June 9, 2026
By Evan Lepler
We knew that Rivalry Weekend had the potential to be intense, emotional, and consequential, but I truly did not anticipate just how many perceptions about the 2026 UFA landscape would be significantly reshaped by all the Week 7 results. In every single division, the first full frisbee weekend in June has altered the playing field heading into the second half of the season.
Let’s look quickly at some of the most meaningful developments that are still reverberating around the league a few days later.
Pre-Rivalry Weekend Perception #1: Boston is probably the class of the East and certainly a threat to go back-to-back.
Post-Rivalry Weekend Reality: For the first time this season, finishing in third place in the East seems like a very real possibility for the reigning UFA champions, creating a gauntlet where Boston would have to win two road playoff games to even get back to Championship Weekend.
Look, this may be a massive overreaction to one bad night, but the Glory were massively outplayed by the Empire on Friday evening. Without Jeff Babbitt or Tannor Johnson-Go, the team’s two lines are missing their primary release valves, and different players are still finding their footing in those spots. Heading into their daunting Week 8 doubleheader at New York and DC, the Glory are in danger of suffering their second and third losses in the span of 26 hours.
Certainly part of this new reality is framed by the DC Breeze’s resurgence. Even missing their captain AJ Merriman, who suffered a broken bone in his ankle in Week 6 against Toronto, the Breeze still got a huge home win against Carolina on Friday night, with so many young contributors stepping up to meet the moment. Whereas earlier this season, it felt reasonable to wonder if DC might miss the playoffs, they now feel like a shoo-in to make the dance, and they will likely be in position to host a game if they can better Boston on the Glory’s second day of a back-to-back this Saturday.
Another huge weekend ahead in the East Division.
Pre-Rivalry Weekend Perception #2: The West Division is a three-team race, with Oakland, Salt Lake, and Seattle all assured of their spots in the playoffs.
Post-Rivalry Weekend Reality: After Hunter May’s thrilling buzzer-beating snag to beat the Shred on their home turf, the Colorado Apex are right back in the mix. Don’t look now, but the Cascades, Shred, and Apex all have exactly three wins at the moment. Sure, the first two are both 3-2, while Colorado’s 3-5, but the remaining schedules actually give the Apex a legit chance.
Salt Lake’s last six games look like a brutally tough stretch: at Seattle, at Madison, at Minnesota, and then home games against Oakland, Seattle, and Oakland again.
Seattle’s schedule appears slightly more favorable on paper, largely since it includes three games against winless Oregon, but the Cascades also have four tough contests—vs. Salt Lake, vs. Toronto, at Colorado, and at Salt Lake—that will ultimately determine their 2026 destiny.
And then there’s the Apex, who have clearly added difference-makers, gained confidence, and raised their collective level after their season’s rough start. They definitely don’t have any guaranteed wins left on their schedule, but Colorado’s final four games are all at home: vs. San Diego, Oakland, Seattle, and Oakland again. And maybe the Spiders will have already clinched the top seed and will send a soft squad for one of those games.
The most likely outcome still feels like Colorado will be on the outside looking in, but it’s absolutely a four-team race in pursuit of three playoff spots. Oakland feels pretty assured of its perch at the top, but the remaining trio have plenty to prove over the final six weeks of the regular season.
Pre-Rivalry Weekend Perception #3: Madison’s offense is vastly improved and Chicago’s defense is not particularly disruptive.
Post-Rivalry Weekend Reality: The Union reshaped the Central race by bolting to a 9-2 lead on Friday night against the Radicals, ultimately hanging on for an 18-16 home win. The Radicals are now 2-2, while the AlleyCats and Union are both 1-3. Even the Thunderbirds, at 1-4, are just a half-game out of a playoff spot with plenty of opportunity ahead.
To be fair, Madison finished Friday’s loss with only 13 total turnovers, a respectable number for a team that averaged almost 20 giveaways a game last season. But Chicago’s D-line, which struggled to stymie Elliot Hawkins and the AlleyCats in Week 6, produced six breaks in the first 15 minutes this past Friday. The Union finished the night with just 11 turnovers; for perspective, that’s the second-fewest turns for Chicago in a single-game since the start of the 2025 season. And last year’s team went 12-0.
