1. Iowa
2. Georgia
3/4. Wisconsin
3/4. Texas
5-27. More information coming soon...

Julie "Bruiser" Shortridge (UC-Berkeley) with the disc at Mardi Gras

(Photo courtesy of Rebecca Rundle)

For a tournament with 87 teams, logistics and field space are probably the biggest obstacle. However, this year's Mardi Gras tournament seemed to go off without a hitch and was well organized. The majority of the fields were part of a soccer complex and while a few of the far fields were a little rough (complete with sticker brush weeds), the women's division games were mostly played on the better kept fields. Additionally, the weather started out perfect for playing ultimate. On Sunday, the wind picked up to make a lot of games upwind-downwind affairs. Not all the fields had the same orientation, so some fields had a crosswind while others played upwind-downwind games to uncharacteristically low scores. Luckily, the wind affected only the early games of the day as it started to die around noon for the later games in the Sunday bracket.

In a significant upset on Saturday, Wisconsin won Pool A over nationally ranked teams Texas (10-9) and Carleton (12-4). Carleton has a reputation for starting their season out slow, often using open rotations to get younger players more experience. Even so, it is a huge accomplishment for Wisconsin's Belladonna to chalk up such a convincing win over last year's UPA College Championship runners-up. As regional rivals, these two teams will see each other throughout the season, but before they match-up again at Centex, Wisconsin will have already had another quality tournament (President's Day) to hone its skills. Texas will be at President's Day as well, and will likely want to have another shot at playing Wisconsin as their game was so close it could have gone either way.

Iowa also won its power pool on Saturday, going 4-0 and beating Georgia, Berkeley, and Kansas. Berkeley wasn't playing up to the team's usual potential as its roster was a mix of its normal A and B squads. However, Iowa has an athletic team that hinges on the stellar play of handlers Mackenzie Henryson and Tammy Kampfe and looked dominant all day. Playing together during the fall club season and winning the fall CCC tournament, this is a team that knows how to play (and win) together. This cohesion was especially helpful in the windy conditions on Sunday where Iowa's discipline kept the disc moving quickly and effectively.

On Sunday, the semifinals saw Georgia versus Wisconsin and Iowa versus Texas. Despite Wisconsin's confidence from the day before, Belladonna couldn't get past the fired up Hodawgs and Georgia won 8-6. The other semi was also a battle and was the closest match Iowa played all weekend. Cara Crouch and Amanda Berens lead the Texas squad of experienced players, but Texas couldn't quite convert when it had a chance to win on double-game point, and lost its second one-point game of the tournament. As a result, Iowa managed to squeak by and re-match Georgia in the finals. Georgia also has a solid roster with a number of experienced players. The team's star, Katherine Wooten sustained a knee injury last fall and did not seem to be at full strength yet, but the rest of the team has been stepping up and will have a chance to test themselves with a tough spring tournament schedule including Mardi Gras, Queen City Tune Up, and Centex. Georgia and Iowa met in the finals of CCC last fall, with Iowa earning the title. At Mardi Gras, there was now over a thousand dollars riding on the outcome and Iowa's Saucy Nancy won the finals game convincingly to take home the prize. Iowa is shaping up to be one of the teams to beat this season and it will face the nation's toughest competition later this spring at Centex.

(Information provided by Daniel West, Lindsey Hack, and patg among others)

Pre-Tournament Hype: With such a large tournament, there is quite an opportunity for teams to prove themselves, especially as this is the first tournament for most of the teams in attendance. The format divides teams into weighted pools so that on Saturday every team sees other squads at a similiar level of competition.

The top six college teams of the tournament include Carleton, Wisconsin, Iowa, UC-Berkeley, Texas, and Georgia, who will be playing against a couple club teams in the A and B pools. Saturday's pool play will provide lots of intense games as teams battle to make the top bracket from their pool.  Carleton was second in the nation last year after losing in the finals of the UPA College Championships. The team will be anxious to get out of the snow to compete, but might not be as polished at this point in the season as teams from warmer climes, especially as the team graduated a number of veterans.  Wisconsin suffers the same bad weather as Carleton and will also be a little rusty this early in the season. Watch for Jill Hutchinson to lead the team in terms of desire.  As another team from the Central region, Iowa could also be out of practice running on grass in the sun. However, this team made it to the UPA College Championships last year and has a solid returning crew to take them far this year as well.  UC-Berkeley is one of the few teams that has already played in a competitive tournament this winter, making the semifinals of the Santa Barbara Invite. At Mardi Gras, the team is more a mix of the school's A and B teams than its full A team roster, but it should still have the experience to do well at the tournament.  Texas has made the quarterfinals of the UPA College Championships for the past two years in a row, and returns their top player, Cara Crouch. A number of other talented veterans round out this team that should be ready to compete for the prize money on Sunday.  Georgia missed going to the UPA College Championships last year, but has been a consistently strong team and will be looking to reappear at the Show this year.

I don't feel qualified to make any predictions on the remaining four pools, so it will be exciting to watch for surprises. Keep tuned as these teams all battle for the prize money and have a great time enjoying Louisiana during Mardi Gras.