Ozark Ultimate

New Site

2007-01-02T15:41:00.000-06:00

We have moved to http://ozarkultimate.wordpress.com/. Please update your bookmarks.

Waiting for News

2006-12-09T00:36:00.000-06:00

There will be new posts as soon as the last couple of teams return their questionnaires. The spring season is almost upon us.

Eleventh Edition Rules

2006-09-22T20:48:00.000-05:00

The UPA Standing Rules Committee has recently been working on the eleventh edition of the Rules of Ultimate. The new edition is mostly rule clarifications at the moment, but there have been some major changes to certain rules.

Currently, the eleventh edition is still in draft form, but the SRC is now allowing players to voice their opinion.

A rules discussion group has been started at google groups to allow players a chance to review the new rules and add suggestions.

The revisions can be seen here.

*Editor's Note* A great deal of thanks goes out to the SRC and the work that they have done.

Jake Beveridge Layout Score

2006-09-05T23:46:00.000-05:00

Watch the video

Two of Harding's players to watch this upcoming season combine for a goal as Justin Bland (22) hucks deep to Jake Beveridge (34).

New College Season Preparations

2006-09-04T01:36:00.000-05:00

The Ozark Ultimate blogsite is in the process of preparing for the next college season.

Along with cosmetic changes, the website will showcase new video and audio features. The blogsite is also planning to add more ultimate coverage from around the South College Region, greatly improve upon the preseason media guide, and add a preseason all-section award.

Like all of the ultimate websites we are currently looking for help. If anyone wants to write news articles, take pictures, or record video there is an opportunity for them. The positions are all volunteer, but the experience and team exposure are some compensation.

If anyone is interested in becoming a reporter please contact the webmaster at will at paradoxis.com.

Stay tuned for more updates in the next few weeks.

Size Bids Allocated

2006-04-25T01:43:00.000-05:00

UWA - Springfield, MO
As anticipated, the South Region fell short this weekend of a size bid to the UPA College Open Nationals. The region had the highest percentage of on time rosters to participation, at 79 percent, but still ended up missing the extra bid by seven on time rosters.

Bids for each region are determined by the UPA Series Guidelines. Each region has at least one guaranteed bid, and can garner additional spots with strength and size bids. Strength bids are determined by how well a region’s representatives perform at the previous year’s Nationals. Size bids are determined by how many teams with on time rosters participate in the current year’s series.

Last year Texas TUFF secured a strength bid for the South Region by advancing to quarterfinals of Nationals.
Link

2006 Ozark Sectional Tournament Preview

2006-04-05T15:46:00.001-05:00

Nineteen teams will battle in Fayetteville this weekend for six bids to South Regionals. Pools were released Tuesday, and the top six finishers from last year are the top six seeds for this year, but don’t let that fool you: things in the Ozark Section aren’t as predictable as they have been, and there are a lot of teams outside of the top six that stand a chance of pulling some upsets and qualifying for Regionals.

How will the teams finish? Who will be making the trip to Tulsa? Which teams might find their way into the top six? Here’s my take.

The Favorites

1. It’s should come as no surprise that Kansas is my pick to defend their crown and take the section again. The Zontals are loaded with talent, and were the overwhelming favorites to take the section this year from day one. To this point, nothing has changed. KU lost more games in Vegas than they probably wanted to, and suffered lopsided defeats against Wisconsin at Mardi Gras and North Texas at Centex, but have still remained a fixture in the NUMP and UPA Top 25 polls all season.

Not all is perfect in Lawrence, however. Senior Jerrod Wolfe injured his MCL and it is unknown (at least by this author) if he will be playing in the Series. When it comes to Sectionals, it won’t matter, as KU is good enough to win the Ozarks without him. At Regionals though, it would be nice to have their All-Region deep back in action as they try to take one of the top two spots and defeat their rival Texas.

2. Arkansas may have lost several seniors last spring, and Nick Welch-Bolen may be overseas this semester, but Ludicrous Speed seems to have a deeper contingent of talented, athletic players than ever before.

