2026 US Quadball Cup College D1 Preview
By: FBN Staff
The biggest event in US Quadball is finally here.
All year, teams have been battling, traveling, and planning for the love of the game and in hopes of arriving in Sacramento to play Quadball with the best.
The road to the College D1 Championship isn’t kind. It requires long hours on the road, tough games when you’ve already given everything you’ve got and grueling hours of practice. But these teams are going to ask their players for just one more weekend of the season. And all for something that’ll make it all worth it: the title of USQ College Champions.
FastBreak News has been with you through it all. And at the end of this 25-26 season, we’re here to break down what this season has been for every team that will be on the ground in Sacramento Saturday morning.
So here is everything you need to know about our D1 College competitors before USQ Cup 2026:
Pool A
Virginia
Start on top, finish on top – that’s likely been No. 1 ranked UVA’s motto for this past season. Virginia rose to the top of the FBN College Rankings after their 2nd place finish at USQ Cup 2025 in their home state and have maintained that dominance ever since. They spent their regular season tearing through the App-5 conference, becoming undisputed champs in their region and taking care of business at the Howard County National Qualifier. With an impressive record of 17-0 and a +2835 point differential, some of their notable wins include defeating Brandeis 160-70 to capture a regional championship and D1 bid and their sweep of the App-5 Championship in November.
Heading into Cup, UVA’s roster is scary, boasting USNTDA members Nathan Jun and Rhett Krovitz along with team leader Joey Beh. They have also picked up crucial rookies such as Elizabeth Reinhardt and Ava Foulk, building up a strong foundation throughout the year and getting their newbies used to winning early. However, similar to last year’s USQ Cup, UVA has only rostered fourteen people, enough to barely run two lines. But last year’s success is still fresh on everyone’s minds, and they have proved that their roster, no matter how small, has what it takes to win it all. UVA will begin their nationals run against CWRUcio at 9:10, RPI at 11:30 and finish Day 1 with Illini at 1:50.
Illini
I think this is one of the best pools that Illini could be in. Champaign National Qualifier was a big test for the current No. 4 team in the country. Undefeated until the finals, losing to Creighton 165-100, Illini handled business in both the quadball and dodgeball game. In their pool, they have No. 1 UVA, No. 10 CWRUcio and RPI. I think this is a battle-tested group that keeps Illini prepared and ready for Day 2.
I think Illini have a lot of potential to punch up against UVA in their matchup, which is a must-watch game at 1:50 PM. Illini lost 13-10 quadball differential against what I would argue is the best beater core in the country. That being said, their UVA matchup is the same matchup against strong, confident beaters that look to pressure, press and throw. Illini has the beaters to match them in Veronica Hoffman and Sohum Sharma, who can play big minutes and live up to the moment. Illini and UVA don’t catch flags that often, which means this second period is going to be an all-out brawl. For me, this is the game of the day.
Illini’s team is deep. Ariana Zhang, Kevin Fantozzi, Emilio Rodriguez, I can keep going. They have 21 players and what feels like an additional 15 people hype on the sidelines supporting them. They are a must-watch team at Nationals.
CWRUcio
After a stellar sophomore season, No. 10 CWRUcio will head to California to continue to capitalize on last season’s success. CWRUcio secured their D1 Collegiate bid after placing fifth at the Howard County National Qualifier, defeating Vermont, Brown, Pitt and Boston to claim a spot at USQ Cup. Led by USNTDA member Titus Chan and rising star Zachary Blue, this growing team is still gaining their footing but blowing expectations out of the water. USQ Cup 2026 will be CWRUcio’s first-ever College D1 appearance.
This season marks CWRUcio’s second season ever as a team, following up an exceptional D2 run at last year’s nationals in Virginia and hoping to continue their upward trend of success. While they’ve drawn a tough pool, this young team is hungry and definitely has the capabilities to steal a few games from pool play to put them in a good spot for Day 2. CWRUcio will begin Day 1 against UVA at 9:10, followed by Illini at 11:30 and finish with RPI at 4:10.
