April 9, 2008 - Top 10 Rankings

Here is my first shot at a top 10 rankings.

1. Florida - Florida and their unlimited amount of jerseys, shorts, and 6'4'' kids stand on top of my first rankings ever for many different reasons. They sent a message to the country by destroying the competition at Sectionals. Only one team, UCF, was within 11 points of Florida. That is awesome. The last time I saw this team play was at Centex, where they decided to sport their orange alligator skin jerseys. One thing people know about this team is its height and its domination in the air. With 5th year Cyle Van Auken running the show, he has an unlimited amount of tall receivers in Junior Brodie Smith, 5th year senior Kurt Gibson, and Sophomore Cole Sullivan. Kurt Gibson, the all star that can beat you with his throws, legs, defense, and two gloves, dismantled UNC with his 70 yard hammers. On defense, Florida puts their 4 tallest players in a cup. The only way through the cup is backwards, backwards, swing, and forwards (only for a loss). Florida's stars are standing tall on the world of ultimate. If anyone wants to calculate the average height of the team, please leave it as a comment.

2. Wisconsin Hodags - Wisconsin is known on our team as "The Machine". I put them here because they have only lost to Florida, Michigan, and Pittsburgh. Wisconsin seems to have an unlimited supply of people who can run for days. They all look alike, they are all pale, and they have video cameras at every tournament capturing their sweet D's. Wisconsin's defense is ruthless, as they match up well man-to-man with every team. Their defense plays great help defense, crashing every huck with at least two players it seems. On offense, they are constantly cutting, and if they can't hit an open cutter, they don't hesitate to take you upline. While one dump cuts upline, the dump on the other side of the field sprints straight at the handler and usually cuts back. When we played them at CCC, they had been practicing for 2 months, and seemed to be on their way to an undefeated season.

3. Michigan MagnUM - Michigan, with only four losses this year to top 25 teams, is looking explosive. Led by lanky #1 Will Neff, Michigan surprised everyone at Centex by beating Wisconsin on Saturday. I played Michigan this year at Mudbowl. Here are my scouting reports, they play a man defense and a horizontal defense. Neff played both sides of the disc, throwing 70 yard back hands at will. His backhand and flick are both experienced and strong. As a defensive unit, I wasn't impressed. I think this is where they can improve the most. They have a small handler in Senior Matt Marcum, who touched the disc every-other on offense. UGA split their offensive team and defensive team up at Mudbowl. Our defensive team lost 13 - 8 to them, and the offensive team lost 15 - 12. Michigan is tall, but unfortunately they all have mohawks, which makes them look pathetic.

4. University of North Carolina Darkside - With the departure of Zach Washburn last year, I asked myself, "How is UNC going to make it? They are such a shallow program." UNC has been anything but shallow. This is a controversial pick, but I am putting them so high up here because of their showing at Centex. On defense, they swarm man to man match ups, they hustle when the disc is up in the air, and after they get a D, they huck it for a score. Senior Mat Thomas embodies the word explosive. He is an exciting player to watch. Also, Darkside has a reliable handler in 6'5'' handler Nate Hood. I remember guarding him at Queens City and how much land there is between marking his flick and backhand. His throws are quick and they go far a lot of the time. I think Darkside's defense is better than their offense.

5. Arizona Sunburn - Sunburn wins this year's "Where did this team come from?" Award (also known as Most Improved). I apologize to Arizona for saying that. I have only been playing ultimate for two years. Seniors #49 Erik Gafni and #77 Joe Kershner (he has a "Play Ultimate" tattoo on his leg) are my two favorite players on this team. The handlers on Sunburn use a variety of upside down throws and and have spring loaded receivers to throw to. We played them at Centex and could not stop their offense enough. I think their offense is second behind Florida's.

6. Colorado Mamabird - I put them at 6 because of their losses to Oregon, Carleton, Illinois, Colorado is in a rebuilding year after losing both Beaufort Kittredge and Rabbit. This team is another tall team. I wish they had their heights right on UPA, and a current roster, but I know a few things about them. They LOVE to break teams using their height. They will throw it right over you head. Jolian Dahl, the team's MVP, is excellent and one of a kind. His game reminds me of Dylan Tunnell's. Other than Jolian, they have a couple of other 6'3'' guys that can dunk on an 11 foot goal. The team lacks in mentality, as well as experience in key positions. I feel that they were still teaching some of their kids the basics of ultimate at Centex. I don't know as much about Mamabird as I should apparently because the comments suggest that they are stacked and it is not a rebuilding year. Whoops.

7. Texas TUFF - Texas has my favorite player in the country on it - Stephen Presley. Stephen pulls, handles, plays shut down defense, jumps over people twice the size of him, breaks, and holds his team together. This Texas team is playing well this year, with wins over Arizona and Colorado. Other than that, I don't know much about Texas. We played them at CCC, but I don't think it was their entire team. Did I mention Stephen Presley for Callahan? He should be in the top 7 at least. I am looking forward to see how they handle North Texas and Texas A & M this weekend at their sectionals tournament.

8. Minnesota Grey Duck - Minnesota is a team that has a guy you should not test deep in any circumstance. I called him Powder, but his real name is Tallis Boyd I believe. He is literally 6'4'', and his skin color is pale. Other than him, I remember them having a shorter, skinny kid who reminded me of a cheetah. Check out my friend getting a lay out D on him. HERE Their spring break was literally ultimate frisbee. They traveled to Terminus to play on one weekend, then drove to a beach in Texas and played Centex the next weekend. This is a very spirited team and they fight hard. Their offense is tough to break.

9. Carleton CUT - These team has some great experience with handlers; however, they seem to under perform in the big games this year. They lost to UNCW, Wisconsin, Oregon, California, Georgia, Arizona, and Texas. Their big wins this year have been to Illinois and Colorado. This team has played a lot of good teams and is competitive, but that is about it. They remind me of last year's Brownian Motion. They have a lot of potential, but so far have not been able to put it together when it counts.

10. Notre Dame Papal Rage - This is my bracket buster. Daniel Reimer is my favorite player on this team. Reimer has skills, athleticism, and a lot of posts on RSD. I want to go ahead and call Notre Dame upsetting Illinois in their Sectionals tournament.

Honorable Mentions: Oregon, Illinois, Georgia, Pittsburgh, NC State, UNCW, UCSB, Stanford