So far, LS has only played in two college tournaments this spring, but both have been notable. Ludicrous’ first tournament of the season, The Hendrix Ultimate Experience, featured an admittedly weak field, but the fact that LS managed to take home the championship without several of their top players even making the trip was impressive. Then, at Mardi Gras, Arkansas showed potential, knocking off North Texas and barely losing to both Texas and Minnesota.

Some people were surprised by Arkansas pulling down the two seed, but I’d be more surprised if they didn’t turn heads this weekend by holding seed with some big wins.

3. The season started of slowly for Washington University, as they made the trip down to Mardi Gras and returned without a single victory, picking up lopsided defeats against Wisconsin (that one is excusable), Vanderbilt, and LSU. However, it was the first tournament of the year for the Contrabears, and New Orleans is a long way away from St. Louis. Not surprisingly, they performed much better at Terminus, defeating North Carolina, and narrowly losing to three teams who have performed very well so far this season: Michigan, NC State, and Georgia Tech.

Wash U did a good job of defending their home turf at Huck Finn, losing in the finals to a Luther team that has had an impressive season. The Contrabears got a close game from their alumni team and had two close calls against Harding, but other than that, handled their opposition without much trouble.

This team isn’t as deep as it was last year, and relies heavily on a few experienced players, but at the end of the day, George is arguably the best all-around player in the South, and when the game is on the line, that counts for a lot.

4. Missouri State lost a ton of their core players from last year’s team which took the Ozark Section by surprise, but so far, it doesn’t seem to be affecting them. The Frizzbears had a decent showing in Little Rock with only a partial squad, and then represented at their home tournament by beating every college team they faced, including a defeat of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the top seed in their pool, a dismantling of Truman State, and a come-from-behind victory over arch-rival Harding in the semifinals.

At Huck Finn, MSU faced the best competition they had seen all semester, and they responded well, losing close games to Luther and Illinois, handily beating Northwestern, Oberlin, Purdue, and Truman State, and vaulting to the number 40 spot in the UPA rankings.

The RRI numbers are probably a little inflated (thank you Wisconsin-Whitewater for providing the best example to date of why algorithms don’t always work), and on paper, this team doesn’t look that good. But they are a team with great chemistry, they have stepped it up since Little Rock, and on the field, they’ve been winning games. And on the field is where it counts.

5. With most of their players returning, the Oklahoma Apes of Wrath had high expectations for the season, but so far have not lived up to them. The Apes performed well at the Florida Winter Classic aside from a 13-0 shutout loss at the hands of Florida, but then struggled through Trouble in Vegas and Mardi Gras with several injuries and inconsistent play.

The Apes rebounded somewhat over spring break, winning High Tide, but then suffered several lopsided defeats just a few days later at College Southerns. Fool’s Fest was a stronger performance, as OU beat Iowa and USC and gave a solid Colorado State team a close game, but a loss to Iowa State and a Sunday of rainouts denied the Apes the chance of using the weekend to make the statement that they are once again one of the elite teams from the South.

But, when it all comes down to it, OU still has several players with a lot of talent, experienced leadership from its captains, and more players over 6’3” than any three other Ozark teams combined. I don’t think that they’ll be in peak form by this weekend, but if they do put it all together, look for them to finish higher than fifth and play like the team we all expected them to be.

6. Though I am probably biased, Harding has got to be one of the bigger Ozark disappointments so far this season, based on their inability to close out games. Apocalypse had late second half leads against LSU at T-Town Throwdown, Arkansas in the finals of the Hendrix Ultimate Experience, and Iowa State and Missouri State at Frostbite, but lost all four games.

At Huck Finn, Harding had the opportunity to pick up victories against quality opponents, but went 1-5 on the weekend. In Harding’s defense, they were only able to bring 11 players including a B-team member and had three players fighting through substantial injuries for most of the weekend. Despite this, HU played pretty well, losing the five games by a combined eight points. Had they brought a full team, Apocalypse might have been able to pull out a couple more victories, but their inability to finish off Wash U after being up 10-5 suggests that they still aren’t over their second half problems.

