2016 College Championships Seedings, Competition and Broadcast Schedules Announced
Posted: May 17, 2016 03:57 PM
Massachusetts, Oregon Earn Number-One Seeds; 24 Hours of Live-Streamed Games Planned
Colorado Springs, Colo. (May 17, 2016) – USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and proud member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, announced today the seedings, competition schedule and broadcast schedule for the 2016 Division I College Championships.
The top seeds at this year’s championships go to the University of Massachusetts and the University of Oregon in the men’s and women’s division, respectively.
Massachusetts took over the top spot in the men’s Division I rankings in late March and held onto the spot through the post-regionals rankings. Zoodisc put together a dominant season, accumulating 25 wins to just two losses through the New England Regional Championships. Massachusetts won their lone College Championships title in 1986 and are hoping to add a second championship 30 years later. They finished tied for fifth the College Championships last year.
Oregon, North Carolina-Wilmington and Minnesota round out the top four in the men’s division and are the remaining one-seeds in their respective pools. Oregon was the runner-up at last year’s College Championships, and North Carolina-Wilmington has reached the semifinals as recently as 2014.
Defending national champion Oregon Fugue claims the top overall seed in the women’s division for the fourth time in five years. Last year’s championship win was their third title since 2010. Oregon’s regional rival, British Columbia, held the top spot in weeks three and four of the women’s division rankings, but Fugue bested them twice late in the season and won the Northwest Regional Championships to earn the overall one seed at the College Championships.
British Columbia, Stanford and Central Florida round out the top four in the women’s division. All three teams have been stalwarts in the women’s division in recent years. Stanford was the runner up at the 2015 College Championships where British Columbia was a semifinalist but fell to the eventual champions. Central Florida made their program’s first appearance in the semifinals in 2014.
The 2016 Division I College Championships will be held May 27-30, in Raleigh, N.C., and be hosted by Triangle Ultimate. The D-I College Championships were first held in 1984. The 40 teams that qualified for this year’s event reached the championships by advancing through conference and regional championship events. Three teams, all in the men’s division, are first-time College Championships qualifiers this year: Case Western Reserve, Connecticut and Utah.
Follow Along:
- Men's Schedule
- Women's Schedule
For a fourth consecutive year, the USA Ultimate College Championships will be streamed live by ESPN and Ultiworld. ESPN will cover the semifinal and final rounds of play on Sunday and Monday live on ESPN3.com. Ultiworld will provide early round coverage, live streaming eight total games, six from pool play as well as one each from the pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal rounds.
In all, 14 games will be streamed from the College Championships, providing more than 24 hours of live ultimate for fans around the world to enjoy.
ESPN will follow up their live coverage from Raleigh with a semifinal highlights show as well as replays of the full men’s and women’s championship games on Wednesday, June 1, on ESPNU.
Ultiworld Coverage
(all times Eastern)
Friday, May 27
10:30 a.m. – California v. Virginia (women)
12:30 p.m. – British Columbia v. UCLA (women)
2:30 p.m. – North Carolina-Wilmington v. Wisconsin (men)
4:30 p.m. – Minnesota v. Pittsburgh (men)
Saturday, May 28
10:30 a.m. – Oregon v. Colorado (men)
12:30 p.m. – Whitman v. Texas (women)
5:00 p.m. – Pre-Quarterfinal – TBD
Sunday, May 29
8:30 a.m. – Quarterfinal – TBD
ESPN Coverage
(all times Eastern)
Sunday, May 29
12:00 p.m. – Women’s Division Semifinal
2:30 p.m. – Women’s Division Semifinal
5:30 p.m. – Men’s Division Semifinal
8:00 p.m. – Men’s Division Semifinal
Monday, May 30
12:00 p.m. – Women’s Championship
2:30 p.m. – Men’s Championship
Wednesday, June 1
7:00 p.m. – Semifinals Highlight Show
8:00 p.m. – Women’s Championship
9:00 p.m. – Men’s Championship
You can also follow along with everything going on at the D-I Championships @USAUltimateLive and #d1natties on Twitter, as well as with score updates on USA Ultimate’s mobile app and the official event page: play.usaultimate.org/events/USA-Ultimate-D-I-College-Championships-2016.
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