This Sunday, Pittsburgh hosts Chicago and Madison hosts Indy, a pair of games that’ll make the battle for second and third place a little clearer. Or it’ll further muddy the waters.
More likely, it’ll be the latter.
Pre-Rivalry Weekend Perception #4: Despite Austin’s undefeated record, the South Division still ultimately belonged to Carolina, Atlanta, or San Diego.
Post-Rivalry Weekend Reality: The Sol are 7-0 for the second straight season after sweeping their Week 7 doubleheader through San Diego and Vegas. While their wins over the Hustle and Growlers have been far from convincing, one-goal overtime victories count just the same, and after the Flyers’ close loss at DC, the Sol are positioning themselves to potentially host the South Division Championship Game for the first time in franchise history.
Now, Austin still has to deal with a rematch against a desperate San Diego team, and the Sol also will trek to Carolina and Atlanta for a difficult doubleheader in July. But assuming they don’t stumble against Houston, Austin is a lock to have at least one home playoff game. They’re not quite the favorite to sneak out of the South, but it’s getting closer to toss-up territory.
Needless to say, no one else would be excited about going to Austin for a South Division title game in 103 degree heat in early August.
Zooming out to the bigger picture as we forge forward, while four teams only have four games left, there’s still 65 total games—just a hair less than half of the entire 132-game regular season schedule—coming up across the next six weekends. As expected, Rivalry Weekend was a gripping feast of frisbee that delivered high drama and unveiled various vulnerabilities across the league, but the battles on the road to Championship Weekend are just beginning to find their form.
Another gargantuan 13-game weekend looms, with part II between Boston and York serving as Friday’s early-evening undercard before a pair of undefeated division-leading juggernauts collide out West on "Friday Night Frisbee".
The Full Field Layout
But before looking even further ahead, there’s plenty to recap from a truly memorable and meaningful Rivalry Weekend, starting with the East Division race getting even tighter.
On Friday night in Boston, Daan De Marrée’s impact was immediate, John Randolph’s pressure was relentless, and the Empire led 9-3 by the early stages of the second quarter. New York’s advantage grew as wide as eight, and Boston closing the game on an 8-4 surge should not mask the fact that the Glory were vastly outplayed on their home field.
“It’s the stuff we’ve been building all season long,” said Randolph, following his four-block, two-goal, two-assist performance. “And now that we’re in game six, the principles are coming together, and we’re having points where every single guy on the line, all seven guys are doing their job, and then if the other team makes one little mistake, we can finish the job and get a block. It feels really, really good.”
The first of Orion Cable’s three throwaways became Randolph’s second career Callahan, which gave New York an early 4-1 lead. Truthfully, it felt like Boston never really recovered. The Empire did a good job limiting Tobe Decraene’s overall impact, and the Glory definitely missed Jeff Babbitt, who was questionable coming into the game but did not play because of a hamstring issue.
“[Babbitt] matters a lot,” said Boston Coach Sam Rosenthal, when asked at halftime about Babbitt’s absence. “He’s the heart and soul of the team. I don’t think anybody questions that. It’s hard to gauge what we’d be like with him on the field. I can just tell ya that a couple of meatballs that they came down with, I know [Babbitt] gets those. He would help us for sure.”
But his return is not imminent—the two-time UFA MVP and four-time champ is not rostered for this weekend’s doubleheader at New York and DC—meaning that Boston will need to rely on others to lead the way.
Meanwhile, the Empire are seemingly adding new stars to the lineup each week. Alex Atkins, the former Colorado star, continued his torrid start to the season with six assists, two goals, and a game-high 527 yards. Braden Eberhard, another first-year Empire O-liner, has completed all 156 of his passes in his six games, putting him 12 completions away from matching the most throws without a turnover to start a season in UFA history. Nick Whitlock, the rookie from New Zealand, also enjoyed his biggest game yet, with three assists, two goals, one block, and 231-total yards.
