatively unknown Torque team and got them to Nationals. Now, it’s time for her to lead them into bracket play. Does Rice have enough of a supporting cast for Stevens and Callista Baker to go far next weekend? As I see it², yes.
11. Wellesley – Another season ended in heartbreak for the bid-earning Whiptails, but with a promising crop of underclass players, you can be certain they’ll be hungry to return the favor next season.
12. Rochester – With Tay Harvey back for her senior year, the outlook is strong for another instant classic of a Metro East final with Wesleyan. Hopefully though, they’ll have earned a bid this time around, and we’ll see EZ back at Nationals.
13. Winona State – With one of the strongest performances per players on the field, Winona State is here to stay. Most teams need to think about finding new stars to step up when seniors graduate. But as long as Monaz have seven, they can compete.
14. Colorado College – The moment of truth has arrived. With a strong class of seniors on their way out, Zenith will either need to make this year’s Nationals run count, work on developing their rookies, or convince more Fugue players to transfer³.
15. Kenyon – The bright lights of Nationals shouldn’t be as blinding this year, nor the injuries as untimely. Kaley Johnson leads the team in goals again, Will Johnson in assists, Ellen Chadwick in blocks, and Sadie Clark doesn’t get written about enough.
16. Portland – Another rough regionals leaves Portland on the outside looking in. It will be up to the young returners and any potential rookies to keep this team in contention next year.
17. Cedarville – Sophomore Elizabeth Hieter’s strike cuts continue to strike fear into opponents and lead Queen Bee back to the Ohio Valley game-to-go.
18. Oberlin – With strong enough underclass players to pad a universe line in Sofia Slack, Lilly Tullio, Catherine Williams, and Sasha Celimli, and the return of Angel Ma, Preying Manti earn a bid for the OV and fend off the litany of challengers.
19. Amherst – Sparkle Motion once again shock the division at regionals, going one step further as Carys Shepard leads the team to a steal a bid and a spot at Nationals.
20. Santa Clara – Rage are shocked by the comparatively kooky atmosphere of D-III Nationals…but ultimately charmed, as their projected pool features everything from scholarship program Davenport to prolific Centex dance winners Colorado College.
21. Mount Holyoke – Daisy Chain continue playing by the skin of their teeth, with Claire Willet, Eliza Williams-Derry, and Charlotte Moynihan combining for thrilling close contests.
22. Williams – Williams graduated nearly half their squad last year, and the other half were sophomores. The New England region isn’t ready for their 2027 senior hurrah.
23. Union – Anna Forbes posts a triple-double as the Jillz improve upon last year’s one-win Nationals performance.
24. Puget Sound – While other Northwest rivals graduate key players, Amity Humphrey and Luna Wagner will be primed and ready to overtake Portland for the honor of losing in the game-to-go to Lewis & Clark.
25. Trinity – Altitude have a pretty dour record against their regional rivals, with only one win all-time against Colorado College. A rising junior class that boasts some of Trinity’s strongest players like Hien Phan and Hannah Jackson could be enough to start to turn the tide back in their favor.

