These rankings and the 2013 Skyd College Tour are brought to you by Spin Ultimate.
With the first few weekends of the college season in the books, only a few of the teams in the Top 20 have laced up for battle. With the majors looming, a few underdogs are turning heads, hoping to make an early splash in the 2013 season.
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Relevant Tournaments and Teams:
- ACCUC – Georgia Tech, North Carolina
- Big D in Little D ’13 – Texas A&M
- Santa Barbara Invite – Arizona, California – Davis, California – Santa Barbara, Florida State, Stanford, Washington, Williams
- T-Town Throwdown 9 – Central Florida
- Pres Day Qualifier – Las Positas
- Colluvium 2013 – Oregon, Oregon State
Ohio State Scrimmages – Michigan, Ohio
- Ohio 15 – Ohio State 7
- Ohio 15 – Michigan 10
- Ohio 15 – Cincinnati 11
- Michigan 15 – Cincinnati 12
- Michigan 15 – Ohio State 8
- Ohio State 15 – Cincinnati 11
Who’s out?
The Washington Sundodgers take a fall out of the Top 20 after finishing 2-4 at the Santa Barbara Invite. According to Florida State coach Peter Van De Burgt, Seattle native Khalif El-Salaam was not present due to U23 Worlds tryouts which may have been a significant factor in big losses to Arizona and UC – Davis. Another SB Invite competitor, the California – Davis Dogs has also been cut from the list. Despite a 4-2 record on the weekend, Davis lost to host team UCSB and received a pounding from regional rival Arizona.
We’ll get another look at these 2012 Nationals qualifiers in two weeks at the President’s Day Invite in San Diego, California.
Who’s in?
Arizona Sunburn has successfully burst onto the national scene after successfully navigating through the windy finals in Santa Barbara. Taking the title over Florida State while routing Washington and UC-Davis earns Sunburn the #17 spot and some long awaited respect. Arizona surprised the nation last May taking down a Stanford squad that was poised for a deep run in Boulder.
Texas A&M Dozen rounds out the Top 20 with a tournament win at Big D in Little D’13, 606’ing all but one team in the process. Dalton Smith exploded onto the scene after a huge performance for Doublewide at the 2012 Club Championships. Dozen has been talked up plenty thus far and they’ll have to back it up next month in Stanford against the best of the best.
Who has our attention?
After a very poor performance in Santa Barbara, Stanford Bloodthirsty is on the edge of being off of the Top 20. A team that typically shows their true self after the Kaimana Klassik, Stanford was also missing players due to U23 tryouts in Cody Mills, Tyler Boyd-Meredith and Bryan Chang. Van De Burgt also reported that captain Ben Funk, who played Boost Mobile over the summer with Mills and TBM, did not participate in games two weeks ago. Taking this all into consideration, we we’ll have to wait until the Stanford Invite to get our first real look at Bloodthirsty.
A Nick Lance-less Georgia Tech Tribe has also performed above expectations thus far, taking second at ACCUC’s. While Clark and Co. are certainly on the radar, a loss to the Clemson Joint Chiefs keeps them well off the list. Next weekend they’ll face off against some of the best in Tampa, Florida; showing whether or not they will be legitimate contenders in the Southeast.
Williams WUFO surprised everyone taking third place in Santa Barbara after being seeded fourth in their pool. If not for being 606’ed by Florida State, WUFO would be on the short list.
The Las Positas Hawks are undefeated thus far, winning both the Santa Barbara and President’s Day Qualifiers. Though not seen in action for the SB Invite, LPC is seeded fourth in Pool A with Minnesota, British Columbia, California and UCLA at Pres Day. The San Diego classic will be the first real challenge for LPC as it should serve as a solid litmus test for the Southwest region’s strength. Pay attention to the Hawks as they placed 4th at Regionals last May, taking down Arizona in the process.
Keep your eyes on the horizon!
Things are finally starting to heat up as the college season is revving into high gear. #9 North Carolina Darkside, #10 Tufts Emen, #13 Ohio Ultimate and #14 Michigan Magnum are set to face off this weekend in Charlotte, NC for the 2013 edition of the Queen City Tune Up. #1 Pittsburgh En Sabah Nur, #2 Carleton CUT, the #4 Wisconsin Hodags, the #5 Central Florida Dogs of War, #6 Colorado Mamabird, #7 Minnesota Grey Duck, #8 Texas TUFF, #11 Dartmouth Pain Train, #17 Arizona Sunburn and #18 Florida State DUF are all slated for competition in two weekends at either Pres Day or Warm Up: A Florida Affair. With 14 out of the Top 20 teams playing over the next two weekends, the national conversation will become much more interesting.
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