Southeast Awarded Second Strength Bid to Nationals in Men’s Division

Colorado Springs, Colo. (April 8, 2016)—Following Following yesterday’s announcement confirming regional bid allocations to the 2016 College Championships, USA Ultimate today reallocated one of the men’s bids in the northwest region to the southeast region.

The strength bid, which was originally awarded to the northwest region as a result of BYU’s final year-end ranking (17), has been given to the southeast region after the team notified USA Ultimate late Thursday evening that it no longer plans to compete in next weekend’s conference championships.

Citing a scheduling conflict with final exams, which the team learned about just this week according to an email to USA Ultimate from head coach Bryce Merrill Friday morning, as well as the location of the tournament, BYU has withdrawn from the event.

Earlier in the week, USA Ultimate decided that the strength bid earned by BYU would remain in the northwest, despite the team’s inability to compete in regionals (should they advance that far).

A significant factor in USA Ultimate’s original decision to keep the bid in the northwest region was BYU’s confirmed participation in the conference championships. The team earlier confirmed its participation in the event, scheduled for April 16-17 in Missoula, Mont., through USA Ultimate’s online registration and roster verification system.

In light of this new information that led to BYU’s last minute decision not to participate in the postseason, USA Ultimate reevaluated the earlier bid question and concluded that the bid should be transferred to the southeast.

Florida State (19), was next in line for a strength bid, sending a second strength bid to the southeast region.

The northwest region now has three bids to nationals – an automatic bid earned by Oregon (4) and two strength bids earned by Washington (12) and British Columbia (15).

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