USA Ultimate Releases Nationals Seeding, Schedule

The seeding and schedule for the 2016 USA Ultimate National Championships–set to take place September 29th through October 2nd in Rockford, Illinois–have been announced! Below is the seeding in each Division, links to Score Reporter for the full schedule, and some discussion of the seeding and pools. Much more to come later this week.

Discussion

– The Men’s Seeding looks almost exactly as Ultiworld predicted, although High Five and Patrol have swapped places. That’s probably a more welcome sight for High Five, as Pool B sets up a colossal battle between two preseason favorites, Revolver and Sockeye. Pool B also has some serious pedigree: three of its teams (Revolver, Sockeye, and Doublewide) are former National champions.

– With the new format eliminating the bottom finisher of each pool before Friday, Thursday’s intensity should be markedly higher than in recent years.

– Pool A is surprisingly compelling after Ironside, who will be the big favorite in all three games. PoNY, Prairie Fire, and Ring of Fire all have a clear case for their ability to make the bracket.

– The big question coming into seeding the Mixed Division was what would happen with shame. The team finished fifth in the rankings, but was dropped all the way to the ninth seed, presumably because of a lack of high-level competition during the season. Otherwise, USA Ultimate relied heavily on the rankings, as expected, despite a lot of big upsets so far in the postseason. The top two seeds at the tournament did not win their respective Regionals.

– Shame. will definitely get tested in Pool D, where they match up with perennial powerhouses Seattle Mixtape and Mischief.

– The parity displayed at Regionals in the Mixed Division could suggest some big surprises in pool play. The top three seeds in every pool have shown the capacity to get some very good wins at points during the year. The one seeds don’t feel nearly as safe as they do in other Divisions.

– Our predicted seedings matched the actual seedings perfectly this year in the Women’s Division, which shows just how stratified the teams were this season.

– The Fury v. Scandal matchup in pool play is an obvious must-watch, while the top two seeds — Riot and Brute Squad — look likely to breeze through pool play.

– You have to wonder how much teams will even exert themselves against the top seeds, especially with the danger of tiring for later games and potentially missing the bracket.