USA Ultimate Releases Third Edition of 2016 College Rankings

Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 23, 2016) – USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States and member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, released today the second set of official rankings for the 2016 college season.

After the biggest tournament weekend of the season so far, with more than 350 teams competing across the country, the third week of college 2016 rankings saw some notable shake-ups.

In Division I, Massachusetts and British Columbia took over the top men's and women's spots, respectively.

College Easterns results played a big part in this week’s men’s D-I rankings. After earning the tournament title, Massachusetts overtook Wisconsin as the number one team in men’s D-I, while Minnesota (3) and Pittsburgh (5) also moved up in the rankings after their Easterns performances. North Carolina’s (10) semifinals berth helped them join the top 10 for the first time this season.

In women's D-I, the top five teams remained the same, but British Columbia jumped two spots to become the new number one while the previous number one, Central Florida, dropped to number four. Minnesota dropped out of the top 10, while Michigan moved into the ninth overall spot. And thanks to their win at Women’s Centex, Texas moved up three spots to number six in this week’s rankings.

Division III’s top teams remained unchanged this week, with John Brown and Bowdoin still holding number one spots for the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively.

In Division III, John Brown holds onto the top spot for the third week in a row in the men’s division, but the Atlantic Coast continues to build momentum near the top. Richmond jumped eight spots to number two, thanks to their dominant tournament win at Layout Pigout while North Carolina-Asheville remains third overall. Colorado College (7) and Carleton College-GOP (10) joined the top 10 for the first time this week.

Bowdoin remains the number one team in women's D-III for a second week. Valparaiso (3) was the division’s big addition to the top 10 after hitting the five-game threshold for inclusion this week. Meanwhile, the defending national champions from Rice dropped from number five to number 10 this week after a 4-3 showing against largely D-I teams at Women’s Centex.

The college rankings are run each week, beginning in March, in the lead up to the division’s postseason. The rankings use data from games between rostered college teams at USA Ultimate sanctioned events that occur during the regular season, which runs January 2 to April 3, 2016. Teams must have competed in five regular-season games to be included in this week’s rankings. The threshold for inclusion will increase to 10 games by the time the final regular-season rankings are run.

The rankings are used to determine regional bid allocations to the Division I and Division III College Championships, which are set to be held May 21-22 and May 27-30 in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Raleigh, N.C., respectively.

The 2016 postseason begins the weekend of April 16-17, when the first conference championship events will be held around the country. Each of the nation’s 10 regions is guaranteed one automatic bid to the College Championships, with the remaining 10 bids being allocated to the regions whose teams finish highest in the final regular season rankings. Rankings also determine strength bid allocations from conference championships to regional championships.

Additional information on the bid allocation process is available in the college season guidelines . The algorithm used to determine the rankings is version 2.0 of the USA Ultimate rankings algorithm. An explanation of the algorithm can be found on the main rankings page

Division I Rankings – March 23, 2016 Full Rankings Men / Women





Men's Division 1. Massachusetts - NE

2. Wisconsin - NC

3. Minnesota - NC

4. Oregon - NW

5. Pittsburgh - OV

6. Stanford - SW

7. North Carolina-Wilmington - AC

8. Washington - NW

9. Florida - SE

10. North Carolina - AC

Women's Division 1. British Columbia - NW

2. Whitman - NW

3. Stanford - SW

4. Central Florida - SE

5. Oregon - NW

6. Texas - SC

7. Washington - NW

8. UCLA - SW

9. Michigan - GL

10. Pittsburgh - OV

Division III Rankings – March 23, 2016 Full Rankings Men / Women



Men's Division 1. John Brown - SC

2. Richmond - AC

3. North Carolina-Asheville - AC

4. Brandeis - NE

5. Williams - NE

6. Claremont - SW

7. Colorado College - SC

8. St. John's - NC

9. Indiana Wesleyan - GL

10. Carleton College-GOP - NC

Women's Division 1. Bowdoin - NE

2. Truman State - SC

3. Valparaiso - GL

4. Haverford - OV

5. St. Olaf - NC

6. Puget Sound - NW

7. Carleton College-Eclipse - NC

8. Messiah - OV

9. Luther - NC

10. Rice - SC

Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.