This season, Harding has managed to beat the teams they’re supposed to beat (something that has been a problem in the past), so they should be able to hold seed and be the last team to qualify for Regionals. So far though, they have not proven that they have the ability to outplay quality opponents for a full game, and until they do, a higher finish is unlikely.

The Dark Horses

The next seven teams, listed in alphabetical order, are all knocking on the door, looking to steal a Regionals bid from one of the top six:

Hendrix might be the most improved team in the section since the beginning of the semester. After losing every game they played at their home tournament, including a 13-1 loss to Oklahoma State and defeats at the hands of Tulsa and Rhodes, the Flying Squirrels rebounded with a solid performance at Frostbite. Hendrix picked up victories against St. Louis and Missouri-Rolla, avenged an earlier loss by crushing Tulsa 13-4, and gave Harding all they wanted in a 13-9 loss.

Hendrix continued their positive momentum at Huck Finn, where they went 5-2 with a runaway victory over Wisconsin-B, another win over St. Louis, and hard-fought losses to Kansas State and Western Illinois.

The Squirrels are by no means the most athletic team in the section, but a solid handling corps that likes to huck makes this a team to watch out for.

I’m not going to lie; I really have no clue how good Kansas State is. I know they have an inflated RRI, based on their demolition of bad teams at the Flinthills Ultimate Invite back in February, but just because they might not be as good as the all-knowing algorithm would predict based on those results doesn’t mean they’re not a solid team.

At Huck Finn, the Huckstables held seed and won their pool, defeating Hendrix 13-9, before getting blown out in their crossover by a good Wisconsin-Whitewater team. K State then went on to lose their two Sunday games, putting up a fight before losing 15-12 to a solid Wash U alumni team, and then ending up on the wrong side of a 15-7 score against club team Big River.

This weekend, the Huckstables are seeded tenth overall, and third in their pool. The matchup with Missouri should be a good one, as both teams will struggle for the right to start Sunday off in the second place bracket.

Based on how they played back in February at the Hendrix Ultimate Experience, I would have expected John Brown to be in a much better position this weekend. In Little Rock, JBU beat Rhodes twice, and had narrow defeats against both Harding and Southern Indiana, two teams with significantly higher RRIs. But since then, things have gone downhill: JBU did not play well at Frostbite, losing to Truman State 13-7 and to Missouri-Rolla 13-9, with their only win of significance coming in a narrow defeat of St. Louis. Then, this past weekend at the OkState Scrimmage, they got beaten soundly by Oklahoma State in a game that I thought was going to be close.

Earlier in the semester, John Brown probably would have received a top 10 seed in the section, but based on their recent struggles, they’ve fallen to 14th and will have a rough day of pool play against Oklahoma, Harding, Hendrix, and Wash U-B. This team is much improved over last year, but if they want to extend their season beyond this weekend, they’ll have to regain the form they had earlier in the semester.

At the beginning of the semester, Regional Coordinator Mike Houston warned us that Missouri would be the South’s sleeper team this year, and while the 2006 MUtants aren’t dominant, they are better than the 2005 version.

Mizzou started the season at Mardi Gras, where they went 4-3. The wins weren’t as impressive as the losses, where they gave close games to three solid teams, St. John’s, Wisconsin-B, and Florida State. At Frostbite, the MUtants beat a short-handed Oklahoma State team and hucked their way to an upset of the top seed in their pool,Wisconsin-Eau Claire to go 4-0 on Saturday. Sunday would be another story though, as Missouri would suffer consecutive losses against Harding, Wisconsin-Whitewater, and the Wisconsin-Eau Claire team that they had beaten a day earlier.

The MUtants will be looking to pull off the upset against Arkansas, the top seed in their pool, but they better not overlook Kansas State, or they could find themselves starting off Sunday in the sixth place bracket, having to win four straight games to advance.

