(UPA) -- The UPA College Championship Series, which began in 1984, is undoubtedly the largest and most prestigious collegiate Ultimate tournament series in the world. Participation in the series has grown exponentially over years, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. Today, over 250 open and 120 women's teams compete in the UPA College Series, hoping to eventually take home the title of UPA College Champions. The entire series takes place in the spring over the course of approximately six weeks.

The UPA's college division is comprised of eight geographic regions: New England, Metro East, Atlantic Coast, South, Great Lakes, Central, Southwest and Northwest. Any college team meeting the eligibility requirements may participate in their sectional tournament. The top teams at sectionals then qualify to participate in their regional championship. A maximum of 16 teams from each division may compete at each regional championship. The top finishers at regionals (depending on wildcard allocation) qualify to compete at the UPA College Championships (known informally as nationals), a three-day tournament that is held around Memorial Day weekend each year. Sixteen open and 16 women's team participate in the championships with at least one team representing each region.

Over 600 of the top college Ultimate players participated in the 2003 College Championships in Austin, TX. Teams from University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford were named open and women's division champions respectively. Each year, thousands of family, friends and fans attend the tournament in support of the athletes, the teams and the sport in general. All series events are free and open to the public.

For complete information about the series, please visit www.upa.org/college.