Colorado Springs, Colo. (October 15, 2026) – The 2026 USA Ultimate National Championships kick off next week in San Diego as top club teams from across North America gather to compete in an event that represents the sport’s highest level of competition.

As teams compete for the national title, this year for the first time, every bracket game across all three divisions — men’s, mixed and women’s — will be streamed live. Games are available through USA Ultimate’s media partner Ultiworld, with 56 games available to watch throughout the four day event — the most live coverage for any National Championships event to date.

Of the 48 teams competing in the Championships, nine are making their first nationals appearance. The mixed division features five first-time qualifiers: California Burrito, Los Angeles Lotus, Oregon Scorch, Pittsburgh Port Authority and Toronto Union. The women’s division has three: Dallas Dimes, Northampton (Mass.) Starling and Philadelphia Flight. And in the men’s division Montréal Mephisto will make their first nationals appearance.

The Championships not only crown this year’s winners but also set the stage for the 2027 season as results from the National Championships will determine where each team falls in next year’s Pro and Elite Flights.

The starting matchups for all three divisions are set, following last week’s live pool draw. Read on for a preview of each division’s top matchups.

Men’s Division

With the field set in the men’s division, the biggest story heading into the Championships might be the position of season front-runner San Francisco Revolver. Coming off a 2025 season where they claimed the Triple Crown, and a strong start to this year’s season that included both a U.S. Open win and claiming a world title, Revolver led most of the regular season rankings. But the decision to skip the Pro Championships in September, and close games against the SoCal Condors and San Francisco Zodiac in the Southwest Regional Championships have them heading to San Diego as the fifth seed.

While they remain a strong contender for the title, they’ll have to earn their way to the final out of a pool that also includes finals contender Boston DiG. And top seed Chicago Machine will be looking to avenge last year’s loss to Revolver in the finals — and claim their first ever National Championship win — having fallen just short of the title in 2019, 2023 and 2025.

With only one team new to the nationals stage, the men’s division will feature many familiar matchups. As teams with long histories compete against old rivals, it is sure to make for exciting viewing.

Mixed Division

Like in the men’s division, the team who looked almost unbeatable at the height of the regular season struggled to maintain that momentum into the postseason. Ann Arbor Hybrid fell to Austin Disco Club in the final of the Pro Championships and are headed to Nationals as the two seed behind New York XIST. Despite the Pro Championships loss, Hybrid joins XIST in standing out from the rest of the field as the two teams most likely to be in serious contention for the national title.

Alongside fifth seed Austin Disco Club, other teams to watch include Sacramento Tower, Boston Slow and Fort Collins shame. Pittsburgh Port Authority won the Mid-Atlantic region to make their first Nationals appearance, continuing to show year-over-year improvement. And Oregon Scorch, another of the five newcomers this year, beat perennial contender (and 2022 National Champion) Seattle Mixtape to win the Northwest region. With a field featuring many fresh teams — and a regular season full of tight matchups —  the mixed division is sure to bring a few upsets and surprises.

Women’s Division

Number one seed Washington Scandal remains the only team capable of winning the Triple Crown in 2026. If they do, they will not only add that achievement to the world championship they won earlier this year, they will also be the first women’s team ever to win the Triple Crown.

While all eyes may be on Scandal as they seek to claim their first national title in over a decade, defending champions Boston Brute Squad will not make the road to the top easy. San Francisco Fury and Denver Molly Brown also have strong teams capable of being in serious contention for the title, rounding out a field of tough competition for the top spot.

While beating a top seed in this division may look unlikely, fifth seed Seattle Riot will be hoping to pull that off by repeating their Pro Championship win over fourth seed Molly Brown. Ninth seed New York BENT is also capable of putting up serious competition — having taken Molly Brown to universe point in their matchup at the Pro Championships — making Pool D an exciting pool to follow, with several early games available to watch live.

How to Watch

The first pull goes up at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday as the road to the championship begins. Check out the full broadcast schedule and don’t miss a moment of the action.