With only a few weeks left in the club regular season, keep your eye on these crucial matchups that will likely decide bids to San Diego
August 20, 2026 by Aidan Thomas in Opinion
Ultiworld’s coverage of the 2026 club 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.
The Line brings together lists of sevens from our reporting staff.
The U.S. Open feels like the launch of the club season, even though it actually marks something closer to the halfway point. We’ve now gotten at least some sample of pretty much every team, including any that figure to be a title contender in their division. Across all divisions, availability and injuries force us to draw conclusions from games played with incomplete rosters.
However, these games all count, and the bid-earning picture, while far from complete, is starting to take shape. Here are the most intriguing bid battles and game-to-go possibilities, as it stands across all three divisions. Some of these scenarios – delightful for fans of chaos and stressful for teams chasing Nationals – depend on very specific bid numbers. So consider this article a rooting guide for the results needed to make them happen in September.
The Current Bid Picture
Mixed
Men’s
Women’s
Honorable Mention: Northeast Men’s Race for the Third Bid
If you’ve read my Line pieces before, you know I love finding ways to sneak an eighth player on the line. This one gets honorable mention because there’s a real chance this doesn’t even develop, and the Northeast turns into a pretty boring two-bid region in which #4 New York PoNY and #6 Boston DiG comfortably waltz into Nationals.
However, if there’s a third bid, much like last season, when sixth-seeded Portland Red Tide stole the final berth, the race for Nationals gets thrilling. Red Tide, by projected rankings, currently hold a third bid for the Northeast. But their hold is tenuous, and they’ve been largely outperformed by other regional rivals this season, including #21 Quebec Quake and #22 New York Blueprint. Throw in #18 Montreal Mephisto, and if there’s a third bid floating around, the race gets really interesting, really fast.
That being said, it could also be really boring and all those aforementioned teams are just competing for Top Select Flight, which makes this region a little less (a lot less) compelling.
#7: Great Lakes Men – Toronto GOAT vs. Chicago Haymaker
Right now, by projected rankings, both of these teams are currently earning bids. But this projection assumes — perhaps unfairly — that #19 Chicago Haymaker do not hold onto that third bid with lots of regular season action still to come. If the Great Lakes is two bids, unbeaten #19 Haymaker will not be ready to concede that game-to-go against #13 Toronto GOAT. Haymaker have dominated two lower-tier tournaments, Heavyweights and Lehigh Valley Invite, punctuating both with strong wins over a fringe top-25 team in Madison Mad Men. GOAT have shown plenty of promise, but until Haymaker is pushed – or faces a top-20 opponent – it’s difficult to know just how high their ceiling is.
Should Haymaker earn a bid and give the Great Lakes a virtually unprecedented three bids, things get even more wild, as #24 Chicago Trident along with Columbus Flying Dutchmen and ELDL all have strong wins this season that could make them players in that scenario.
#6: Northwest Women – Oakland LOL vs. Flipside/Nightlock
This one lands lower on the list because I’m not ready to say this would be a banger of a game-to-go scenario yet, BUT the veteran-laden #17 Oakland LOL squad got off to a hot start at Select Flight West, torching a bunch of teams that sit just outside the Top 25. The quality of opponent was not that of Flipside and Nightlock, but the margin of victory indicated a team that could challenge much higher-ranked matchups.
We’ll see if that proves to be true, but we just saw Flipside look vulnerable at the U.S. Open, so it feels like there could be a very fun upset in play at Northwest regionals.
#5: Southwest Mixed – Literally Anyone Playing This Game
I’m ranking this one in the middle of the pack not because it won’t be exciting, but because it’s literally impossible to project who plays in this game – which is the case pretty much every year. The Southwest currently projects to earn three bids, and frankly, anything fewer than five should make this regional spectacular.
#5 San Francisco Polar Bears, #13 San Francisco Mischief, #15 Los Angeles Lotus, #17 Sacramento Tower, and #18 San Diego California Burrito could all probably beat each other on any given day, and when it comes down it, whether they can beat each other on a specific Sunday (or Saturday) later this fall will be the critical question. But for now, it’s just about earning as many bids as possible and more margin for error in the postseason.