Missouri-Rolla is another team I know virtually nothing about, because they’ve only played in one tournament this semester. At Frostbite, Rolla did defeat a struggling JBU team 13-9, but also lost to fellow “bubble” team Hendrix and lost by a wide margin against Truman State.

Pitted in pool play against Washington University and Missouri State, it will be difficult for Rolla to pull an upset. But, if UMR beats Arkansas-B and holds seed, they will begin Sunday in the 6th place bracket, where they could do some damage against the other three seeds.

Oklahoma State is another team that has been inconsistent this season. Their most impressive wins probably came in Little Rock, where they beat a short-handed Missouri State team 13-7 and then thrashed Hendrix 13-1. But that same weekend, Ultimato lost by large margins to Southern Indiana, and to Mississippi twice, two teams that I thought they would match up well against.

Frostbite was not a good tournament for OSU as they only managed to win two games. It is noteworthy that OSU was playing with a limited team in Springfield, but the fact that they didn’t have enough players to even field a team on the Sunday of a March tournament doesn’t necessarily bode well. However, last weekend, Ultimato hosted John Brown and Tulsa in a three team scrimmage and performed well beating TU 11-5 and then giving an impressive performance in a 13-5 win over JBU.

Large roster or not, OSU seems to have the rust off and looks ready to play. An upset over Kansas in pool play is very unlikely, which should make the Oklahoma State/Truman State pool play game a good one: not only is the eight seed playing the nine seed, it’s also the battle to start Sunday in the 2nd place bracket, which would make either team’s quest for a Regionals berth a lot easier.

Truman State is the last of the teams that I haven’t really seen this year and don’t know much about, but at least they have played at several tournaments. Starting with Frostbite (with only one reported score from Mardi Gras, I really have no idea how they fared there), JuJiTSU went 3-0 in their pool against college teams, including convincing victories over Missouri-Rolla and John Brown, before losing 13-6 to Missouri State on Sunday.

At Huck Finn, Truman went 3-0 in pool play with wins over Wisconsin-B, St. Louis, and Luther-B, but then lost their crossover game against Big River 13-2, and were blown out on Sunday by both Missouri State and Purdue. In their defense, Truman brought a small team to St. Louis, and after experiencing a couple of injuries were basically playing savage on Sunday.

Aside from having the hardest name in the section to type correctly, JuJiTSU is one of the teams with the best chance of pulling an upset and getting a Regionals bid. That being said, if they can’t pull out the win against Oklahoma State on Saturday, the uphill battle they will face Sunday will leave them on the outside looking in.

Luke Dockery is a former captain and current player for Harding Apocalypse.

Ozark Section Tournament Pools

2006-04-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

UWA - Springfield, MO
Pools for the Ozark Section Tournament were released today. As expected the Kansas Horizontals received the overall first seed. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Washington were awarded top seeds in their respective pools.

Due to several late rosters, the teams from this week’s Ozark Section Tournament will be competing for six spots to the South Regional Tournament. The entire Region turned in 35 on-time rosters, which is four more than last year. However, it appears that it will not be enough to garner an additional size bid for the South Region.

The Ozark Sectional Tournament will be held this weekend, April 8 and 9, in Fayetteville Arkansas. Tournament Link

Regular Season Comes to a Close

2006-04-03T19:57:00.000-05:00

UWA - Springfield, MO
The regular season of Ozark College Ultimate came to a close yesterday at Fools Fest in Lawrence Kansas. Unfortunately, the final day of the tournament ended unusually due to a combination of rain, wind, and forfeits. As a result of the unique situation, Arkansas-B became the College Division Champion by winning the semifinal game against Kansas-B.

Just a few miles south, the Oklahoma State Scrimmage was taking place as well. The one day event (April 1) pitted host Oklahoma State, John Brown, and Tulsa against each other. John Brown won the first game against Tulsa, 13-9. Oklahoma State then beat John Brown in the second game of the day 13-5. Ultimato finished the day off by defeating Tulsa 11-5 in the third and final game of the day.

