University Men’s Indoor Regionals 2024: Scottish Preview

by Kabir ‘Kb’ Adkoli

ScUXIR has come and gone, but university ultimate does not stop! This weekend, male matching players return to Dundee for ScUMIR.

Last year at UMIR, we saw Edinburgh take the crown with Stirling taking the other bid to Div 1 nationals. St Andrews, Glasgow and Strathclyde took spots 3, 4 and 5 respectively. At nationals, the Dark Horses made the most of home advantage (Ravenscraig is in Glasgow, what is ‘Motherwell’?) and won Div 2. Thanks to Strath’s performance, Scotland gets 3 bids to Div 1 nats this year, along with the 3 spots to Div 2. This means half the teams competing at the weekend will be going to nationals.

Seeding

1. Edinburgh 1
2. St Andrews 1
3. Glasgow 1
4. Strathclyde 1
5. Stirling 1
6. St Andrews 2
7. Heriot-Watt 1
8. Aberdeen 1
9. Edinburgh 2
10. Strathclyde 2
11. St Andrews 3
12. Edinburgh 3

You can see the schedule here.

Steph Curry once said, “I have this irrational confidence in the shots that I take”. So, without further ado, giving the people what they want, my impeccable ultimate knowledge is back on display with The Release Point’s predictions/preview for ScUMIR!

Predictions

1st: Edinburgh 1

I’m predicting Ro Sham to defend their ScUMIR title from last year as their open team have looked to be in fine form this season. They finished as the best uni team at Glasgow One Day, competing in a stacked open division, and have dispatched a strong Stirling 15-9 on the road at BUCS. They did have a blip at ScUXIR, by losing to Heriot-Watt and not achieving their Div 1 goal. But in true Ro Sham fashion, they roared back and will be eager to make up for past errors.

2nd: St Andrews 1

While some say their ScUXIR success was thanks to their women, who were undeniably excellent, Saints also possess some of the best open players in Scotland. They have consistently been one of the better teams in this division and I’m expecting more of the same from a team that will be carrying momentum from last weekend. Expect high levels of athleticism and bids!

3rd: Strathclyde 1

Few teams would have thought Strath would have won UMIN Div 2 last year given they were seeded last, but, they performed. Not many predicted them to finish top 2 at UXIR last weekend, but they did. The Dark Horses have been living up to their name by smashing expectations and it’s their time to make the step up to Div 1. They earned Scotland the third bid to Div 1 and it would only be right for them to take it!

4th: Glasgow 1

As the democratically elected leader of Delulu-land, I’d have to select Glasgow as the team taking the first spot to Div 2 nats. Flung have looked good on the male-matching side with solid performances at Glasgow One Day and BUCS, where they managed 15-2 and 15-6 wins against the second teams of St Andrews and Edinburgh. We are happy to have acquired Frederick Dalgaard who helped Stirling qualify for Div 1 Nats last year. “The first time was so nice, we had to do it twice” held true, as we also picked up Stirling’s open captain from two seasons ago, Greg Sargaison.

5th: Stirling 1

A team with a lot of new faces, paired with a couple of older ones, I don’t think Stirling have what it takes to go back to Div 1 Nats. To quote current open captain, Will Harrison, Stirling lost a “strong sideline presence” in Frederick Dalgaard (mentioned above). However, the team could still pose a big threat as they maximise the aerial threat of Ronan Kelly, something that worked effectively at UXIR. As mentioned before, they also pushed an extremely strong Edinburgh team to their limit outdoors at BUCS, despite being on the losing end of a 15-9 result.

6th: Edinburgh 2

In my eyes, this second team has the quality to surprise a few of the first teams and take the final spot to go to Div 2 Nats. While it is usually the first teams that the lights shine on, Edi 2s have snuck under the radar and already pipped Heriot-Watt’s first team at BUCS. And who says they can’t do it again, considering this team will likely be bolstered by a few members of the feared outdoor first team?

7th: Heriot-Watt 1

Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.  Heriot-Watt must be wondering what they did to make it seem like I have an agenda against them by predicting them to not make Nats for the second week in in a row. For those who are confused, I underrated them for ScUXIR and said they wouldn’t make it to Nats, a prediction that aged like milk in the ScUXIR Preview.

The two possibilities this prediction leaves is: either I’m insane or smarter than Einstein, and those who know me would know what’s the likelier of the two. Heriot-Watt have looked vulnerable at multiple points this season as they lost their BUCS game to Edi’s second team 13-6. Additionally, they experienced losses to Glasgow and Stirling at UXIR where their offence found it tough to get going. However, if anybody knows how to prove me wrong and perform when the lights shine brightest, it is Heriot-Watt. I’ll be looking forward to seeing if they say “we threw a zone at them and they couldn’t handle it” again.

8th: St Andrews 2

St Andrews, like Edinburgh, have always seemed to have had depth in their squads, as seen in the performances of their second and third teams. Similarly to Edinburgh 2, I would say this team could knock down any team that underestimates them. Saints’ second team has got the better of Heriot-Watt outdoors in a 15-6 win. Their performance at UXIR was not as convincing though, which is why I’m putting them 8th for the coming weekend.

9th: Aberdeen 1

Aberdeen gave a solid account of themselves at UXIR by finishing 7th, a result not many would’ve foreseen. While they lack the same experience as the teams above them, I could still see them doing well. Being the only team that did not take part in Glasgow One Day, they’ve inadvertently hid their tactics from the competition. I’d have to put them this low however, as they aren’t taking part in the open division of BUCS, which might be indicative of a lack of depth of male-matching players.

10th: Edinburgh 3

If this team can match the performance of the third team at ScUXIR they should be proud of themselves as that third team had some close games against teams that on paper, should have breezed past them. Additionally, I think this team would have some players from the Edinburgh 2 BUCS team which has looked strong outdoors.

11th: St Andrews 3

Wherever I put an Edinburgh team it seems like I place the corresponding St Andrews team close behind. The trend continues here in reasoning that is like St Andrews 2. Comparing the pool of players from St Andrews 2 and Edinburgh 2 at BUCS, St Andrews have looked superior, but I can’t ignore the fact that this does not seem to have translated to indoor ultimate. However, it would not be very surprising to see them jump places and finish above Edinburgh 3.

12th: Strathclyde 2

Finally, to close the division I’d have Strathclyde 2. While their first team were incredible at Glasgow One Day, I don’t think the club have much depth outside this set of players (although, I could be very wrong). This lack of experience might see them struggle against a lot of the top teams. However, I don’t think there’s much separating them from Edinburgh and St Andrews 3, and they could very well find themselves in the top 10.

That’s all I have for the preview for UMIR. Will my predictions be the flame that elevates teams to new levels or will teams be lulled into complacency by the fact I rate them so highly? Good luck to all teams that are competing this weekend and stay tuned for The Release Point recap next week. I’ll either be celebrating perfect predictions, or writing part 2 of my apology to Heriot-Watt.

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Think you have better predictions than us? Let us know them by commenting below!

Featured photo credit: Tristan Millington. Check out his photos from University Mixed Indoor Regionals!