USA Ultimate

Preview of 2011 Stanford Invite (Open Division)

This weekend gives college ultimate fans one of the premier events of the season, The Stanford Invite.  This weekend we’ll finally see how teams from across the nation stack up against each other. Lets take a look at the pool play match-ups and see what we can expect of the weekend.

 

In pool A we find two 2010 College Championship qualifiers in Carleton College and California-Santa Barbara along with three teams that feel like they under achieved in 2010 in Texas, Tufts, and California-Santa Cruz. Expect top seeded Carleton College, a team with championship aspirations, to cruise through the pool. The pool’s second seed, Texas, already has a victory over California-Santa Barbara, but so does the pool’s fourth seed, California-Santa Cruz. Looking at those early season results, the Texas vs. Santa Cruz matchup should be tight, still, neither team can afford to overlook the always dangerous Santa Barbara. The wild card in the pool is Tufts, a team that has yet to play a tournament this spring. Given historical performances of New England teams at The Stanford Invite, Tufts will most likely have a difficult first day, but will find their rhythm by Sunday.

 

There are only two teams that have already faced off this season in Pool B, Harvard and Colorado. Given the previous result between Colorado and Harvard of 13-7 CO, along with early season results from Washington, California-Davis and Whitman, Colorado should take the pool easily.  The matchup to watch in this pool is Washington vs. Whitman. If the northwest winds up with three bids to the college championships, Washington and Whitman would be the most likely matchup for the game-to-go. The winner of their Stanford Invite pool play game will gain the upper hand in this matchup going into the College Series.

 

British Columbia has had a very successful early season on the west coast. With their matchup against Wisconsin, the T-birds now finally have the chance to see how they stack up against competition from east of the rockies. The last time the Hodags and the T-birds faced each other at the Stanford Invite, Wisconsin won a firery double game point semis matchup featuring very few breaks. Given the potency of UBC’s offense this year, expect a similar game. We also have the Saturday night showcase matchup of Stanford vs. Cal in this pool. After a down year last year, Stanford is looking to regain the upper hand in their longstanding rivalry with Cal.

 

Three of the four teams in Pool D qualified for nationals last year, and the fourth, San Diego State, has had a very successful early season. The top seed in the pool, Pittsburgh, has yet to play a tournament this spring and as a reward they get a rematch of last year’s Stanford Invite final in pool play. While both Pitt and Oregon may be looking forward to their last round matchup, both teams would be remiss to look past an SDSU team that has made the semifinal of both tournaments they’ve attended this year. Look for SDSU to present both Pitt and Oregon with challenges, but the Pitt vs. Oregon matchup should still decide who wins the pool.

 

 

While the Stanford Invite brings together top teams from across the nation, the results at Stanford are not always the best predictor of future success. The previous two champions failed to make the quarterfinal round at the USAU College Championships. Still, at least one finalist from each of the past six years has been in the final of the championships.