May 13, 2026 by Aidan Thomas and Josh Katz in Opinion
Our coverage of the 2026 college Series is presented by Spin Ultimate. Please support the brands that make Ultiworld possible and shop at Spin Ultimate!
The 2026 USA Ultimate D-I College Championships pools and seeding just dropped, and we’ve already got our eye on a ton of marquee games, the pool of death, the most interesting upset spots, and more.
Here’s what we’re looking at in the Men’s Division.
Four Pool Play Matchups To Be Excited For
Utah vs. Georgia Tech
Pool A is a nightmare, and which teams will qualify for the bracket is really anyone’s guess. Utah’s Will Selfridge put up video game numbers at Nationals last year and has once again dragged Zion Curtain to the big dance. On the other side, we get the Grossberg brothers on the (College) Nationals stage for the first time. If one of them can also swing an upset against Texas or UC Santa Cruz, this game has immediate bracket ramifications.
UMass vs. Pitt
UMass Zoodisc and Pitt En Sabah Nur played an extremely entertaining game at Florida Warm Up, but we haven’t gotten a rematch yet this season. Until now. Wyatt Kellman and Ethan Lieman against Micah Davis and Ezra Beidler-Shenk? Two teams with great offenses and defenses that don’t pack quite the same punch? Sign me up.
Michigan vs. Brown
A regular season rematch between two teams very familiar with this stage should be quite the fun clash, especially if we can see some real ultimate this time around after the windfest that was their Florida Warm Up clash. Michigan, everyone’s favorite regular season sandbaggers, will need to pull one upset by seed to make the bracket, and they’re notorious for strategically resting players against top seeds in order to maximize their chances at advancing. So expect that Michigan will not go all out for a win against Colorado, instead loading up for a spirited run at Oregon State, Brown, and Maryland.
Brown will be an intriguing clash as this team has national title winning experience on their roster, despite missing the tournament last year. For Michigan, it’s the Aaron Bartlett show. For Brown, they lack a Bartlett-esque star, but they have an army of capable contributors led by Jason Tapper, Nolan McCloskey, Owen Erdman, and more. Can a deeper Brownian Motion stave off Bartlett’s star power and a Magnum side notorious for pool play upsets?
UNC vs. UMass
Hard to not be excited about this matchup. You have UMass’s regional dominance to thank that we get this matchup instead of UNC-SLO, a matchup that ended 13-6 at Easterns. UMass was the preseason favorite for that fourth semifinalist slot, but they were usurped by UNC (and others) while they struggled to stay healthy during the regular season. Now seemingly healthy, Zoodisc came into form at Regionals and may be the biggest darkhorse to a team outside the vaunted big three winning the title. Darkside-Zoodisc for the right to (potentially) win the pool and (potentially) avoid Carleton in the quarterfinals is must-see ultimate.
3 Losers, 2 Winners, 1 Bold Prediction From the Pool Play Draw
Winner: Oregon
Although they get stuck in a brutal Pool A, Oregon is the winner by the virtue of not having to face Carleton or Colorado until the final, if games go to seed. In a season where there are three behemoths in the college game, the winner is the one that doesn’t necessarily have to face both of the others.
Loser: Colorado
For the same reason Oregon is a winner, Colorado is a loser, and they probably feel a little bit slighted with the #2 seed after a one-loss season and two elite tournament victories. But a 7-point loss to the only team in the same algorithmic conversation as you is hard to ignore, regardless of how much people may cry foul in regards to rainy weather and narrow fields. There’s not much Mamabird can do about it now: they must, in all likelihood, go through Carleton and then Oregon for a potential championship. Slip up in pool play and they could be faced with a quarterfinal against Ego, a true nightmare scenario.
Winner: Cal Poly SLO
First off, Cal Poly SLO avoids a rematch with UNC in pool play, a game that did not go well for them at Easterns. Secondly, SLO has put themselves in a position where, if they hold seed, they will not have to run into Colorado or Oregon until semifinals, a huge boon for any slight title hopes they are harboring. I wouldn’t be shocked to see SLO run a little more depth than expected against Carleton in pool play to prioritize those other three games and a favorable bracket draw.
Loser: UNC
Yes, they’re the #4 seed, as expected. But the pool draw is just horrible for Darkside. They get UMass, who is on a rocket ship in terms of their caliber of play right now. They get Pitt, who already beat them this year. And then they get Western Washington, a 16-seed who made quarterfinals last year as an 18-seed and has one of the best players in college in Eli Diamond.
At least they get to face Yale.
Loser: UC Santa Cruz
A year after crashing out and finishing tied for 19th as the tournament’s 7th seed, UC Santa Cruz is back for revenge, and while the Banana Slugs have every bit the talent to get to the semifinals, they first must deal with the Pool of Death that is Pool A. Georgia Tech beat UCSC earlier this year, Utah is easily the most dangerous of the bottom seeds across all pools, and Texas is no cakewalk, slotting into that 12th seed for the third straight season.
UC Santa Cruz is deeper this year, and Toby Warren is a stud, but you have to absolutely hate this path to a 2026 revenge tour for the Banana Slugs.
Best Potential Prequarters and Quarterfinals Matchups if Games Go to Seed?