#4: Mid-Atlantic Women – Flight, Parcha and Grit Set to Duel for One Bid
Last year, the Mid-Atlantic was a pretty hotly-contested three-bid region, but ultimately, Pittsburgh Parcha and Washington D.C. Grit defended their earned bids (along with Washington D.C. Scandal) against Philadelphia Flight, who lost to Grit in the game-to-go. Forgive us for assuming unbeaten and perennial powerhouse #1 Scandal are safe from any regionals-level drama, but we’re going to focus on #9 Flight, #14 Parcha, and #25 Grit in this region, as it’s looking like there may be only one bid to go around.
This year, Flight already made a statement by toppling Parcha, while Grit appear to be on the outside looking in after a 2-4 start to their season. However, Flight have never made Nationals, and Grit and Parcha are riding four and five-year streaks, respectively. Does that experience win out in the end? And if it’s a two-bid region, who is even the favorite right now?
There should be lots of drama in the women’s division in Frederica, Delaware in late September, so be sure to monitor how the regular season bid allocation shakes out as it pertains to this trio of talented Mid-Atlantic squads.
#3: Northwest Men – Sockeye, Furious George and Dark Star Jockey for Available Bids
Exactly how many bids and which combination of these three teams end up playing for a Nationals berth is up in the air, but it’s one of the biggest storylines to watch.
#16 Eugene Dark Star made an early statement by beating both of their regional rivals, #17 Furious George and #3 Sockeye, at PEC West. Sockeye, who fell to #16 in our power rankings after that loss, is back up into the top five after a stunning run to the U.S. Open final. Dark Star, meanwhile, have won two tournaments outside of their strong fourth-place finish at PEC West, and we await the next move from Furious George, the other player in this four-horse Northwest region. (The fourth horse is #2 Portland Rhino Slam! and it would be shocking to see them get mixed up in any kind of backdoor bracket, assuming they’re healthy in the postseason.)
With Sockeye’s inconsistency and Dark Star and Furious George both looking capable of breakthroughs, any race involving fewer than three bids between Seattle, Eugene, and Vancouver could go just about any way. The talent on all three rosters would make a game-to-go highly entertaining.
#2: South Central Mixed – Denver Mile High Trash as Spoiler
#24 Mile High Trash are currently not in position to earn a bid after doing so last year and qualifying for Nationals in a three-bid South Central. The preseason #19 have fallen to #24 after a 4-8 start to their year, but they have a win over #6 Seattle BFG on their resume, so the talent is still there. Plus, South Central fans will remember Mile High Trash sneaking into bracket play last year at Nationals on the strength of their upset win over #10 Austin Disco Club in pool play. If Disco Club, #8 Fort Collins shame., and Mile High Trash are in a two-bid regional, there will be fireworks.
#1: Northwest Mixed – It Wouldn’t Happen Again…Right?
Last year, a largely underwhelming Seattle Mixtape squad stunned the world by upsetting Seattle BFG in a clash between recent national champions, as Mixtape went flying (literally) into Nationals on the strength of a game-winning layout callahan.
Fast forward to his year, and once again, #14 Mixtape are lying just outside bid-earning range. Could lightning strike twice?
Plus, there’s some new regional players to keep an eye on here. New kids on the block Vancouver Royals are off to an unbeaten start and feature some talent from previous rosters of Vancouver Red Flag, a Nationals qualifier in 2022, 2023 and 2024, along with some collegiate talent out of Toronto and UBC (among others). They currently hold a bid in the projected rankings, although that’s pretty tenuous.
Beyond Mixtape, BFG and Royals, you’ve got #16 Salt Lake Sego and #21 Oregon Scorch lying in wait in what could be a delightfully treacherous Northwest regional that currently holds just two available bids.
In fact, If you take one thing from this article, it’s this: watch the Northwest in all three divisions. Something exciting is going to happen, and every race for the Northwest’s scarce Nationals bids should be must-watch ultimate.
