USA Ultimate

Men's Division teams from four regions will battle it out at Regionals this weekend with their sights set on a berth at the 2013 National Championships in Frisco, Texas.       Great Lakes   North Central   Northwest   South Central

 
Great Lakes Men's Preview, by Ben Murphy (Underhaul)

Format: 12 teams / 2 bids Pool Play – Saturday and first round Sunday; Sunday – Championship game and 2nd-place bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  Machine 2 CP-n/a Haymaker 40 CP-1 Chicago Club 41 CP-3 Beachfront Property 59 CP-4 Kentucky Flying Circus 62 EP-5 Midnight Meat Train n/a EP-7   Team Rank Sectionals  High Five 11 EP-1 Madcow 23 EP-2 Brickyard 44 CP-2 Enigma 69 EP-3 Lake Effect 55 EP-4 Jurassic Shark 90 EP-6

The primary men’s team from Chicago, Machine, is heading into the series after finishing second overall in USA Ultimate’s regular-season rankings. They won their home tournament, Heavyweights, and had a strong showing at the Pro Flight Finale that silenced many doubters and included quality wins over Sockeye, Doublewide and Chain Lighting. They should have minimal challenges from any of the other teams at regionals – only High Five and Madcow have the talent to really give Machine a game. If you’re watching Machine this weekend, make sure you find #00, Jonathan "Goose" Helton. He’s been making plays for them on both sides of the disc all season and has a significant impact on the disc’s distribution as well as down field.

The Great Lakes men’s division has become a compelling story in 2013 thanks to Michigan High Five who has established a level of play that has them in many discussions and rankings as a top-flight team in only their first year of existence. High Five won No Surf and Motown, posted quality wins at Chesapeake Invite and took third at Heavyweights with a lone loss to Machine in the semifinals. In fact, the only losses or close wins High Five has played all year were either at a tryout tournament, to perennial Nationals powerhouses or against Columbus Madcow. 

After earning the region a second bid to Nationals, High Five is likely to face strong competition from Madcow. Madcow has had a mixed set of results this season, making the finals at Motown (where they lost to High Five on double game point), a 3-4 weekend at Colorado Cup and a winless weekend at Chesapeake Invite. At sectionals, they walked all over most of the competition until reaching the finals where an incredible comeback from High Five left Madcow with a second-place finish, again losing on double game point. As if the Michigan and Ohio rivalry hadn’t already gathered enough data points, Madcow seems likely to head into regionals with notions of vengeance and a prime opportunity to exact it.

The second game to go this weekend may be one of the most exciting games of the year. The results so far have to favor High Five, who posted a better regular season and also won both of the head-to-head opportunities against Madcow. However, every tournament poses unique challenges and opportunities, and the winner is likely to come down to which team is better able to put away early games and rest the guys near the top of their roster for the big game on Sunday.

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

 

North Central Men's Preview, by USA Ultimate

Format: 10 teams / 1 bid Saturday – Pool Play; Sunday – 8-team championship bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  Sub Zero 14 NWP-1 Prairie Fire 25 WP-1 City Park Ultimate 80 WP-2 Bonehorn n/a WP-4 Gnarwhal 70 WP-5   Team Rank Sectionals  Madison Club 18 NWP-n/a H1N1 61 NWP-3 Climax n/a NWP-4 Castle 52 WP-3 Illusion 105 WP-6

After an incredibly up-and-down season, Sub Zero is one of the biggest question marks in the open division. They simultaneously have the ability to best the nation’s strongest teams and fall to relative newcomers. Everyone will have their eyes on Iowa this weekend to see which team shows up. Sub Zero has a mix of experience and young talent from some of the state’s best college programs, including Minnesota and Carleton, and if everything comes together this weekend like it did at Chesapeake Invite, they’ll be spending their Sunday evening looking at plane tickets to Texas.

Standing in the way of a third-straight trip to the Club Championships for Sub Zero is another perennial Nationals contender from the region in Madison Club, along with a growing number of new challengers. The last time Madison Club didn’t qualify for the Championships was 2008, when they were still in the same region as Chicago Machine, and they have no intention of letting that streak die this year. Of their head-to-head match ups against Sub Zero, Madison Club has the more recent victory, and it was a big one: 17-10 at Heavyweights. Since then, Sub Zero has rolled through their sectional tournament without any team scoring more than seven points against them. Those big wins could give them some renewed confidence and momentum heading into Regionals. Although, last time their confidence levels were riding high, after their great performance at Chesapeake, they quickly crashed and burned in their next tournament appearance at Heavyweights. 

Prairie Fire and H1N1 are biding their time in the wings, waiting for an opportunity to take down one or both of the region’s top dogs. Prairie Fire, in particular, looks to have some upside. They earned quality wins this season over Florida United and Madison Club in the Elite-Select Challenge at Colorado Cup and hung with Johnny Bravo, Truck Stop and High Five. They have the unenviable task of starting their weekend against Sub Zero on Saturday morning, but if they can come out of the gate strong, it could set an impressive tone for the rest of the tournament. 