Prequarter: Oregon State Beavers vs. Penn State Spank
A great matchup of two teams that are simply fun to watch. Plus, you get OSU’s star seniors (Felix Moren, Ben Thoennes, Callahan Bosworth) against Penn State’s rookie duo of Nolan McClintic and Becker Joseph. – Josh Katz
Prequarter: UC Santa Cruz vs. Pitt
This would be a highly entertaining matchup. I’m not entirely positive there would be a break in this game, which could just make for a thrilling battle where it feels like any turn could be a death knell. We missed seeing Toby Warren in bracket play last year, and we missed seeing Micah Davis at Nationals altogether, so this would be a great matchup to make up for the fact. – Aidan Thomas
Quarterfinal: UNC Darkside vs Cal Poly-SLO Slocore
It’s a phenomenal matchup alone just to get to watch Anton Orme and Josh Singleton. Throw in that it’s a rematch of the legendary 2024 semifinal that ended UNC’s chances of a historic four-peat? I’m getting too excited for this and will be incredibly upset if we don’t get it. – Josh Katz
Quarterfinal: Carleton vs. UMass
I take this in a heartbeat. I personally think UMass will take Pool D, but if they don’t, I’ll gladly take the defending champs against a deeply talented UMass team finally getting healthy and hitting their stride. I’d almost go so far as to say the winner of this game might be my national title pick, but I’m not sure I’m ready to go there…yet. – Aidan Thomas
Most Likely to NOT Win Their Pool Between Oregon, Colorado, and Carleton?
Josh: Oregon, by sole virtue of the fact that they’ve shown a lower floor than Colorado and Carleton. Colorado’s only loss this year is to Oregon. Carleton’s only losses are to Colorado. Oregon has a loss to Pittsburgh (with Mica Glass in the lineup!). The only way I see any of these three not winning their pool is by losing to the second seed, and I’d say UC Santa Cruz has the best chance between them, Oregon State, and SLO to make that upset happen.
Aidan: I’d typically say Oregon for similar reasons, but I think that Pool A is so deep that even if Oregon dropped a game, they still might win that pool. I’ll go to Carleton, where, if SLO brings their best stuff, they could upset CUT, and none of the rest of Pool C feels like they could cause enough chaos to then knock off SLO.
Bottom 8 Seed with the Best Draw to Make a Bracket Run?
Josh: I think Western Washington DIRT is the best team in the bottom eight, but their draw in Pool D is incredibly difficult, as is a probable prequarter against UC Santa Cruz. Move them up or down a seed, and I’d pick them to make quarters, but I don’t love their chances against any of the top three seeds in their pool. So give me Michigan MagnUM, who I can easily see finishing second in Pool B, especially if they repeat their strategic player usage from last year’s Nationals to maximize Aaron Bartlett’s effectiveness. From 2B, they’d get a likely prequarter against Penn State and a quarter against Oregon. That’s about as good as Michigan can expect as far as a potential semis run.
Aidan: While I agree that Western Washington has a tough draw in Pool D, I’m still picking Dirt. Western Washington, I suspect, may sell out for a win against Pitt in pool play. I think if they pull that off and topple Yale, they’ll likely have the advantage of playing conservatively against UNC and UMass, only pushing for an upset if they get out to an early advantage. That would set up Dirt for a pre-quarterfinal against somebody in Pool A. Barring Oregon shockingly falling from their perch atop the pool, does anyone think Eli Diamond and Western Washington could not defeat one of UC Santa Cruz, Texas, Georgia Tech, or Utah? Especially given that quartet will have dueled it out with each other with all four teams feeling like they could feasibly win two pool play games and make the bracket. At that point, Dirt’s fresher legs and the star power of Eli Diamond might even make Western Washington a favorite in that matchup. It feels like Dirt is two manageable upsets away from quarterfinals with this draw.
Individual Matchup You’re Excited to See in Pool Play?
Josh: This is an easy one – and there’s actually two matchups I’m excited to see in the same game. Sam Grossberg vs. Xavier Fuzat is a classic example of two guys who can stuff the box score and put up tons of highlights in the process. But as a sub-plot, Owen Johnson vs. Stefan McCall, two rookies who have had very different trajectories for their seasons. Johnson has been earning plaudits all season for his explosiveness and knack for finding the end zone. McCall has been limited by injuries, but he was excellent when healthy at Florida Warm Up. These two (along with SLO’s Henry Garcia) have been my favorite rookies to watch this year.
Aidan: I’m really looking forward to Anton Orme vs. Declan Miller or Nate De Morgan, as I believe both matchups will be excellent. Orme will hit the ground with great frequency and play a ton of points for SLO next weekend. Miller and De Morgan are both fantastic defensive players and should be in Orme’s back pocket when they draw the matchup, and Orme is sure to return the favor when he gets the opportunity. Regardless of the combination, it’ll be a showdown of two top 10 players in the game with a potential bye to quarterfinals on the line.
What’s the Biggest Upset by Seed Differential in Pool Play?
Josh: Let’s go with a big one here: No.16 Western Washington takes down No.5 UMass. I know I just said I don’t like Western’s draw in Pool D, but I do like them as a team (and especially Eli Diamond and Zoli Ishikawa-Szabo). This matchup is the first of the tournament for both teams, and UMass have been prone to slow starts this year. In tournament openers (in the regular season), they’ve got a narrow win over Pitt, a double game point loss to Georgia Tech, and a large loss to Carleton. If they don’t show up ready to go to start Nationals, Western Washington could absolutely put them in a huge hole immediately.
Aidan: I alluded to Western Washington beating Pitt earlier, and with Josh already picking a WWU upset, I’ll go a different route. I like that concept of a favorite being a little sleepy in the opener, and I think another prime game to look at is No. 18 Maryland vs. No. 11 Brown. Maryland has some stars in Miles Grovic and Isaac Lee that can make big plays and navigated through three elimination games at Regionals including the big upset over UNC Wilmington to seal their Nationals bid. They are not as deep as Brown, but I think Brown might be eyeing that big Michigan matchup later in the day, and Maryland will have fresh legs and can run Grovic and Lee out on most points in one of their best opportunities at landing a Nationals win.
