USAU Releases New Rankings: Prairie Fire, Temper Holding on to Bids

With new rankings released this afternoon from USAU, the Northeast and Southwest regions are in a bit of trouble -- while Prairie Fire and Temper have to be pleased with their ability to secure extra bids for their region.

USAU just announced the weekly rankings, and, with one week left in the regular season to determine Nationals bid allocation, the numbers are tight.

Much attention is on the Men’s side of the rankings, where Kansas City’s Prairie Fire had been holding on to the #2 spot for much of the season. After a solid — if not spectacular — showing at Chicago Invite, Fire dropped to #10. That’s significant, but probably still strong enough to earn a bid for their region (North Central) to Nationals.

Prairie Fire is joined in the top 16 by a few other “Select” Triple Crown Tour squads: Rhino, Madison Club, High Five and Temper. Of that group, Temper and Prairie Fire are the two squads with a less-storied history and lighter regular season slate (though other Pittsburgh-based squads, like Oakland, have been strong in the past). Some people had speculated that Chicago Heavyweights would provide enough inter-flight competition to normalize the rankings. Instead, a combination of solid play from those two squads, a shortened schedule due to weather, and strong regular season results going into Heavyweights has almost certainly solidified those bids.

Those bids for the Mid-Atlantic and North Central are likely to come at the cost of the Southwest and either the Great Lakes or Northeast. With the Santa Barbara Condors’ disappointing run at West Coast Cup this past weekend, the Revolver-dominated Southwest region may lack drama at Regionals. Boost (Mobile) FC and Condors both sit outside the top 16 and have no regular season games remaining.

Boost Mobile wasted no time joking about the issue, underscoring a belief among some that the rankings are just a bit too gameable:

https://twitter.com/boostultimate/status/504720621587030016

https://twitter.com/boostultimate/status/504720963171123200

The drama heading into the Pro Flight Finale — at least on the men’s side — is likely to center around the Northwest, Northeast, and Great Lakes. Toronto’s GOAT currently sits at #17 — meaning only two bids for the Northeast if the season ended today — but they are the only bubble team in action this weekend. Furious George (at 15, 3 bids for the Northwest) and HIGH FIVE (at 16, two bids for the Great Lakes) will be hoping for a poor performance from the Toronto-based GOAT. In all likelihood, even narrow losses to Pro Flight teams will be enough to move GOAT up a slot, but there’s plenty of drama for following along at home.

The women’s bid situation remained unchanged.

Here is a breakdown of regional change since last week: