2000 COLLEGE NATIONALS THURSDAY (PREVIEW)
MAY 26–28, BOISE, IDAHO

Boise is beautiful this time of year. The grass is green, luscious shrubs and bountiful trees cover the relatively small town, and a full easygoing river snakes through the center. Already, after only a day, I've played disc, mountain-biked, and watched the Pacers beat the Knicks. A darned fine stay if you ask me.

But now its business. I did my best to scout some teams to provide some scoop. Here's what I found out, but be reminded that this does not nearly encompass all the teams.

Firstly, I've been hanging with the Notre Dame teams, both seeded sixteenth. It's a rough day for both, with Brown in the schedule along with Wisconsin and NC State for the men and UNCW, Brown and Oregon for the women, and neither team has a bye. Ouch. But the teams are chill, considering the prospect of three straight tough teams. Truly, the men can sneak an upset on both Wisconsin and NC State, having lost to both teams earlier in the season by five points. Wisconsin is not as strong as years' past and the region is weaker this year than in the past. They run a tight offense off of set plays and when in rhythm, and matched up with a favorable opponent, can win. But if a breakdown occurs or wrench gets thrown in they could slip and lose to a team of fired-up runners like Papal Rage.

NC State has lost a number of hot players from last year's championship team and has only managed to plug the holes with Jimmy Holtzman, a pickup from UNCW, and a fellow named Dale. Hinkle is still running the show and may be the most dangerous player out there, and Patrick Hard has stepped up from an already high level. Still, they are beatable. Having coach Dobyns on the sidelines, and the tenacity of defending champs should prevent them from losing to Wisconsin on Thursday -- they play at 11:00.

On the women's side -- hoo boy, Oregon, Brown and UNCW are going to duke it out. Any one of these teams can beat another, and an underseeded Domer squad could really mix it up by putting points on the board, tiring a team out, maybe even posting a moral victory. UNCW looks in the driver's seat however, as they start with Oregon and Coach Zeldin will have his squad de facto ready to win that game at all costs against former teammate Coach Linkfield and his crew. Oregon follows that game with Brown, meaning one of those two should be the game they want to win -- but which one?

I may be over-crediting the situation -- tiredness should not be as much of a factor on day one. Regardless, it will be a long day for all four of these teams, without a doubt, and the winner of the pool is the only one to get a bye.

But one more thing -- UNCW has a small squad and a young squad and they win by out-hustling and out-gritting their opponents. But here at Nationals, with a whole field of top teams gunning for them it will be tougher. A lot tougher. I give mad props to Zeldin and Nikki, but this is one team who could take a fall earlier than expected. The scheduling is weird -- UNCW will not get a bye tomorrow, facing three straight games. This day will test their caliber like no other.

Pool B Men with Colorado, Michigan, UCSC and Salisbury should be fun for those last three -- I think anyone could finish second. Colorado will not have any problems. But Salisbury has heart and could surprise a young UCSC team and a young UCSC team with guts could shock a hard-running Michigan crew. Pick Michigan to finish second though.

Pool B Women is brutal at top. I did not know much about Davis, having seen them only briefly at Stanford Invite where they weren't memorable, but at Regionals they crushed, beating Oregon by 9, Stanford by a lot, and everyone else along the way (except UBC). They have a good half-dozen grad students to balance an already talented team, and no injuries that I've heard of, except people recovering from them. A solid number two team with depth, talent, and grad students.

Pool C Men should be Carleton all the way, but UNC is a dangerous and cocky team, having successfully taken over the mantle of North Carolina Ultimate. Carl Erickson and Ray Parrish are money men and Rhett Nichols, a PTPer from the NC State win, brings the swagger. They will beat Winona and Tufts, and give Carleton a scare.

Winona State has been playing Ultimate for a long time and have the right mix of long-hairs and short-hairs, height speed, handling and ups. Tufts is solid, but Winona should bring it and win.

Pool C Women is Carleton, Colorado, Illinois and Smith. Three regional winner. But for newcomers Illinois and Smith, there is no joy. Colorado Kali has had less-than spectacular showings at tournaments in the past two years, and missed a showing at last year's hometown nationals. But they have talent in abundance and have peaked at just the right time, winning a tough region. Led by a core of seniors who have been playing together for four years, they should be able to bet Carleton, if they can keep their mental game tight.

Which should be interesting to watch 4:00 tomorrow, because Carleton is as tough mentally as anyone. They have a fierce focus, a tight-knit super-team that sees only victory in the stars. I have heard that they are missing some of the more earthbound stars however, from teams in the past. But looking at this roster right now, I notice Callahan should-be's Liz Penny and Paige Anderson, as well as Mimi Frusha, Anna Coldham and others, returning from last year's finals.

Pool D Men is all about Stanford and UCSB, while Princeton and Rice will have their own do-or-die battle to avoid the loser's bracket. Stanford and Santa Barbara do not like each other, are terribly familiar, and face off in the final game of the day. The Black Tide is in as tough a form as ever and will no doubt relish a dogfight with their permanent rivals from the North. Stanford and Scott Johnston will have another chance at taking these guys down. Will it happen?

Pool D women appears to be a walk in the park for Georgia. Sure, Tufts won the Northeast but only because their extremely loose offense, anchored by cozy grad student connections, was the perfect antidote to Brown's regimental production. They are this year's Yale, and having said that, they might just confuse some teams and make an upset or two.

This was written for Ultilinks.com.

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