#1 Texas and #2 Miami go down

Both of the top teams in the country, according the Eighth Man's poll, have gone down at tournament's today. At their first tournament of the season, #1 Texas started of well going 3-0 in pool play at the Texas State Diamond Cup. A&M and Baylor also went 3-0. Here were the Standings after Pool Play.
1.A&M, 2.UT, 3.Baylor, 4.TXST, 5.Austin, 6.SHSU, 7.Tech, 8.Rice, 9.Roadrunner, 10.Silver Pheonix, 11.UNT, 12.Merc
After destroying the Silver Phoenixes 250*-20 in the Quarterfinals, UT took the field against Baylor, a rising star in the Southwest Region. The biggest upset of the season was complete when Baylor caught the snitch to come from behind and win 90*-80. A&M, who beat Texas State in their semifinal 50*-0 (and avoided UT and Baylor by taking the #1 seed) beat Baylor in the final by a score of 70*-30 to spoil the Cinderella Story.
The #2 team in the land took the pitch today at the Hollywood Bowl. Playing Quidditch powerhouses 4th ranked UCLA and 8th ranked USC. After beating a few of the other Community teams at the Hollywood Bowl, Miami beat UCLA 120*-90 on the snitch snatch. But the 4th ranked Bruins weren't Miami's greatest threat. USC played very well against Miami, winning 150*-90. However, the score is misleading because if Miami had caught the snitch, the game would've gone to overtime, so it really wasn't a blowout. Next was the Crosstown rivalry of UCLA and USC. USC caught the snitch in a clutch moment once again winning 100*-80 to sdvance to the finals against Miami. Miami came out of the gates strongly, taking a 40 point lead at one point. But USC fought back and scored 3 goals so that USC seeker and Hollywood Bowl MVP David Demarest could make another come from behind sntach. USC surprised many people with their victory in the Hollywood Bowl going 7-0. Expect them to move up in the Eighth Man's November Quidditch Rankings.
Lastly, I attended my first Quidditch Tournament of the year!!!! It was the Brotherly Love Cup at Chestnut Hill. Villanova and Hofstra were far and away the best teams at this increasingly whimsy tournament. The competitive nature of these teams almost seemed out of place at this tournament which seemed really sad to me. As I've said before, Quidditch must have balance between whimsy and competitiveness to work. Anyways, the two teams met in the finals and Villanova, which was fast and physical won 130*-60. Olympian Zach D'Amico really played like an All Star and was the Tournament's MVP in my mind. I would say all of the NY teams (Hofstra, CUNY, Vassar, and Stony Brook) are a danger to knock of Boston teams at the Northeast Regional. It is also amazing how former Quidditch greats and some of the first programs have fallen into irrelevance. Chestnut Hill and Rochester, both teams that attended World Cup 3, looked beat by the newer teams.