The next scheduled tournament is the Ozark Sectional Tournament. The tournament will be held April 8 and 9 in Fayetteville, Arkansas and is a part of the 2006 UPA College Series.

Top 10 Final Regular Season Rankings

RRI
1. Kansas
2. Missouri State
3. Arkansas
4. Washington
5. Harding
6. Oklahoma
7. Kansas State
8. Missouri
9. Oklahoma State
10. St. Louis

UPA 25
1. Kansas
2. Washington
3. Missouri State
4. Arkansas
5. Harding
6. Oklahoma
7. Kansas State
8. Missouri
9. Truman State
10. St. Louis

Huck Finn Recap

2006-04-02T16:58:00.000-05:00

UWA - St. Louis, MO
While most of the country was busy watching basketball and March Madness, another competition was going on in St. Louis. And while it may not have been the most anticipated tournament of the week it certainly had its fair share of knuckle-biting wins, heroic performances and upsets. That competition was The Tenth Annual Huck Finn Ultimate Classic.

In past installments of Huck Finn there has been a steady drop off of team talent past the top three or four teams. This year however, proved to be much different in that teams who had won just a couple of years ago were now relegated to the lower pools. The A Pool was lead by perennial power Illinois, the Washington Alumni, Washington, Wheaton-Illinois, and the unpredictable Harding. Pool B featured Luther, who had just given number two ranked Wisconsin a run for their money a week before at Terminus, Northwestern, Purdue, Missouri State, and Oberlin.

Day One

Morning

The tournament started off like most and featured the top seeds of the power pools winning their games with relative ease. But that quickly changed, for in the second round Missouri State made a statement by easily finishing off Northwestern 13-6. Meanwhile, in the A Pool, Harding fought a much more experienced Illinois team to a 15-13 loss.

The third set of games brought about an amazing game of disc between Washington and Illinois. Unfortunately for Illinois, Washington was much more athletic and soundly defeated them, 13-8. Harding lost another close game to Wheaton-Illinois 13-12 while Missouri State played a sloppy game against Oberlin but still won 13-8.

Afternoon

When the horn sounded to begin the fourth round most games had already started. Over in the B Pool, Purdue and Missouri State were locked in a two all tie. The Frizzbears then broke out a dynamic zone and quickly gained a large lead. Purdue then tried to force several long throws for scores, but Missouri State had switched to man by then, and the game ended 13-5 in the Frizzbears favor.

Washington came into the fifth round undefeated in pool play while Harding entered the round without a win. The two teams had played each other three times last year and Washington had won every encounter. So it was not a surprise when Contrabear star George Strange-Hughes sat the beginning of the game out.

What was a surprise was how well an undermanned Harding team played, even though they had just lost three long games by a combined score of six. Even more shocking was that Harding took half 7-4. It was no shock then that George entered the game to start the second half. Yet somehow, Harding continued to pile on the pressure and jumped out to a commanding 10-5 lead.

It was at that point Washington threw out a loose cup in desperation and George started to carry his team. Several minutes later Harding watched the lead slip right through their fingers as they struggled to figure out the zone defense. Suddenly, the game was tied at twelve a piece and Harding threw the disc away just before scoring. Washington worked the disc up slowly and confidently to finish off Harding 13-12.

Lower Pools

The lower pools featured more Ozark Section teams including several B teams showing just how much the section has grown in recent years. Kansas State easily won the C Pool and Truman State beat a tough Wisconsin-B team 16-15 on universe point to win the E Pool. However, both teams lost their crossover games. Truman State JuJiTSU lost 2-13 to club team Big River, and the Kansas State Huckstables were defeated 3-13 by Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Day Two

First Round

The second day of competition would start off with straight bracket play and there would be no byes. Kansas State would begin the day by losing a close game to the Washington Alumni and at the same time the Contrabears would win a sloppy game against Western Illinois. To the left of the Contrabears, Missouri State would quickly finish off Truman State 15-4. To the right of Washington, a battered Harding team came out very poorly against Oberlin, but would finish the game on a 7-2 run to win, 15-13.