RPI
RPI is back competing in the D1 field, something they have been doing consistently since the D1/D2 split. This year, they are looking to bounce back after last year’s nationals performance, where they went 0-4 in pool play. The squad has had many ups and downs this past season. In their final games before this weekend fell twice to Harvard. Yet, they’ve also looked strong at times, including a win against Boston University and a golden goal win against Brown, both at qualifiers. This team knows how to battle and this weekend should be no different.
This weekend is RPI’s opportunity to grab some nationals win, something they have been waiting for since 2024. While it is unlikely for them to take games from Illinois and Virginia, they have a great matchup against Case Western, a team they missed at qualifiers. Expect that game to be a tight one. Depending on where they fall, Sunday should also provide some good games for the RPI core.
Pool B
Creighton
You could make the case that Creighton has been the most dominant team in the college game all year. Currently undefeated, won their National Qualifier, have a 144.4 quadball differential, and catch the snitch 62% of the time, the third-best rate in the country. We haven’t seen a lot of film of Creighton (primarily because of their inability to get regularly scheduled games), but the highlight of their season was winning at Diamond Cup. Traveling to Texas to take on Southwest teams and coming away with a win against Texas State at their home tournament was a huge boost for their resume. And it served as a signal to the country that they are coming to get a championship on Saturday.
Creighton is strong. Creighton is fast. Creighton is looking to make you uncomfortable, and they have lived within that space for years. Creighton’s beater game is arguably the best in the country, especially when they have two dodgeballs. When they played against Illini at Champaign National Qualifier, Illini had the dodgeball control for the first 10 minutes of the game, and the score reflected it. When they lost control, Creighton went on a run and finished the game. If the score is even at FROP, Creighton is your National Champion.
Derek Dearking, Hunter Mogen, Mimi Baldwin, Tiff Chang, Ryan Cleary. Game Changers.
Harvard
No. 8 ranked Harvard will head to California hungry to upset and challenge for a national title. Coached by former USNT members Max Havlin and Lulu Xu, alumni Lance Bae and legendary coach Ethan Sturm, they have incredibly sound fundamentals and their coaching culture has been built up for years. Harvard finished the regular season with a 10-8 record, with their most notable wins coming against Boston at Howard County, winning the first game 150-130 and the second 205-50.
This Harvard team is still very young, with a majority of their roster being first and second year players. Their main problem is their athleticism – they already have that winning mentality and a coaching staff to guide them to success, and if they’ve spent their regular season developing speed and strength, this team could be a real dark horse in California. Harvard will open their nationals campaign against SHSU at 8:00, Vermont at 12:40 and finish the day with Creighton at 4:10.
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont is playing D1 for the first time since the D1/D2 split in 2023. It truly is a feat for the program, who has been playing in the MQC since its inception. Speaking of the MQC, the Catamounts won the D2 title taking down Middlebury and Emerson. At Howard County Qualifier, the team walked away with a couple wins, but fell to a handful of D1 opponents; Rutgers, Brandeis, and Case Western. It would take a massive overhaul for Catamounts to beat higher caliber teams at nationals, but only time will tell if they are able to pull it off.
Unfortunately for the Catamounts, they were thrown into a pool with top-end talent. On Saturday they play Creighton, Sam Houston State, and Harvard. All three of those teams provide major challenges to Catamounts. There are no easy matchups in that draw. That being said, Vermont has had some success in the seeking game this season, and they will look to push that advantage in these games.
Sam Houston State University
After finishing second at the Garland National Qualifier, No. 5 SHSU is ready to make a statement in California. They will enter Cup with an impressive 13-5 record, only losing to Texas State and UTSA. Technically, they also had the opportunity to play Creighton in bracket play at Diamond Cup XIV, but forfeited that match. But SHSU has been strong all season and has consistently cemented themselves as a top two program in the southwest.
