College Top 20 Jan 21, 2011

In releasing the 2011 College Profiles, Joaq and I felt that it wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t include some kind of Pre-Season rankings. At the same time, we also agreed that there’s just not enough information out there to put out an accurate top 25, or even top 20. Rankings in ultimate are notoriously full of hype and speculation, and since there are only two of us, putting out a list would likely lead us into that trap.

So we compromised. Rather than pretend that we know the 11th best team from the 12th, we sorted our loose projection of the Top 20* into three tiers.

• Tier One: These are the teams that we know are good. It would be surprising not to see them in the Quarterfinals, and they are high on the list of championship contenders.
• Tier Two: Maybe they are a traditional power that is rebuilding. Maybe they’re on the rise. Either way, these teams are those that don’t quite stick out as dominant, but very well could be by May.
• Tier Three: Those in tier three either barely missed in 2010 or are now missing most of the players that made it happen. Look for them to give opponents trouble throughout the year, and watch out if they get hot en route to Boulder.

Maybe it’s a cop-out. After all, people like lists. But really, we see it as a start. As the season progresses, we’ll know more about where teams around the country stand. Until then, take a look.

Tier One:

California, Carleton, Colorado, Florida, Pittsburgh

Tier Two:

California- Santa Cruz, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, Wisconsin

Tier Three:

British Columbia, Georgia, North Carolina-Wilmington, Tufts, Virginia

*Metro East Power Rankings:

Cornell. Seriously, we don’t know what to do with these guys. We’re unsure of where they stand nationally, but they’ll definitely have a chance to let us know at the end of the spring.