Quarterfinals

The next round would feature a rematch of Washington and Harding. After the close call from Saturday, the Contrabears came out more focused and used George throughout the game. Even so, the game would be another nail-biter: Wash U took half at 8-7, never led by more than two in the second half, and finally took the victory on double game point, 14-13.

The MSU and Illinois game would also be a back and forth battle, with five lead changes and seven ties. Illinois eventually fought their way back to tie the game 12-12. At that point Missouri State decided they would no longer catch the disc in the end zone, and would drop two easy scores on consecutive points. Fist took advantage of the late game errors by the Frizzbears to score the last three points and win 15-12.

Semifinals

Illinois could be heard saying that it wanted revenge for the beating that they took from Washington the day before. The Contrabears took no notice of the group from Champaign and soundly trounced Fist once again 15-8.

Finals

The final game would pit hometown favorite Washington verses West Plains Sectional visitor Luther. On the line were bragging rights, Gaia bucks, and the Huck Finn X Title. Luther began the game with a serious intensity and quickly took the lead. A ridiculous grab by Contrabear Gareth Marshall (Picture) assisted in firing up Washington, but they were still down 8-5 at half.

The Contrabears started the second half with a loose junk defense and scored two quick points to make it 8-7. At this point the wind picked up and Luther jumped ahead, 12-9. Washington then switched to a three man cup and answered the challenge before them, bringing the score to 12-11. Unfortunately, the Contrabears had dug too deep of a hole to climb out of and the teams finished by trading points. In the end Washington lost a close match to Luther, 15-13.

Thoughts

Huck Finn was a well run tournament and had some excellent competition. Yet one thing became very clear: the Ozark Section has grown in strength and numbers. With a greater number of solid teams than ever before, things should be very interesting next weekend in Fayetteville.

*Editors Note* if anyone would like to add an anecdote from the tournament feel free to contact me at - will at paradoxis dot com

Huck Finn X

2006-03-22T22:10:00.000-06:00

UWA - St. Louis, MO
This weekend Washington University (St. Louis) hosts the tenth installment of the Huck Finn Ultimate Classic.

The tournament boasts twenty six teams divided into six pools. Ten teams will form two power pools, while the remaining sixteen teams will form the remaining four pools. The power pool teams get an automatic berth into the Championship Bracket while the other teams must play their way into the Championship Bracket.

Pool A consists of perennial power Illinois, host Washington, Washington Alumni, Wheaton-Illinois, and Harding. Pool B is led by Luther, Northwestern, Purdue, Missouri State, and Oberlin.

Last year Washington won the tournament in convincing fashion, beating Vanderbilt in the final game 13-3.
Tournament Link

Frostbite III

2006-03-09T12:58:00.000-06:00

UWA - Springfield, MO
The 3rd annual Frostbite Ultimate Tournament was held this past weekend in Springfield Missouri. Nineteen college teams from the South and Central Regions and an open club team consisting of Missouri State alumni competed for the coveted Glass Pitcher.

The first day consisted of scattered showers and mild winds. As a result much of the first day was dominated by zone defenses.

The biggest surprise of the tournament was the difficulty that the top ranked teams had retaining their spot in pool play.

In Pool B, Missouri State went up 12 to 6 against Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Frizzbears had problems finishing off SubPar, but finally won the game 13-10.

Over in Pool C, the Missouri University MUtants shocked Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eauzone with their long game. In a game that had over a dozen full field hucks, Missouri pulled off an upset, winning 13-9.

Pool D almost featured another upset of a top ranked team. With Harding ahead of Iowa State 12-10, the members of ISUC put together an impressive run with the help of a typical Harding meltdown to win the game 15-13.

Sunday was in sharp contrast to Saturday’s weather with temperatures cresting into the 70s and light winds.

The Sunday Championship Bracket went much to seed, the only exception being Harding’s clobbering of Missouri. The Championship game consisted of Missouri State playing their Alumni, and losing to the old men 13-7.

