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USA Ultimate Announces Format For 2014 National Championships

Posted: June 10, 2014 11:13 AM
 
USA ULTIMATE ANNOUNCES FORMAT FOR 2014 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Triple Crown Tour Finale Features More Playing Opportunities, Broader Path to Pro Flight
 
Boulder, Colo. (June 10, 2014)—With ultimate’s 2014 Triple Crown Tour set to begin this weekend, USA Ultimate announced today a revised competition format for the 2014 National Championships this fall. 
 
USA Ultimate revealed changes to the Triple Crown Tour’s finale after closely collaborating with player-elected division council representatives during the off-season. 
 
More meaningful playing opportunities for participating teams, enhanced opportunity to qualify for the 2015 Pro Flight, and logistical flexibility are among the improvements that will be implemented when USA Ultimate returns to the FC Dallas complex in Frisco, Texas, Oct. 16-19.  
 
The four-day tournament will again serve as the conclusion of the Triple Crown Tour season and award national titles to elite-level ultimate teams in the men’s, women’s and mixed divisions. The national championships will also determine the composition of the 2015 Triple Crown Tour’s Pro and Elite Flights and serve as a qualifier for the 2015 U.S. Open.
 
In contrast to last year’s event, the 2014 championships will take place entirely at the FC Dallas complex and utilize more fields (16). The added field space and more centralized location of the tournament allows USA Ultimate to streamline and optimize competition schedules and host more games on Saturday. 
 
Unlike last year when most teams were eliminated from the tournament after two days, all teams are guaranteed to play at least one game on Saturday. The revised format also keeps all 16 teams in the mix for the 2015 Pro Flight, even if eliminated from championship contention in the pre-quarter round of 16.  This season, pre-quarter losers will have the chance to place as high as seventh and earn one of two available slots in the 2015 Pro Flight via a pair Pro Flight "play-in" games.
 
Much of the feedback given to USA Ultimate from the division councils focused on how to offer more valuable playing opportunities and create a better mechanism for qualifying for the Pro Flight.
 
"USA Ultimate was able to take our feedback about last year’s format – especially regarding the lack of placement games and heavy reliance on regular season rankings – and come up with a format that gives all teams a meaningful experience and strikes a good balance between rewarding both regular season and Nationals performance," said women’s team council representative Peri Kurshan. 
 
Like last year, the 16 teams in each division will be seeded by a combination of regular season and postseason performance and placed into four pools of four. 
 
Thursday will feature round-robin pool play in which each team plays the other three teams in its pool for seeding into Friday’s round of 16 pre-quarter bracket.
 
Friday begins with pre-quarter and quarterfinal rounds before giving way to qualification brackets for the 2015 Pro Flight. All teams eliminated from championship contention by virtue of a loss in the pre-quarters or quarterfinals will be placed into a 2015 Pro Flight qualification bracket. The four quarterfinal losers will be re-seeded by rankings and compete for the first two of the remaining four spots in the 2015 Pro Flight. Meanwhile, teams losing in the pre-quarters will also be re-seeded by rankings and compete for a spot in one of two Pro Flight play-in games on Saturday.
 
Saturday is highlighted by the national semifinals, 2015 Pro Flight play-in games and placement games.  The two losing teams from Friday’s Pro Flight play-in games will match up against the winners of a pre-quarters loser’s bracket for the final two Pro Flight spots.  
 
The championship games will punctuate the event on Sunday with three nationally broadcast winner-take-all matches and up to a $12,000 prize purse ($2,000 per national champion and a $2,000 bonus for any team that wins the Triple Crown).
 
ESPN3 will again provide live coverage of the USA Ultimate National Championships, featuring a total of seven games live, while NexGen will be the exclusive provider of early round coverage.
 
Teams finishing the tournament 1-8 will punch their tickets to a spot in the 2015 Pro Flight, while teams placing 8-16 will be slotted into the Elite Flight. 
 
The four national semifinalists in each division will earn an invitation to the 2015 U.S. Open.  
 
General Event Overview:
 
  • Venue: The 2014 USA Ultimate National Championships will take place at the FC Dallas Complex in Frisco, Texas, Oct. 16-19.
     
  • Fields: 16
     
  • Teams: Sixteen (16) teams in each of the men’s, women’s and mixed divisions will qualify for the 2014 USA Ultimate National Championship, resulting in a total of 48 teams.
 