D-III Men’s Division

Contributions from Josh Katz and Calvin Ciorba

1. Middlebury – It is certain that Middlebury will make a seventh semis appearance in eight years. It is likely that Middlebury will make a sixth championship game appearance in the same time frame. Ask again later if they finally get their first title of the decade.
2. Lewis & Clark – The Legacy of ‘Lando gets another chapter, as Orlando Impas leads all of Nationals in assists and wills Bacchus through another series of daunting bracket games and into a second straight semifinals appearance.
3. Carleton CHOP – After a 1-2 day on Saturday, CHOP sacrifice one of their trademark Hawaiian shirts to the ultimate gods and are rewarded with a dominant sequence of bracket games en route to their first title in fourteen years.
4. Oklahoma Christian – In a rematch of last year’s testy prequarterfinal, OC’s game against Elon in pool play is an unremarkable 14-10 win that caps an unbeaten Saturday and is the catalyst for OC’s first title game appearance since 2022.
5. Claremont – Isamu Sims celebrates the final goal in an upset victory by pulling a brain-shaped cookie out of his pocket and taking a bite out of it right in front of the camera.
6. Elon – A strong senior class led by Reed Burkert should be more than enough to make a repeat quarters appearance at Nationals. Going a step or two farther is also possible, if not probable, if Brayden Morrison goes on an all-time heater.
7. Macalester – Kyle and Owen Suelflow swap jerseys after every point, frustrating statkeepers, reporters, and opposing coaches alike. And at the Donovan Award ceremony, both Suelflows head onto the field in identical outfits to force the committee to accept their dual nomination.
8. Franciscan – Franciscan’s pool goes according to seed, but every other pool shakes out in the right combinations for Fatal to win a title without ever beating a team ranked above them.
9. St. Olaf – Jonas Geere has a combined 11G/11A across his two previous Nationals appearances for the Zerks. A glance into the crystal ball reveals he matches each of those numbers exactly in Waukegan.
10. Williams – It’s tradition that Williams puts a player on the ROTY podium every year they make Nationals. We’ll predict it’s Ryder White here, but don’t be surprised if it’s Rigel Velez instead.
11. Whitman – One year after their rivals had their dream-like run to a championship, it’s Whitman’s time to turn years of quarterfinal defeats into something far more valuable.
12. Bowdoin – Bowdoin’s lack of depth forces them to make some strategic choices in pool play, seeing them advance but into an extremely difficult prequarters matchup that Clown are unable to overcome.
13. Berry Despite missing the bracket the last two years, Berry will pull off a pool play upset and return once more after a Mikey Curtis legacy game.
14. Colorado Mines – True to their name, Entropy pull off multiple upsets at Nationals, knocking out at least one genuine contender in the process. They also get upset themselves at some point, throwing the entire tournament into chaos.
15. Ave Maria – They can’t lose a heartbreaker to Berry every year, right? Next year is the year for Ave Maria to finally make Nationals, after they spend the whole season gameplanning solely for the inevitable Berry matchup.
16. Richmond – The presence of two Richmond alums on the writing staff will keep the Spidermonkeys prominent in our coverage, even as the highs of the first half of the decade slip further away.
17. Colorado College – After failing to make Nationals every year since their championship in 2023, Wasabi won’t earn a bid next year, but in fact steal one to return to the big dance.
18. Rochester – Cameron Lowe plays every point for the Piggies at Nationals and breaks Jacob Felton’s record for most combined goals and assists in one tournament (61).
19. Santa Clara – In year two in D-III, SCAB rework their tournament plans to get more reps against in-division foes, and it pays off with a second bid for the Southwest and a trip to Nationals.
20. Oberlin – Inspired by the play of Carlos Sofge-Osorio, the Horsecows corner the market on three name players, convincing Louis Douville Beaudoin and Oliver van Linder to spend their last year of eligibility wreaking havoc on Ohio.
21. Truman State – This was the first year Truman State has had a real coaching staff, and with another year of development, the future is bright.
22. Kenyon – With Tobias Hughes and his small-ball style gone, Kenyon rebuilds the offense around Aidan Martin-Weinbaum’s deep cutting. That, and a newfound commitment to remembering the blowout rule, gets SERF back to Nationals in 2027.
23. Colby – The overbearing federal government files a patent on the CDC acronym, forcing a rebrand to Colby Force Backhand Initiative.
24. Brandeis – Continued development from Ryan Carmichael and Nathaniel Friedman gets Brandeis near, but ultimately just a few points away from, a strength bid for New England. Instead, they steal one at Regionals.
25. Hillsdale – In wild and windy conditions at Nationals, Jake Hamilton’s throwing powers Hillsdale to enough upwind scores to score an upset or two, sending the Chargers to an unlikely bracket appearance.

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1. yes, I know Chloe Hakimi is basically a lock ↩

2. And I actually got to see said supporting cast at confregionals ↩

3. Shoutout Evie Wagner ↩