Preview of Warm Up: A Florida Affair
Jonathan Neeley
Posted: February 10, 2011 05:57 PM
Warm Up: A Florida Affair
This Friday, the best Open College Ultimate teams of the last decade will gather in Tampa, Florida for a three-day, nine-team tournament.
Warm Up: A Florida Affair will feature the
University of Florida,
Carleton College,
Cornell University,
University of North Carolina-Wilmington,
University of Colorado,
Harvard University,
University of Wisconsin,
University of Virginia, and the
University of South Florida.
Warm Up will be a heavyweight event to say the least. Aside from Brown, who won in 2005, the College Division’s only national champions since 2003 have been Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida, and Carleton. Even more impressive, of the 32 available Semifinal spots since the same year, those teams have filled 19. Add in 2010 Semifinalist Cornell, 2010 Quarterfinalist UNC-Wilmington, 2010 College Championships qualifier Harvard, and 2009 Quarterfinalist Virginia, and college Ultimate fans certainly have reason to keep an eye on Tampa this weekend.
While Florida and Colorado have already played tournaments this spring, Warm Up will be the first indicator of how all of these historically strong teams stack up against one another in 2011. A number of key players have graduated, and with their departure has come a need for players to step into new roles and for overall strategies to adjust.
In order of seeding, the following is a look at a few of the key issues facing each team at Warm Up:
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National Champions in 2006 and 2010, Florida has perfected an offense that relies on a central player that can reliably distribute, easily get open on the dump, and constantly threaten to cut deep; in the past few years, Tim Gehret, Kurt Gibson, and Brodie Smith have played this role quite well.
The question for 2011 is whether or not Cole Sullivan can fill Smith’s shoes as the foundation of the Florida offense. The team knows that it will need to be more balanced, and the fall saw Alex Hill and Nathan Sage playing closer to the disc, but at this point the Gators say that when push comes to shove, they will stick to their patented game plan and that Sullivan will be their guy. |
| #1 - Florida |
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Carleton won the College Championships in 2009 and were runners-up in 2010. They also graduated only one cutter while virtually all of their players spent the summer with a quality club team and a few of the sophomores and freshman won gold while playing with the junior Team USA in Germany. It is safe to say that they will challenge for the title in 2011.
But similar to Florida, the team has undergone a number of changes at the handler position. Four senior handlers graduated, and while many CUT youngsters saw significant playing time in 2010, the loss of that type of leadership cannot be understated. |
| #2 - Carleton College |
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The Buds’ Semifinal run in 2010 was no fluke: they had depth at both the handler and cutter positions, giving them a potent deep game that made it easy to move the disc up front. Add in the fact that Cornell functioned quite well as a unit, and it is easy to see why the team was primed for a breakthrough year.
The problem for 2011 is that much of the All-Region talent that took Cornell so close to the top—ten players, to be exact—has now graduated. Buds players will have to work a lot harder to get open underneath, and since their targets won’t be as experienced, the handlers will have to shoulder a greater load.
Cornell is a unique case, though. More than any team in the country, their region (the Metro East) is theirs to lose. As long as they run hard and come away more prepared for April, Warm Up will be a success. |
| #3 - Cornell |
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Last year’s Wilmington team qualified for Quarterfinals for two reasons: every player’s willingness and ability to execute his role, and the play of Rusty Ingold-Smith. While the building blocks of the first will remain due to a number of returning veterans and strong coaching, the question is how much Ingold-Smith’s leadership played in its success. As one of the farthest-south teams in the field, Wilmington is likely to be a bit more polished than those traveling from the colder North. Coach Greg Vassar has noted this as a key advantage, as early out-of-region wins will benefit both UNC-W and Virginia, two teams that are likely to face more of a battle at Regionals (Atlantic Coast) than other members of the Warm Up field.
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| #4 - North Carolina-Wilmington |
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There is a lot of buzz about Colorado this year, and rightfully so. Mamabird graduated virtually nobody from last year’s pre-Quarterfinal team, and many of their players saw minutes with Johnny Bravo and with the Junior Worlds team. At New Year’s Fest two weeks ago, the team looked ready to make up for a lack of size with speed, cohesion, and intensity. While seeded fifth, Colorado’s experience and low turnover make it the early favorite to win the tournament. |
| #5 - Colorado |
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Last year’s New England Region winners, Harvard comes into Warm Up with one of the most potent tandems in college Ultimate: cutter George Stubbs and handler Andrew Vogt each have high-level Juniors experience, a ton of time playing alongside one another, and roster spots on Club Division powerhouse Ironside. Add in sophomore standout Misha Herscu, and Harvard’s offense is likely to give Warm Up opponents some fits. The issue for Harvard is the defensive line, which is simply not as stacked as its counterpart. If the offense does sputter and the defense is required to earn breaks, Redline could struggle. The addition of former Carleton handler Adam Fagin should help address this issue in the long run, but for now his health status is still up in the air.
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| #6 - Harvard |
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2010 was the first year that Wisconsin did not qualify for pre-Quarters since 1999 (did not qualify for Nationals). The team’s 2007 and 2008 championship squads relied heavily on a number of studs that have now graduated, and at this point only a small handful of players from that era remain. The question is whether the Hodags will hit the ground running this year or if they still have rebuilding to do. They won’t be lacking for athletes or intensity, and while the team used to pride itself on not having a coach, Hector Valdivia is now in his second season and likely spent much of the fall instilling fundamentals in his young players. If Wisconsin can establish its deep game and win individual defensive match-ups (which it historically has), the team could have a strong showing at Warm Up.
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| #7 - Wisconsin |
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Virginia’s only College Championships appearance was in 2009, and the team that fell short in 2010 is eager to prove that it belongs. Night Train is returning most of last year’s squad, and with a balanced attack and a renewed focus on defense, the team has the necessary pieces to compete at Warm Up.
The issue for Virginia is that it has relatively little experience playing game after game against top-notch opponents, a task that requires focus and, if anything goes wrong, a short memory. Also, a few Virginia players are facing nagging injuries. Night Train’s weekend will depend on its mental game and its ability to remain relatively healthy. |
| #8 - Virginia |
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Host team South Florida is somewhat of an outsider at Warm Up, as they did not qualify for Regionals last year (Atlantic Coast). No matter, playing at home while the competition has had to travel long distances over many hours is always an advantage. Playing spoiler in any of its games would be a huge boon for the South Florida program. |
| #9 - South Florida |
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Final Notes
Outside of the high level of competition, college Ultimate fans have reason to pay attention to Warm Up because it is one of this season’s first gatherings of teams across multiple regions. With USA Ultimate’s new regular season structure, wins and losses now matter much more because they affect each region’s number of bids to the College Championships.
A key element for each team will be the Warm Up schedule. With nine teams playing round robin style over two days (and a final round on Sunday), top teams have more spaced out byes and easier starts to their days; cracking the top four and earning a spot in Sunday’s championship round will be an uphill climb for teams like Wisconsin and Virginia.
One thing is clear about Warm Up: while other tournaments at this time of year are fielding quality lineups, this is a marquee event. These teams are the best of the best, and given how well they know each other, they competition will be especially fierce. Winning the tournament will be a huge feat, but it is going to be hard for any team to come out of the weekend without a better idea of how to improve in preparation for the USA Ultimate Championship Series.
Stay tuned. It’s going to be a fun one down in Tampa.
While working to provide tournament coverage for USA Ultimate, Jonathan Neeley also writes at Inside Breaks, an Ultimate coverage and analysis blog. Check it out at insidebreaks.skydmagazine.com