This also marks the last year of collegiate Quadball for SHSU captain and USNTDA member Andrew Acosta, and he, along with Spencer Quintana, Daisy Alfaro, Wyatt Fredrickson and more, will look to make this year count. Their successes in the regular season, including their first regional final appearance since 2024, will be the foundation for a strong performance in California. SHSU will play Harvard at 8:00, Creighton at 1:50 and finish with Vermont at 4:10. While the Creighton game will be difficult, SHSU definitely has the potential to beat both Harvard and Vermont and head into Day Two in a good spot to fight for the championship.
Pool C
Texas State
If there’s one team in the nation that wants to win a national championship more than anything this year, it’s No. 3 Texas State. Last year in Richmond, the Bobcats went 3-1 on Day 1, falling to Virginia before making a semifinal run on Day 2. The end of their season came from Creighton, the eventual national champions.
This season, they started with a little less spark than planned after they dropped their first game to SHSU at Lonestar Cup and lost the title of their home tournament, Diamond Cup, to Creighton. Since then, Texas State has regained their footing and swept the Garland National Qualifier to capture their second regional title in a row.
Heading into this weekend, Texas State will be itching to win their first national championship in program history. This past summer, eight Bobcats won an MLQ Championship ring with the San Antonio Soldados, and captain David Avila hopes to finish his collegiate career with a ring. Other Bobcats in their last year of collegiate Quadball include Catherine Hay, Izzy Ramirez, Bao Hoang and Brandy Gomez, so this may be one of the last chances for Texas State to win a title before entering a heavy rebuilding year. But the question for this seasoned team isn’t really if they can do it, but rather if they can do it. At the peak of their talent, Texas State can be the best team in the country, but in order to win, they’re going to have to execute perfectly throughout the entire weekend.
The Bobcats will begin their day against Mizzou at 8:00, followed by Rutgers at 12:40 and Boston at 4:10. As the team with the most final four appearances in their history without a national title, Texas State certainly has something to prove. Expect them to come out hot and ready to take what they deserve. Diamonds Up.
Boston University
Boston University has had a rollercoaster of a season. Through the first half, they started 11-2* with significant wins over other D1 contenders. They were very active in the MQC throughout the year, with many games played. Will this Nationals prove that more games played together mean a stronger team core?
In the front half of the USQ season, BU was very hot and had impactful wins over Brandeis, Harvard, and RPI. But at Howard County, they seemed to take a step back, taking losses to RPI, Harvard and CWRUcio. They followed this with back-to-back wins over Harvard to clinch the D1 MQC championship.
Seeing how this team travels across the country will be interesting. They do have a few tough pool matches, Texas State at 4:10, and against Blue Jays at 9:10. These matches will be an indication of the strength of the BU team. This team has a ton of potential, and the limit of that will be shown in these two games.
How far can BU go? That may depend on the consistency of the team that shows up in Placer Valley. If it is the team from a majority of the season, they have potential to make a big impact on Day 1 to set them up for a Day 2 run. But travel is difficult for a college team, especially across the country, and we shall see what BU brings.
*According to Quadball.One
Mizzou
If you really want to watch the development of a program over a year in the Midwest, it has to be Mizzou. They started the year off poorly, with bad communication, missing open shots, sailing passes, the whole nine yards. If you were able to catch the Mizzou games either in person or via film from Champaign County, the team looks so much better. You have to give credit where it’s due. This team turned it around and they should be proud. A record of 3-2 on the weekend, with the only losses being to Creighton and Illini is a big win for the program. And a +260 quadball differential in their wins and 2 catches is the type of Quadball that gets this team playing D1 in April.
That being said, their pool is tough. Texas State is a floatable No. 1 with UVA and Creighton. Brandeis went toe-to-toe with UVA for the first 10 minutes of their game at Howard Country Qualifier. Boston, when healthy and available, is a top 10 if not top 7 team in USQ. These are tough games for sure, but I have faith in the Tigers. If you can keep good communication between beaters and chasers, make stops, catch a flag and limit getting transitioned on, I see a scenario where Mizzou makes it out of their group 2-1. The only way that happens is with a full team effort from Miles Himmelmann to Rachel Rader to Henry Hamilton to Abbi Schweisberger. If the team plays together and puts the arm through the hoop, you’re looking at a team that can make a run.