The tournament garnered a fair share of media attention, with several local television stations reporting the event.
Tournament Link

Hendrix Ultimate Experience this Weekend

2006-02-10T00:12:00.000-06:00

UWA - North Little Rock, AR
Thirteen teams from the South Region will be competing this weekend, February 11-12, at the Hendrix Ultimate Experience in North Little Rock. Ten of those teams are from the Ozark Section.

The Hendrix Ultimate Experience, which was previously known as the Zach Show (pronounced Shaow), is in its fourth year. As in years past, this will be the first tournament of the spring season for a majority of the teams. Spectators should be prepared for some early season jitters, mistakes, and miscues.

Missouri State won in 2005 and Oklahoma won in 2004. Harding has finished in second place the last two years.

Games begin at 9 am on Saturday at Burns Park.
Tournament Link

2006 South Regional Site Awarded

2006-02-02T15:43:00.000-06:00

UWA - Columbia, Missouri
The site and date for the 2006 UPA South College Region was announced today. According to Regional Coordinator Mike Houston, the tournament will be held in Valley Park Soccer Complex near Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 29-30.

Sixteen teams from the Ozark, Texas, and Bama sections will compete for at least two bids to the 2006 UPA National Collegiate Championship in May. This is the first year since the 1999 Regional Redrawing that the South has held more than one bid. Previous South Regional tournaments have been held in Dallas, Texas and Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Valley Park Soccer Complex fields were most recently used for the 2005 Summer Solstice Tournament and 2005 West Plains Club Sectionals.

Ozark Preview 2006: Oklahoma Apes of Wrath

2006-01-14T14:04:00.000-06:00

Here is the second preview in a series of profiles on teams from the Ozark section. Many thanks go out to the Apes for getting this to us so it could be out before their season started. Good luck in Florida.

2006 Ozark Ultimate Open Top 10 Preseason Poll

2006-01-14T02:33:00.000-06:00

UWA - Springfield, MO.
The Kansas University HorrorZontals were picked to repeat as Ozark Section Champions in the 2006 Ozark Ultimate Preseason Poll released on Friday.

The voters, who consisted of representatives from nine teams, along with the South regional coordinator, Ozark sectional coordinator, and two members of the media, awarded Kansas 12 of 13 first place votes. Oklahoma, the second-ranked team in the poll, earned one first place vote.

This was the first year for the poll, which was open to all teams in the Ozark section.

Ozark Preview 2006: Harding Apocalypse

2006-01-05T23:07:00.000-06:00

This is the first in a series of profiles on teams from the Ozark section. Enjoy! Thanks to the Harding guys for sending in the information. Click on each page separately to read.

2006 Ozark Sectionals Location Chosen

2005-12-06T22:43:00.000-06:00

UWA - Springfield MO
According to unnamed sources, the date and location for this spring's Ozark Sectional tournament have been set and details are already being worked out.

Apparently, 2006 Ozark Sectionals will be held in a central location in Fayetteville, Arkansas on April 8-9.

In addition, there are rumors circulating that teams will be fined for paying late as well as for backing out of the tournament. This move is most likely to combat the fact that several teams dropped out of last year's tournament at the last minute.

Previous Ozark Sectional tournaments have been held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Manhattan, Kansas, and Columbia, Missouri.

The Beginning

2005-11-29T00:25:00.000-06:00

It is my hope, as well as several others I am sure, to make Ultimate into a more organized sport. To this end, I felt the time had come to start handing out "awards", and to begin a database of articles.

While a blog falls woefully short of such expectations, it can definitely be an excellent place to work toward such goals and determine if there is actually a need for what I want to do here. So, with this blog, I hope to start a place where there can be professional, unbiased game reports, team articles, as well as an "organization" to hand out honors.

Toward that effort I felt that I would start with what I know the most about, and that is the college Ozark Section. Therefore, I would like to start with our section awarding its own All-Section awards for pre-season, and have a pre-season ranking of the Ozark teams.

That is what this site is all about, and I hope you will come along for the ride.