In a division where many regions seem pretty set in stone before the tournaments even begin, the North Central may have an interesting outcome up its sleeve.

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

  

Northwest Men's Preview, by USA Ultimate

Format: 8 teams / 2 bids Saturday – Pool play and first round of bracket play; Sunday – Championship game and 2nd-place bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  Sockeye 6 WA-n/a Furious George 31 WA-1 Nun Cups and the Boyz n/a WA-3 Mota Legal n/a WA-4   Team Rank Sectionals  Rhino 16 OR-n/a Voodoo 21 WA-2 Powderhogs n/a BS-1 South Portland Knife Fight 54 OR-1

The Northwest earned itself a "region-to-watch" moniker long before the final competition field was even set. With the last-minute changes to the bid allocation, thanks to a corrected Rhino score, the actual competition got a little less pressured, but who will actually take the region’s two bids is still a toss-up. 

Current popular opinion has Sockeye and Furious George walking away with bids to Frisco, but Rhino, not Furious, sits atop Pool B right now. They’ve had a tough year so far. Ultimate fans everywhere know about their roster turnover, having lost a large chunk of their experienced leadership, but fans also know about their promising young stars. The University of Oregon didn’t make the semifinals at the College Championships by mistake, and several of Ego’s biggest names also contribute their talents to Rhino. And the recently announced return of Cody Bjorklund to their roster certainly won’t hurt. This season, they’ve typically won the games they’re supposed to win, against the likes of Plex and Prairie Fire, but can’t seem to break through with signature wins against big-name teams. They do have wins over Sub Zero and Furious from the Pro-Elite Challenge at Terminus, where nearly every team was shorthanded, but they also have more recent losses to Sockeye, Johnny Bravo and Revolver at the West Coast Cup. If they can turn up the dial a little this weekend to go beyond simply hanging with the best, teams will take notice.

Sockeye has been well-known for their adaptability and innovation for years. Their season includes big competition, big wins and close losses. They’ve taken down Revolver, Doublewide and each of their two biggest regional competitors in Furious and Rhino. And they had close losses against GOAT, Johnny Bravo and Machine. Of the Northwest teams, Sockeye probably feels the most comfortable heading into the weekend. Their veteran roster knows how to win when it matters most.

No one knows what to expect from Furious George this year. They had a truly tough weekend at the Pro-Elite Challenge and didn’t reappear south of the border until Washington Sectionals two weeks ago, where they cruised to a finals win. In the meantime, they won the Canadian Ultimate Championships without much difficulty; their closest game came in the finals, a 15-10 victory for Furious. Their final round of pool play against Sockeye should serve as a good warm up for what will likely be a Furious v. Rhino battle on Sunday afternoon for the region’s second bid to the Club Championships. 

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

 

South Central Men's Preview, by USA Ultimate

Format: 12 teams / 2 bids Pool Play – Saturday and first round Sunday; Sunday – Championship game and 2nd-place bracket

Pool A   Pool B Team Rank Sectionals  Johnny Bravo 3 RM-n/a Plex 33 TX-1 Nomo Fogoho n/a RM-2 HIP 30 TX-3 Riverside 1 83 TX-5 Grass Knuckles 50 TX-6   Team Rank Sectionals  Doublewide 5 TX-n/a Inception 20 RM-1 Space City Ignite 43 TX-2 Sweet Roll n/a RM-3 Space City Eclipse 87 TX-4 Rawhide 103 OZ-1

The regional rivalry between defending-champions Austin Doublewide and Denver Johnny Bravo has only heated up this year. Both teams made big moves in the off-season to ramp up their rosters, either to fill gaps left by departing big names or to make room for impressive talent new to the area. With two bids to the big show coming from the South Central region, few people expect drama to unfold this weekend. But that doesn’t mean nothing interesting will happen either. The expected finals match up between these two heavy-hitters should be one of the more exciting regionals games seen anywhere in the country. Both Doublewide and Bravo are physical, athletic teams which makes for some fun-to-watch ultimate.

The two seeds entering pool play are Dallas Plex and Denver Inception. Both have had strong seasons, and both won their sections. Plex came out with a clean sheet and few close games. Inception had one blip on their Sectionals radar against Nomo Fogoho but has had the stronger season overall. Inception tallied impressive wins over LA Renegade, Streetgang, and an early-season victory over the Condors. 

Bravo and Doublewide split their only two match ups of the season so far, both from the Elite-Select Challenge at Colorado Cup, but neither team truly credits the results of the second game. The Colorado Cup finals were cancelled mid-game due to lightning, and Doublewide came away with a 10-9 win. Both teams are eager for a rematch. If you’re in the area, stop by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to check out one of the better rivalries in the game. We might even get an idea of how much home-field advantage plays into the equation: this weekend – Colorado, next stop – Texas?

Want to help us out with regionals coverage and provide a recap of this event or a preview and/or recap of one of next weekend’s events? Contact stacey@hq.usaultimate.org to volunteer!

 

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