USA Ultimate College Championship 2015: Frisbee Bracket, Dates and Schedule

The sport of Ultimate Frisbee has grown in popularity across the United States over the years, so much that it's got a four-day college championship tournament for men and women beginning on Friday. 

USA Ultimate College Championship consists of 20 teams from across the country doing battle. There are two sessions in pool play and quarterfinals before the semifinals on Sunday and championship matches for the men and women on Monday. 

Games are played to 15 with a cap at 17. Colorado (men) and Ohio State (women) are the defending ultimate champions, and both will have a chance to retain their crown, though the Buffaloes are looking up at Texas A&M in the South Central qualifier. 

Here's the full breakdown of this year's USA Ultimate field and schedule. 

Men's Qualifiers	Women's Qualifiers
Pool A	Pool A
No. 1 Pittsburgh	No. 1 Oregon
No. 8 Georgia	No. 8 Notre Dame
No. 12 Wisconsin	No. 12 Florida State
No. 13 Texas	No. 13 Central Florida
No. 17 Auburn	No. 17 Victoria
Pool B	Pool B
No. 2 Texas A&M	No. 2 Stanford
No. 7 Central Florida	No. 7 Dartmouth
No. 11 Minnesota	No. 11 Washington
No. 14 Western Washington	No. 14 Ohio State
No. 18 Cincinnati	No. 18 Middlebury
Pool C	Pool C
No. 3 North Carolina	No. 3 UCLA
No. 6 Florida State	No. 6 Carleton College
No. 10 Maryland	No. 10 British Columbia
No. 15 Oregon	No. 15 Pittsburgh
No. 19 Illinois	No. 19 Texas
Pool D	Pool D
No. 4 UNC-Wilmington	No. 4 Colorado
No. 5 Colorado	No. 5 Virginia
No. 9 Massachusetts	No. 9 Whitman
No. 16 UC-Santa Barbara	No. 16 Kansas
No. 20 Cornell	No. 20 Princeton

USA Ultimate Dates and Schedule

Date	Round	Start Time (ET)	Watch
Friday, May 22	Pool Play	8:30 a.m.	N/A
Saturday, May 23	Pool Play	8:30 a.m.	N/A
Sunday, May 24	Quarterfinals	8:30 a.m.	N/A
Sunday, May 24	Women's Semifinal No. 1	1 p.m.	ESPN3
Sunday, May 24	Women's Semifinal No. 2	3:30 p.m.	ESPN3
Sunday, May 24	Men's Semifinal No. 1	6:30 p.m.	ESPN3
Sunday, May 24	Men's Semifinal No. 2	9 p.m.	ESPN3
Monday, May 25	Women's Championship	1 p.m.	ESPN3
Monday, May 25	Men's Championship	3:30 p.m.	ESPN3

Men's Team to Watch: Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh could have fallen apart after last year's crushing defeat against UNC-Wilmington in the quarterfinals. Instead, Nick Kaczmarek's team came back as strong as it was last year, ready to finish what it started in 2014. 

As noted by Patrick Stegemoeller of UltiWorld.com, Pitt's defeat in the quarterfinals last year gave the coaching staff a chance to examine what was wrong with the team:

"

A key ingredient in Pitt’s disappointing results last season has been identified by Pittsburgh’s own coaching staff was their problematic approach to motivation. The team was using external sources of motivation instead of the internal ones that the program preaches. At Nationals, three of Pittsburgh’s pool B opponents — Michigan, Texas A&M, and UCF — had all beaten Pitt at points during the regular season, and a large swath of Pitt’s players were looking for revenge.

"

Now, with the No. 1 overall seed and a favorable draw in Pool A, Pittsburgh can prove that 2014 loss will not define this program. 

Hearing a team went into a tournament needing to find motivation aside from winning a championship can be a detriment. Kaczmarek figured out whatever it was this group needed to put that one loss behind it and is poised to capture a national championship. 

Prior to Colorado's championship last year, Pitt won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013. This is the premier men's ultimate program in the country and has done nothing to drop that crown this season. 

The one team in Pool A that can present a legitimate scare for Pittsburgh is Wisconsin because of coach Hector Valdivia's experience on this stage. He led part of the program's national championship team in 2003 and has been leading it for the last six years. 

Women's Team to Watch: Oregon

Sure, picking the top seeds for the men and women is boring. But there's a reason that Pittsburgh and Oregon are the No. 1 seeds. There's no reason that being the best team in the country during the regular season should be a crutch when it comes to predictions. 

Just as Pittsburgh lost its crown to another program last year, Oregon failed to defend its title, and Ohio State was happy to snatch the championship in 2014. 

Oregon has the nation's best player in Bethany Kaylor, who was given a nice highlight package to boost her case for the Callahan Award by the program:

Kaylor's presence will be a huge upgrade for Oregon, which had to go through the nationals last year without its star player due to a foot injury she suffered in the Cascadia Conference Championships. 

There are no such issues facing the Fugue coming into this year's championship. Sophomore star Hayley Wahlroos provides the necessary backup to Kaylor, with Keith Raynor of UltiWorld.com noting how valuable she can be during a match earlier this season against Stanford:

"

She gave a taste to the viewing audience with a looping crossfield IO backhand around a zone mark and past a deep deep to a waiting Rachel Hershey to make it 10-8. After more trading, it was Wahlroos who responded to Stanford’s second break of the game with an IO backhand deep shot that may have been laser guided to Olivia Bartruff’s hands. The hold was an efficient one possession stand that sapped Superfly’s gathering momentum.

"

Oregon had to endure the questions about Kaylor's absence last year. This year, the team enters the tournament on a high note as the No. 1 overall seed and has a history of recent success that should see another title coming to Eugene.