And of course, there was also De Marree, who finished his first weekend with the Empire—New York also won by four at Montreal on Saturday—with three goals, three assists, and three blocks, highlighted by a thrilling layout score against the Glory on Friday night.
“I did the butterfly cut and I thought, ok I was free,” remembered De Marrée, describing the sequence that led to the spectacular snag. “And then I saw the throw and I was like, ok that’s too far [...] And I was like, I’m not gonna get that. I’m just gonna lay out. And then I had it. And I was like, what the hell did I do? So yea, that was kind of my highlight of the game, and I think I showed the Empire what kind of grit I have and what they can expect from me as well.”
Without a doubt, De Marree’s emergence adds new unexplored space to the Empire’s ceiling. Team leaders were already feeling super optimistic, but obviously adding De Marree, a player that many argue is presently the best in the world, creates even more potential.
“I don’t even know the limits that we can get to now,” said Randolph. “Cause honestly, we were already on a good trajectory. We’re on a trajectory with the team that I was super happy about, and then we add [De Marrée]. He seems like an immediate culture fit. Obviously, on the field, he’s getting it done, he’s doing the right things, he’s saying the right things, so time will tell how high we can go.”
*****
While New York was cruising in Boston, the DC Breeze were rallying to another monumental comeback win against Carolina. The Breeze trailed 6-3 early and were down 13-12 at half, but DC used a 5-1 burst early in the third to take their own three-goal lead. The Flyers fought back, tying the game again at 19-all early in the fourth, but then a few costly Carolina drops helped the Breeze score four straight.
When the final buzzer blared, DC prevailed 24-22, giving the Breeze their fourth win this season in a game in which they had trailed by three goals. Going back to 2021, DC is just the second team this decade—along with the 2022 Chicago Union—to win four regular season games in which they trailed by at least three.
“We’re a younger team than we have been the last few years,” said Christian Boxley, speaking to Will Smolinski in a postgame interview on WatchUFA.tv. “And with that comes a scrappiness, a desire, a real fire to prove yourselves every time you’re on the field. So we’re embracing that.”
Led by Isaac Lee and Wiebe van den Brink, Breeze converted 9-of-12 break chances. And offensively, Miles Grovic, Sean Mott, Jacques Nissen, and Christian Boxley all had at least five scores apiece. Even without Merriman—and the other aforementioned standouts who remain out of the lineup—the Breeze have steadily leaned on young playmakers who are consistently contributing to victories.
“Good offense is like jazz,” said Boxley. “We’re gonna play to each of our players’ strengths. So when you have players like Mott, you have players like Miles, who’ve shown that [they] can catch the disc in flow and shoot it downfield, then we’re gonna change our offense for that. So it’s up to me and everybody to adjust a little bit to each other’s strengths, and I think by the end of the season, we’re gonna be pretty happy with our results.”
Boxley didn’t mince words about his expectations for the future.
“I think I see ourselves at Championship Weekend,” he said. “If we’re healthy, we feel like we can beat anybody. And I think we’re gonna be able to prove that later this season.”
As for the Flyers, their collective confidence remained undeterred by the handful of late mistakes that prevented them from leaving DC with a victory.
“Some uncharacteristic play from some of our veterans were costly, but does not change our minds about who we are as a team or as players,” said Carolina’s Grayson Sanner, who led the Flyers with five goals on Friday night. “We have a strong roster and will continue to show that in the rest of the season.”
Zeke Thoreson had five assists, one goal, and two blocks in his Carolina debut, while Tobias Brooks, Thoreson’s college teammate at Colorado, added five assists and two goals for the Flyers, who suffered their second loss of the season.
“I think we got a little overconfident in that first quarter and played a little outside of our system,” said Sanner. “Then as DC crawled back into the game, we got a little scared and played nervously or thinking too far ahead. You have to stay within the moment and just do your job.”
Coming up later today in “Seven On The Line,” three more wild Friday finishes, three teams remain undefeated, three (times two!) blocks for a Spiders rookie in just his second career game, and all the rest of the Rivalry Weekend storylines across the UFA.