Pool D
Rutgers
Coming into USQ Cup, Rutgers is somewhat of an unknown. Since November, the team has only played at Howard County Qualifier. There, they did well, but this tournament will be a different test, on the other side of the country and at the end of the school year. They will look to prove that they are worthy of the Pot 1 in Pool D, facing a tough schedule of Blue Jays, Brandeis and Texas State.
At Howard County Qualifier, Rutgers faced one of their pool opponents, Brandeis, in a game that was 60-30 at 20 minutes. Unfortunately, this game was voided due to a rules violation during FROP, but the pre-FROP score shows that Rutgers is a great team and can contend and beat many others in the college D1 bracket. Rutgers’ rematch with Brandeis at 10:20 will be an important game to watch and can impact the pool standings.
Every opponent Rutgers faced at Howard County is now in the D1 College bracket, in which Rutgers went 4-1 and had the voided game. But Rutgers did not catch in a single game at qualifiers. In a tournament known for close games and upsets, will this weakness come back to haunt them?
Their other game to watch will be against Texas State, a fellow pot 1 team, at 12:40. This will show everyone whether Rutgers can compete against the best in the division.
Rutgers’ pool performance will be a great indicator of their potential in this tournament. Do they have all that it takes to compete against the best in college? Travelling this far for a tournament is difficult for college teams, so how congruent can they be as a team? They have a lot of talent and great matchups within their pool, and we will see on Saturday how much this team has to give.
Blue Jay
Vermont and Blue Jay have arguably the two hardest pools of anyone traveling to California in the college division. We got the first true look at Blue Jay at Champaign, where they ended up going 3-2 before securing their bid to California, dropping games to Illini and Creighton. Against teams like BGSU and Purdue, they really handled business and won those games convincingly, which shows that against D2 teams, they’re going to do well. Their pool is Rutgers (No. 6), Brandeis (No. 7), and Boston University, who just fell out of the top 10 due to poor performances at previous tournaments. Blue Jay hasn’t looked the best against top talent, almost being shutout by Illini 150-10.
But while the script is not in Blue Jays' favor, their playstyle might be. Blue Jay is a heavy transition team. They pick the ball up, and they go. Whether it went through, whether it missed, whether the refs are confused, they’re going to run past you before you realize. That might be the edge this team needs to squeak out games against MQC teams. MQC at times likes to run, but oftentimes not as a cohesive unit, and without beaters. The Creighton identity is everyone runs together, and if Blue Jays can play an even dodgeball game and allow 4-4 chasers for even 10 minutes, I can see them pulling a flag or two and getting some wins on the weekend.
Brandeis
Coming into the 2025-2026 season, many Quadball watchers doubted Brandeis. While they had a strong 2025 Nationals run, they were blown out 50-195 by Texas State in the Quarterfinals and lost crucial seniors to graduation, including Keeper Eli Fighter. However, despite some early losses, they clawed their way back into contention and head into USQ Cup 2026 with a deep chip on their shoulder.
After developing a roster made up of mostly freshmen from the fall, Brandeis came out swinging at the Howard County National Qualifier and shocked the Quadball world by beating CWRUcio, Brown, Rutgers, Vermont and Harvard before finally falling to No. 1-ranked Virginia. Unfortunately, all of these wins and their runner-up trophy were vacated by Brandeis after USQ found that they violated the gender rule across multiple games in HoCo.
Despite this setback, Brandeis will enter USQ Cup 2026 ready to prove that they are back for real. They’ve drawn a difficult pool, matching up against Rutgers at 10:20, Mizzou at 1:50 and Blue Jay at 6:30, but despite the controversy, their qualifier performance was superb. If all goes well, they’ll pick up enough wins on Day One to sneak into the competitive bracket and challenge for the championship on Day Two.