Competition Format: 
 
  • Four (4) pools per division: Each division will be divided into four pools consisting of four teams each, seeded by a combination of regular season and postseason performance.
     
  • Day 1 Competition Schedule (Pool Play): Each team will play the other three teams in its pool. The schedule will include five rounds of play consisting of three games and two byes per team. 
     
  • Day 2 Competition Schedule (Elimination and Pro Flight Bracket Play): All teams, except quarterfinal winners, will play three games on Friday. Quarterfinal winners will play two games. There will again be five rounds of play, scheduled as follows:
    • Round 1:
      • Round of 16 (pre-quarters) games for all men’s (M) and women’s (W) teams. Winners advance to the quarterfinals. Losers relegated to 9th-place bracket.
    • Round 2:
      • Round of 16 (pre-quarters) games for all mixed (X) teams. Winners advance to the quarterfinals. Losers relegated to the 9th-place bracket. 
      • 9th-place bracket quarterfinals (M, W). Winners advance to the 9th-place bracket semifinals. Losers relegated to 13th-place bracket semifinals.
    • Round 3:
      • Quarterfinals (M, W, X). Winners advance to the semifinals. Losers relegated to 5th-place bracket semifinals.
      • 9th-place bracket quarterfinals (X). Winners advance to the 9th-place bracket semifinals. Losers relegated to 13th-place bracket semifinals. 
    • Round 4: 
      • 9th-place bracket semifinals (M, W, X). Winners advance to 7th-place bracket semifinals/2015 Pro Flight play-in games. Losers play for 11th/12th place.  
      • 13th-place bracket semifinals (M, W). Winners play for 13th/14th place. Losers play for 15th/16th place. 
    • Round 5:
      • 5th-place bracket semifinals. (M, W, X). The four losers from the quarterfinal round will be re-seeded, based on final regular season rankings, into a 5th-place semifinal bracket, in which the highest-seeded team plays the lowest seeded team and the remaining two teams play each other. Winners play for 5th/6th place and qualify for spots in the 2015 Pro Flight. Losers relegated to 7th-place semifinals bracket/2015 Pro Flight play-in game. 
      • 13th-place bracket semifinals (X). Winners play for 13th/14th place. Losers play for 15th/16th place. 
         
  • Day 3 Competition Schedule (Elimination and Pro Flight Bracket Play): All participating teams are guaranteed one game on the third day of the tournament. Everyone plays a placement game, while the winners from the 9th-place semifinal bracket and the losers from the 5th-place bracket semifinals will compete for the final two spots in the 2015 Pro Flight.
    • Round 1:
      • 7th-place bracket semifinals/2015 Pro Flight play-in games (M, W, X). Each 5th-place bracket semifinal loser will match up against a 9th-place bracket semifinal winner. Winners qualify for spots in the 2015 Pro Flight. 
      • 11th-place game (M, W, X).
      • 13th-place game (M, W, X).
      • 15th-place game (M, W, X).
    • Round 2:
      • 5th-place game (M, W, X). Teams may opt out of playing the 5th-place placement game if both teams agree. If the game is not played, a tie for 5th place will be declared and post-nationals rankings will be used to determine the wait list order for 2015 Triple Crown Tour flights and events. If one team chooses not to play, it will be considered a forfeit, and therefore a loss. 
    • Round 3a: 
      • 12:00 p.m. – Mixed Division Semifinal #1 (Live on ESPN3).
    • Round 3b:
      • 1:00 p.m. – Mixed Division Semifinal #2.
    • Round 4a:
      • 2:30 p.m. – Women’s Division Semifinal #1 (Live on ESPN3).
    • Round 4b:
      • 3:30 p.m. – Women’s Division Semifinal #2.
    • Round 5:
      • 5:30 p.m. – Men’s Division Semifinal #1 (Live on ESPN3).
    • Round 6: 
      • 8:00 p.m. – Men’s Division Semifinal #2 (Live on ESPN3).
         
  • Day 4 Competition Schedule (Championship Games)
    • Round 1:
      • 11:00 a.m. – Mixed Division Championship Game (Live on ESPN3).
    • Round 2:
      • 1:30 p.m. – Women’s Division Championship Game (Live on ESPN3).
    • Round 3:
      • 4:00 p.m. – Men’s Division Championship Game (Live on ESPN3).
 
Follow @TripleCrownTour on Twitter for TCT updates throughout the 2014 season.

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